Is Your Phone “Just a Phone”?
Posted on 01-28-10
Mobile Productivity – Is Your Phone “Just a Phone”?
With the many options available in the mobile phone market it can be pretty tough to determine what the best choice is concerning mobile productivity. There are still some people that say a phone is a phone, but those are usually the people who resist change. In today’s world a phone has become way more than just a phone.
My mobile productivity overhaul began a few years back when I traded in the company flip phone for a shiny new touchscreen windows mobile phone. At our office we use a Microsoft Exchange Server to manage all of our email calendaring and other communication tasks. Windows mobile with ActiveSync gave me the ability to have instant access to all of my stuff from anywhere over the wireless network. If I sent mail or updated contacts on my phone it was reflected in my Outlook client on my desktop almost immediately and vice versa. The phone also gave me on the go access to the web and other online content. I very quickly realized what I had been missing.
My job has given me the opportunity to experience a lot of different mobile devices hands on. Sometimes the setup of these devices can be challenging and I get opportunity to play with customers newest toys. I have assisted with pretty much everything out there from IPhones and BlackBerrys to Windows Mobile and Android.
For the longest time BlackBerry was the standout when it came to business mobile devices. RIM (Research In Motion) did a great job with the product and were brilliant marketing their BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) to the corporate user. They made secure messaging in the corporate environment easy and fun. That was not necessarily the case for us small business users. If you have ever had any experience using a BlackBerry without BES you will understand. The features can be limiting and cumbersome.
When Apple released the IPhone it was an instant hit. Everyone knows “there’s an app for that”. It was great for small business users and home users because it was easy and fun. The game changed in the corporate world when Apple made the decision to add ActiveSync (Exchange Server Connectivity) to the IPhone. Corporate users could then use the phone with their work accounts and have all of the same security and reliability features that the BlackBerry had and IT groups could deploy them in and Exchange environment without the need for additional servers BES.
My current device of choice is an IPhone 3GS. It works great in our Exchange environment, I love the form factor, and the software is head and shoulders above the rest of the market. AT&T is currently the only mobile provider that carries the IPhone and I am well aware that that can be a major deterrent.
My goal with writing this article was not to necessarily sway your opinion or to sell you a phone. I just want customers to be aware that Opti-Vise is here to help with your mobile productivity decisions and we would love to answer questions you have regarding these issues. The mobile phone environment is changing rapidly and keeping up can be challenging. If you are reading this and your phone is “just a phone” then use it to give me a call. I will talk to you while I find all your answers from wherever I am using my iPhone.
Post written by Kyle Hamilton
