Email on the go

A new generation of handheld wireless devices could make laptop and notebook computers a thing of the past for business people on the move.

Plain Words reports

Dragging a laptop computer around with you when travelling on business is not ideal. Admittedly, they weigh a mere feather compared to the unwieldy "mobile computers" of yesteryear (a decade ago). But they are still cumbersome. They are also unnecessary.

Who really needs all that computing and software power when on the move? Who writes 300 page technical manuals or designs newsstand magazines while travelling on a train or aeroplane? Probably no-one. All you really need when on the move is to be able to send and receive e-mails, take notes, and attend to your organiser and calendar.

This view is backed up by analysts. They say e-mail on the move, including access to calendars and contact information, will drive growth in mobile data services for businesses over the next five years. According to a report from research firm Analysys, around 40 percent of people with a business mobile phone (21 million Europeans) will use mobile e-mail by 2008, compared to less than one percent today.

Over the same period, the mobile services revenue generated by e-mail will increase from 49 million euro in 2003 to 2.9 million euro in 2008.

"Businesses have been slow to start using mobile networks and services other than voice," commented Katrina Bond, the main author of the report. "but mobile e-mail is set to lead the way as solutions to enable this valuable extension to existing person-to-person communications becomes more widespread."

The report - Mobile Data Solutions For Businesses: Maximising Take-Up And Revenue - examines currently available mobile e-mail access offerings, including Microsoft's Exchange Server 2003 and the NokiaOne hosted service. It also looks at Research in Motion's BlackBerry wireless devices, which started life in the U.S. and are currently sweeping through the business community in the U.K. and Europe.

Instant success

The BlackBerry devices combine e-mail with calendar and organiser software, as well as offering optional telephony. The all-in-one approach has proved an instant success with users.

"As soon as we gave out the BlackBerry handhelds, as part of the solution trial, it was obvious we were not going to get them back. People instantly recognised what a great tool it was going to be to help their working lives," said Steve Davies, IT manager at British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL). "The BlackBerry is deceptively simple, but it is a transforming technology. People are already packing away their PDAs and laptops because they have decided they don't need them any more."

Davies added that employees at BNFL have become more and more frustrated with the time it takes for a laptop to power up and dial in just to receive e-mail.

They are not alone. The Lake Country Sheriff's Office in Florida, USA, has found that BlackBerry handelds can be taken into situations where a full laptop is not feasible.

"The PocketBlue system does just what we need - it puts the information in the hand (or pocket) of officers in bike, undercover, mounted, investigative and marine units," said Sheriff George E. Knupp. "Unlike PCs, laptops and radios, the handhelds drop into the officer's pocket or under the seat for quick and inconspicuous access to critical information, which is particularly useful when an officer is undercover."

Numerous law enforcement organisations in the U.S. are taking to mobile e-mail.

Getting in on the act

Not surprisingly, increasing numbers of firms are getting in on the mobile e-mail act. Psion software, for example, recently announced a new product called Transcend Mail, which is geared to push e-mail to smartphones based on the Symbian platform. The product is expected to ship later this year. It keeps e-mail, contracts, and calendar data on the corporate server in step with each employee's smartphone, so that any changes made to one are transferred to the other.

"E-mail is important to all staff," said Steve Maynard, head of strategic marketing at Psion. "[And] it's logical to use [mobile phones] for e-mail instead of using some extra device like a PDA."

On ice

Mobile e-mail is not just useful in business and public sector situations. In spring this year it saved the life of a British explorer trapped on an ice flow near the North Pole.

David Mill e-mailed Canadian rescuers a digital picture of a runway he had cleared on the ice with his sledge - so the pilot could find him. 22.5.2003

It was the first significant test of digital technology used by explorers. Mill's Canadian rescuers declared it a success

Plain Words editorial
23 Sept 2003

A Handheld Wireless Device User Adds...

We have rather too many mobile phones, including a Sony Ericsson T610, which has email and basic PDA abilities, and a Handspring Treo 180, which is a Palm OS PDA with a built-in mobile phone and a tiny (but useable) QWERTY keyboard.

The Treo has won me over to PDA use. I really can do work in it when travelling, mostly catching up with emails, but it is capable of far more. I'm also impressed by the Palm OS it runs on. Not as pretty as Windows, but more useable on a PDA.

Hairydog
23 Sept 2003