Contractors may consider investing in smartphones after one expert said that the technology is vital for small businesses.

Martin Lyne, director of SME marketing at T-Mobile, said that the technology helps flexible workers respond to important calls and emails on the go.

He added that workers now expect the technology they use in their own lives to also be utilised in the workplace.

"Smartphones especially help small business workers to remain responsive to queries through calls, texts and emails at any time and any place, and can also provide information that would normally require a call back to the office, such as Google Maps, addresses, latest deals, contracts et cetera," explained Mr Lyne.

This comes after Clickatell launched a new small business text messaging pack to allow companies in the US to interact with and assist customers through the medium of text message.