Interview: Business phones get back to basics

Enterprise mobility is going back to basics with a new focus on voice communications and messaging, with smartphones set to play a key part, according to Symbian, developer of the Symbian OS mobile platform.

Andrew Moran, head of enterprise marketing at Symbian, believes voice is still the big thing in mobility, and that fixed-mobile convergence will soon change business communications for good. “A lot of businesses will buy their last desk phone within the next few years,” he said.

There has been a gradual move towards IP-based communications in business, but dedicated IP phones are expensive and workers often prefer to use their mobile even in the office, according to Moran. “So if we can replace desk phones with just mobiles, that will be a huge opportunity,” he said.

Voice has always been important, but mobility is currently very email-centric. Enterprise voice is now reinventing the technology for businesses, Moran said, with the Holy Grail being a seamless integration of voice and messaging.

This theme chimes with Nokia’s view of the mobile phone’s place in the corporate world. The Finnish giant, whose smartphones are based on Symbian software, recently introduced its E51 enterprise handset with Wi-Fi capability and a voice-over-IP client capable of linking with IP PBX equipment from the likes of Cisco and Alcatel. It can also be configured to connect with Microsoft Exchange email servers, or use Nokia’s own Intellisync Mobile Suite.

Symbian’s view of enterprise mobility is thus based on the twin pillars of email and voice. Beyond this is what Moran terms “sporadic desperate access” to enterprise applications such as CRM or ERP. These are facilities usually accessed by some other means, but which workers occasionally need to access via their phone, and many software vendors include the ability to do this, typically through a browser. “A browser works fine for these,” he said.

By contrast, true mobile applications are those that could not be implemented any other way. Moran cited the case of a construction firm that uses smartphones to capture photographic records of roadwork projects to evidence the work was done in the correct place and finished on time.

“Using the handset, you can time-stamp the pictures, and add in the location from either GPS or information from the cellular network,” Moran said.

Many companies get their first taste of enterprise mobility through wireless email, Moran said, which often means deploying BlackBerry devices to executives. However, while this is fine for “road warriors”, many more workers are “corridor warriors” who spend much of their day in the office but might not always be at their desk.

“If you need a BlackBerry for international travel, that’s fine, but a cheap Symbian phone with secure Imap or ActiveSync is more cost effective for corridor warriors, especially on a low-cost operator tariff,” Moran said.

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