SALLY Van Hese says mobile apps helped revitalise her business.

The manager of CQ Building and Pest Inspections attended Telstra's Rockhampton business seminar yesterday, along with about 100 other small business owners from the region.

The seminar was designed to educate business owners on how to work smarter with technology to drive businesses further.

CQ Building and Pest Inspections recently had two of its own apps designed to improve efficiency.

Ms Van Hese said utilising emerging technologies was something businesses had to do to survive.

"We have become iPad friendly in that we try to have iPads on-site to reduce the paperwork they bring back to the office; therefore it keeps things more updated. People aren't waiting for invoices or reports," she said.

"We have been able to cut back on the equivalent of one full-time staff member. Financially for us that is a benefit, times are tough and people are watching their pennies.

"It also means that we can focus our time on other things... by using what they have shown us today, it will definitely make life easier and make the office run much more smoothly."

Ms Van Hese said while the change took her out of her comfort zone, it was an adjustment she wished she had made sooner.

Telstra Business Solutions in the Redhill Centre is available by appointment to customers with inquiries about expanding and streamlining businesses through technology.

Downloadable help

Here at some of the top apps for the business-minded:

Deputy: Communicate with colleagues and managers, and see your upcoming shifts and tasks.

Aris: Content distribution, forms submission, real-time communication, interactive training and rewards and recognition.

Box: Securely store, manage and share all your files, photos and documents with free cloud storage.

GeoOp: Streamline job scheduling, quotes and time and materials tracking.

DocuSign: Secure way to electronically sign documents and collect signatures.