Always-On E-Mail Round Up

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=2898' target='_blank'>http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=2898</a><br /><br /></div>"One of the main functionality current connected handheld devices is e-mail. Users can collect e-mails from a server, have the e-mails sent to devices, and other little tricks. We tested some services that offer a combination of pull and push techniques to give the always-on e-mail experience. There are some solutions offering enterprise grade features, including an enterprise level price on this. Sometimes the price tag includes the requirement of having a Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server, or sometimes it includes the requirement of having a completely new server added to the mix. Other products are more accessible to consumers and end users, using a type of software called desktop redirectors. These solutions do not require any server side installation, but will need a computer with Internet connection."<br /><br />GeekZone has tested out the top Always-On E-Mail solutions for Windows Mobile-based devices. If you're interested in the always-on experience, this article is a must read.

[encece]

I think I need to pass this on to someone in my parent company's IT department. They currently do not allow any access to the Exchange Server other than thru the network or via recently added Blackberry server. For a company of it's size, they are soooo behind the times.

I asked since Blackberry's have access to the exchange server, could they offer me some access via a Smartphone or PPC Phone. Since they do not support it, they will not give me access. I told them that I didnt want support...just access. They wouldn't hear it. :(

[Kris Kumar]

I am in the same boat :-( My company adopted BlackBerry couple of years ago after a lot of pleading. Actually it was the number of desktop redirectors operating illegally on the corporate network that forced them to adopt the BB server. Big corporations are slow to change, especially when it comes to IT security. And I am afraid they will not adopt another standard or switch from BB, no matter what. When it comes to hosting outside the firewall (or opening ports), I find that the IT departments dont trust Microsoft server technologies (and I can see they have good reasons ;-) ).

[NYC567user]

I think there is a great push to get this working right on Smartphones for the corporate world. However there are reasons many companies are still hoding out on improvements on Smartphones & PPCPs. I hope Microsoft hears the corporate world on this one...

Key things are:

Security: At the moment if you want to lock out your Smartphone or Pocket PC phone, it's a fairly complicated process (for a user) and not too secure.
Thrue corporate security goes beyond just passwords...
Only the PPC HP 5000 series has wipe out after X number for bad password attempts. Most lack this feature....correct me if I'm wrong on the "most PPC and Smartphones". This is the biggest fear of Most large corporations..data leakage.
Things like partial memory encryption and mail encryption (outside of Exchange) require 3rd party apps that increate the cost per unit.

Battery: this is a big issue. Most color blackberries at the moment can go uncharged for about 2 to 4 days with average use. I've tried this on all recent PPC phones and Smartphones and battery dies after 6 to7 hours of average use.

These devices do have great promise and I prefer them to Blackberries or Palm for personal use. But when things go bad..you need to get to your mail fast and you are clueless to roaming, encryption, etc or you need fast access, at the moment blackberries are the closest things to "dumb user" acceptace.