Johannesburg, 19 Mar 2007
SA is on the verge of leading African business in the adoption of a wider variety of mobile applications and services, says Nokia.
Richard Verster, Nokia enterprise solutions head for South and East Africa, says big changes are expected in coming months, driven mainly by voice over IP (VOIP).
"VOIP means business people will be able to use a single mobile device for all their data and voice communications, as well as take advantage of cheaper IP-based phone calls in office environments," he says.
Although mobile operators are still working towards seamless handover between IP and GSM networks, Verster says companies can already save money by providing a single communication device to employees.
"The opportunity of reducing call costs while in the office without needing a separate IP phone is something that's exciting a lot of people in the corporate world," he says.
Nokia is consequently adding VOIP companies to the list of local partners it has engaged since opening its enterprise solutions office in SA last year. "These include distributors, resellers, security companies, network operators and mobile applications developers."
In addition to VOIP, Verster says the maturity of mobile solutions in terms of security, device management, data synchronisation, data compression and middleware will also encourage corporates to venture beyond mobile e-mail and salesforce automation.
"The technology is now available and we expect a lot more corporates to begin exploring the cost benefits of mobilising a wider range of enterprise applications in the coming year, with over 3 000 Symbian applications already available," says Verster.
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