One by Five

The latest generation of Windows Mobile has added a lot of efficiencies - and all within an ROI that is easy to calculate

WARREN SHIAU,
Senior Associate, The Strategic Counsel

There are a number of reasons to go with Windows Mobile 6.1, but three come to mind immediately. First, every carrier supports it, so it has broad coverage. Second, it is on almost every form factor made, so you have a lot of options from a device perspective. And third, Microsoft has a lot of third party developers adding functionality. As a result, no other platform has cut such a wide swath. As well, from the perspective of choice, the iPhone is only available from AT&T in the United States and Rogers in Canada, so you are immediately locked into a single carrier. Telus and Bell are starting to roll-out GSM in 2010 so this might change in the future, but for now there is no choice. Initially, Android will probably be more limited in terms of device and carrier options as well. Cost-wise I do not think Windows Mobile has any issues; in fact, there are numerous cost benefits that come from having such good integration with the Microsoft stack. Other platforms do not have the same sort of integration with Exchange and the Windows desktop and servers, for example, that 6.1 has - the simplicity gain for IT resulting from this is something that is a serious decision-factor. Things are just easier with Windows Mobile from a corporate IT perspective than they are with the iPhone or the BlackBerry OS. What Windows Mobile does need improvement on - which Microsoft is well aware of - is the interface and that is coming in Windows Mobile 7 and 8.

ALEC TAYLOR
Director of the Mobile Communications Business for Microsoft Canada

Windows Mobile 6.1 has a new home screen layout and user interface, and displays a number of plug-ins including Clock, Notifications (including voicemail, missed calls, text messages, email), Appointments, Settings, Photos, and Media. As well, Windows Mobile 6.1 provides users with a better out-of-box experience with Getting Started center, which helps get users up and running with their device. This includes fast and easy email setup: the new Getting Started Disc will export email settings from the user's desktop PC. On the device, Windows Mobile 6.1 continues to auto-detect the most popular POP3/IMAP email accounts, while auto-discovering Exchange Server settings for corporate email. Windows Mobile 6.1 also enables 1-tap Bluetooth auto-pairing, which precludes users from having to input a pairing code in most instances. And Windows Mobile 6.1 now supports threaded text messaging, which enables users to have a conversation through a series of text messages. Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard devices support selecting and copying text in web pages and in received emails, allowing a user to move information between one application and the next. The web browsing experience is more robust, too: Internet Explorer Mobile in Windows Mobile 6.1 allows customers to view an entire web page with a new Page Overview feature.

KEN PULS
Controller and the IT Director at Fairwinds

I'm both the Controller and the IT Director at Fairwinds in Nanoose Bay, British Columbia, Vancouver Island's premier master-planned waterfront community, which includes 1350 acres of residential real estate, a golf club, marina and fitness centre. Fairwinds currently has four people using the HTC S640 Windows Mobile Smartphones on the Telus network. We are running Windows Mobile 6.0, which came loaded on the phones, and are looking at 6.1. It's the hook up to the exchange server that's really made all the difference for us. I've got full access to my task list, contacts, email and calendar. And being synched wirelessly to the Exchange server means that as soon as I create a new appointment in Outlook, I can pick up my phone, and there it is. It also gives me the freedom to add items to manage my task list wherever I am and whenever I need to. Our sales person can do his job while on the road, taking and responding to emails from potential purchasers wherever they may be. The learning curve was really restricted to a one hour training session, and we were good to go. Having contacts and calendars integrated with Outlook on Exchange also helps out our booking agent. And for me, as the IT Director and Controller, the great thing now is that my Windows Mobile Smartphone allows me to open emails and attached reports in Pocket Word or Excel, so that I can stay close to the day-to-day operations at Fairwinds.

MARK ARTEAGA
Windows Mobile Solution Specialist
blog.markarteaga.com

I've been developing applications in Microsoft environments for many years, beginning with Pocket PC 2000 and 2002. When looking at the Windows Mobile 6.1 platform there is the choice of Standard and Professional. The Standard UI is easy to use, with a lot of features right on the home screen - it will tell you how many emails you have, or show your calendar and what music is playing. The Professional comes with a touch screen as opposed to the Standard edition. Both editions are ready for large enterprise or small and medium size businesses, with the ability to connect to your corporate Exchange server, POP3/SMTP or other email services such as MSN Hotmail. And Office Mobile allows you to edit Word or Excel documents and even view PowerPoint presentations. For companies that want added flexibility, combining Windows Mobile 6.1 with System Center Mobile Device Manager offers a lot of control: features can be blocked, and applications white or black listed. This is very handy in high security environments where, for example, cameras should be disabled or the device needs to be locked down. Overall, as a developer I really see the advantages to the Microsoft strategy - applications can be developed for Windows Mobile 6.1 to support numerous industry-specific demands. This is why we're seeing Windows Mobile on over 140 different types of devices.

GAVIN STEINER
President, Interprom Computer Technologies Inc.

Our customers have people in the field quite often, and when Windows Mobile 6.1 came out and started to gain market share we took it to them and they were quite excited. Why? They can get access to their email, but it's also more than that. They can search through their email boxes back at the office even if the mail is not on the device, and they can update calendars automatically. Any changes that are made at the office are delivered to them instantly - people really appreciate this kind of access and control. It can result in some major time savings. Most of our customers are smaller professional services firms, with perhaps 10 to 50 employees, and they're finding that they are saving time in the field by not having to rush back to the office. There are a lot of efficiencies here: time is saved, less fuel is used, customers get faster service - this all adds up to a decent and easy to calculate ROI. The device flexibility helps, too, because some people want to use smart phones with a smaller form factor, whereas others like to take advantage of the Windows Mobile Professional interface by choosing devices with larger screens. One thing we are finding is that people are upgrading their phones more frequently - some are changing every six months - in order to take advantage of new features. It works out of the box with SharePoint and Exchange, and is a great fit with Small Business Server.

Windows Mobile 6.1 can access data within the corporate firewall, and now ships with an expanded list of optional Microsoft applications. These include Office Mobile, OneNote Mobile, Communicator Mobile, Voice Command, Windows Live for Windows Mobile, Live Search for Mobile and a PDF viewer.