Tiscali SA, a Vodacom cellular provider, has introduced Office Everywhere, a mobile data solution synching handsets and palmtop computers with corporate users` calendars and e-mail.
There are also reports that Vodacom will soon launch a similar solution, Office Anywhere, but the cellular provider will not disclose details at this stage.
According to Larry Paslovsky, GM of Business Services at Tiscali, mobile workers must be able to respond to customer requests or schedule meetings more rapidly than ever before. "And top executives must be available for faster decision-making. It improves the customer experience, and gives these enterprises a competitive-edge."
Tiscali`s offering is a mobile application that securely connects mobile devices via the GSM network and the Internet to the corporate mail server, allowing full access to e-mail, calendar, applications, tasks, contacts, documents and updates. Information is secured with 128-bit encryption.
Office Everywhere was developed for corporate clients without saddling them with the need for the extensive skills or equipment required to use mobile groupware functionality.
Power in your hands
Says Paslovsky: "Handheld devices are becoming increasingly powerful with higher processing power, memory and additional features, and there is a strong trend towards convergence of PDAs and mobile phones. Together, these devices are powerful enough to do practical, valuable work.
"With Office Everywhere, you don`t need to be connected to a PC with a dialled up modem or network connection to complete a day`s work. You can simply dial in via your GSM handset, and have instant access to company e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, content and databases."
In addition, Paslovsky says, this solution results in reduced operating costs, improved productivity and customer service, as well as faster roll-out. Software can also be centrally managed, and it has a backup/restore function, which backs up the entire PDA manually or automatically, and restores the information at any time.
"It also allows for file distribution, so you can send the latest price lists, forecasts, and more to all mobile employees. Distribution is guaranteed, and old files can automatically be updated. This ensures that your entire mobile workforce has the latest versions of all relevant software at any given time."
A second phase will go beyond groupware synching and enable live feeds of data, which makes stock checking applications and other database querying activities possible.
Tiscali hosts the Exchange server, or if the customer prefers to use his own, Tiscali will load an adapter on Exchange. Two forms of authentication are done, on the data centre server and on the middleware and corporate server.
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