When Bill and Bev Ensor first bought their Waikato company in the late 1950s, the prospect of doing business in cyberspace was as good as having your head up in the clouds.

Back then, Bill Ensor relied on good sense and a notebook and pen to manage his company Tirau Earthmovers - never once using a computer during his 40 years at the helm of the company.

“Dad didn’t want a bar of them,” said Bill’s daughter Karen Ensor. “I can remember as a kid sitting in the office, and all the cash for wages would be counted out, and put into little brown paper envelopes. Things have come a long way.”

Today, second and third generations of the Ensor family are running Tirau Earthmovers – a cartage and earthworks contractor working in remote locations across the agriculture sector, and in other major industrial sites across the Waikato region.

With a staff of 30, the new generation Ensors have embraced technology in every aspect of their expanding business, in order to improve efficiency and productivity. But until recently, an old accounting and job management system was slowing the company down.

“It had worked really well for us in the past, but as the business has got bigger and more staff have had to log onto the system all at once, it was working too slowly for our needs,” said Karen, the company’s finance manager.

Tirau Earthmovers have now boosted their existing copper ADSL connection with a high-speed rural wireless broadband package from Vodafone - an RBI plan delivering super-fast 4G speeds to their Putaruru base. The improved connectivity has allowed Karen and the company to get the most out of their new cloud accounting and job management software, provided by Xero and Tradify.

“It’s definitely quicker to use, and the software has reduced a lot of the data entry and double handling. It’s going to improve work flows considerably and allow me to get on with working on the business,” Karen said.

Vodafone now provides high speed rural wireless broadband to over 75 per cent of rural kiwis – with its mobile network stretching to more than 98 per cent of New Zealanders. For Tirau Earthmovers, the extended coverage allows staff to use their smartphones to photograph earthworks on site as they unfold, and also supports the use of transport software services provided by ERoad.

“Around here we do things on a handshake, but technology’s also become an important tool for us to be able to manage and automate services, and to document jobs as they progress,” said Steve Ensor, the company’s managing director.

Tirau Earthmovers is another example of a rural business making the most of high speed rural wireless broadband and increased coverage provided by Vodafone. And at this year’s Fieldays event, Vodafone will offer a one-stop shop for farmers and other agriculture companies to learn how they too can drive efficiencies in their business.

“We’re passionate about helping rural kiwis find the best coverage and technology solutions to improve their businesses,” said Matt Williams, Vodafone’s consumer director. “That’s why we’re constantly innovating to make sure we deliver world leading mobile and broadband services.”

Vodafone will have a significant presence at Fieldays – with a specialist rural team on site and a range of services and offers designed specifically for event.

Rural experts will be on hand to provide customers with the best coverage solutions and rural products, and farmers will be able to carry out the Smart Farm Test to find out how they rate. They’ll also be able to check out the best in cutting edge technology at the Vodafone Innovation Centre, where kiwi entrepreneurs accepted into the Vodafone xone programme will showcase their ideas and products.

Vodafone at Fieldays, June 15 to June 18:

• Touchscreen rural coverage checkers
• Free wifi zones and charging stations
• Interactive Fieldays app
• Exclusive Fieldays deals
• Rural Specialists
• M2M Solutions