Part II - What Do You Most Look For When Selecting A Business Cell Phone (e.g. Smart Phone, PDA)?

I asked this question of a large business networking community recently..... "What features/factors do you consider most important when choosing a business cell phone....and why?"

Here's more of their answers for your education and enjoyment:

* "It's going to sound dull, but...business benefit and value for money.

Assuming you've got a corporate tarriff sorted, then I'd be looking for ....

* economy

* connectivity - e.g. quad band so we can standardise on a couple of
handsets globally

* functionality - e.g. sync to work PC for Outlook etc.

* decent vendor support.

Pretty low down on the list are things like eye candy and mp3 playback - no iPhone for us unfortunately!"

* "When it comes to a "business cell phone" a lot depends upon what you will use it for, where you will use it and how often you will use it.

If you just need email access and your HQ is in North America then RIM is still King....even when roaming abroad. If you need more than simple email access then the world gets more complicated. Bottom line is to look at the TCO of any solution you choose and make a platform choice not a cell phone choice."

* "My preference list:

- Good data connectivity. EDGE or HSDPA.

- Very good EMail client.

- Good PC-Sync capability.

- Able to view and edit MS-OFFICE, Acrobat files

- BLUETOOTH connectivity. supporting boardroom presentations from mobile.

- QWERTY keypad is must. will be helpful if a foldable keypad with mobile cradle attached is provided. notes can be directly created using original keypad.

- Wireless connectivity and seamless switching between GSM/UMTS and WLAN."

* "The following features are a must for my business cell phone:

- Qwerty keyboard

- Office suite/editable

- Adobe support

- Sharp organiser

- Effective email support

- VPN connectivity

- 3G enabled

I think IPhone is defintely a good bet for this category though currently I am on a Motorola PDA."

* "Simplicity. I hate it when mobiles have so many gimmicks that making telephone call almost becomes an option. I don't want a camera, don't need to text, I don't send emails, I don't need a colour display. I just want a simple phone, with large buttons and a simple menu.

* "First off I look for a phone that has a good battery, excellent radio and lots of storage.

Next I look for something that works with Office, since I need to be able to synchronise with Outlook and view documents. In the messaging suite it needs to be able to effectively do email. For example, I want it to have some form of keyboard device rather than just touch.

In the past I have also looked at the ability for the device to run a number of enterprise applications such as SAP, Oracle, etc.so that I can access CRM and Financial Data Systems.

At present I have a Sony Ericsson P1i as my main handset and have replaced a Blackberry with an HTC Touch Plus as my data device. However, I also have a Sony Vaio SZ61XP which runs with embedded HSDPA so my Laptop has become my smartphone.

What I would say is that despite the effort of .dot mobi to get better ..... the most effective way to squeeze the web onto a phone has been to run the Opera browser which I do on all three devices."

* "ok.. I'm not sure how the iPhone can qualify as a business cell phone. Like most Mac products it hinders business more than helps it.

In a phone, it must MUST be able to work with and exchange in "always up to date" / real time email. It also must be able to support email encryption and be remotely managable. Such as Blackberry, or Windows Mobile 6 devices.

Someone steals my phone, and it's already locked, so no use to them, as soon as I call the office, bam.. now it is also erased and deactivated. Instant paperweight.

My current Favorites ..... Moto Q Global, Blackjack with the WM6 update, or Black Jack II.

I am a bit of a cell phone addict, and have owned practically every type of phone that has existed, the rest are all lacking in some way.

Cingular/ATT 3125 (aka HTC Star Trek) was actually really cool. Full Windows smartphone features, but eventually I decided that I could no longer live without a full qwerty keyboard."

* "I would choose the Nokia E61 for businesses. The best feature about this phone is that you do not need a SIM Card to access internet or your IPLC in the office premises if your wireless is activated. It supports an email client and that enables you to access your personal and official mail. The phone has all the features of a desktop and supports most of the files types."

* "First and foremost, as I travel internationally quite often, I need an unlocked gsm phone so that I can easily swap SIMs, and it should be quadband (world) compatible.

Wifi and VoIP ("real" VoIP -- ie SIP, not Skype --both over GPRS and Wifi) is a must.

Easy syncing with Microsoft Outlook. Full QWERTY keyboard. IMAP email client, full web browser.

The obvious choice for my needs is the Nokia E61i... absolute best phone I have ever found for the international business user that has to stay completely connected from remote locales.

Also should add that bluetooth is a must and the ability to expand (with FlashSD or whatnot) the memory to at least 2GB. Should also have full media player capability (both video and audio) for watching movies or listening to some tunes on those long-haul flights. Also needs to support ACCD2 or
whatever it's called for stereo bluetooth audio (I love my Motorola S9 headset!).... again, the Nokia E61 or E61i (same as E61 but with camera) wins hands down..only cell(smart) phone I've found that meets all of my demands."

* "Business means that you'll probably have to deal with many people, many calls and many tasks.

Important things are:

1. how call history works. If somebody calls you several times it is good if the phone can store EVERY call instance, not only the last one with a given person. My TREO was storing histories of all incoming and outgoing calls for months and months (i was having at least 50 calls a day). So call history must be full and long.

2. big memory for contacts - for obvious reasons. And many fields for contacts - also helps put more information about people so that when you have 3 persons with name John Smith you'll be able to find out which one you need.

3. Fully functional keyboard. When you know somebody is on the meeting and you can not speak to him it might help sending him/her a message - it will be seen even if person is in the meeting. If you have QWERTY keyboard then composing a message will take you 70-80% less time than doing it on a
traditional mobile.

4. Phone must be reliable. The last thing you want is your phone to fail killing all your contacts when you are for a business trip out of your country. You also do not want to lose tons of calls because phone has hanged up for a couple of hours and you did not know it.

5. GPS sometimes is helpful for people who travel much. But not for every business person.

The model of the phone does not really matter, but I think that NOKIA is a reliable brand, PALM Treo is also a good thing."

* "A phone which you can answer , find the contact, and call them without spilling the coffee on your suit."

More real life comments on the question will be shared in Part III of this series.

For anyone looking for a business cell phone......drop by Broadband Nation for information and resources.

How to Trace a Cell Phone Location

New advances in technology have made it possible for anybody to trace a cell phone location.

These advances in technology designed to trace a cell phone location came about as a result of a number of recent events, including the events of September 11, 2001. Technological breakthroughs which have occurred since then include the inclusion of GPS technology in most mobile phones, and an improved ability to detect a phone's location based on signals from local transmission towers.

There are number services on the Internet which allow you to trace the location of a cell phone. They may differ in therms of interface and appearance, butthey are using the same data from the telecom companies.

In the past the only way to gain access to the technology to trace a cell phone location was to buy equipment, and the use of this equipment was largely regulated to official organisations such as the police.

The way these services work is by gathering information from the telecom company that provides the cell phone service. this information includes the location of the cell phone as calculated by a combination of factors including the GPS as previously mentioned, and the distance to each of the nearest cellphone transmission masts. This is the same information which the police get.

There are wide range of reasons why you might want to trace a cell phone location, such as trying to find out where a friend or relative rates while you're out and about, keeping track of the location of a child, meeting up with friends, and trying to find shops and restaurants near you. Companies make use of these services in order to track their employees location, and also to provide security for employees when they are working in a remote location on their own. In the end, there are probably as many reasons as there are users.

The way GPS technology works in modern cell phones varies between the different cellphone networks, and with some operators it does not continuously transmit location. This means that when you want to trace a cell phone location, the information that you will be gathering is most likely collected from transmission tower locations.

The location of the phone will be tracked using triangulation - by taking 2 or more readings, it is possible to calculate where the signal is comming from by working out the triangle that fits the signal strengths. The 3rd point is the location of the phone.

However, when the person who has the phone has made an emergency call, this GPS transmission will always be sent. This is designed to ensure that the police can always track a cell phone location, in order to get help to people who need it.

The result of this design that the accuracy of the location which is provided by the service will be greater in areas which are more populated, and have more radio transmission masts, and will be lower in areas where there are very few radio masts, such is the wastelands, deserts, or un-populated areas of countryside. So, it is easier to track a cell phone location with a high level of accuracy in built up areas.

Nonetheless, most times you trace a cell phone location the information from the cell phone masts should be fine. After all, you do not need to know the person's location with a very great deal of accuracy for most purposes.

How to Get Your iPhone Running SIP on Your ShoreTel IPBX!

If you are and iPhone aficionado, you absolutely want your iPhone to work on your ShoreTel IPBX! I recently downloaded VeNetCorps SipPhone from the iPhone App store! There are several SIP phone apps at the store, but most have a pre-programmed domain name for the sip registration proxy server. If you want to use your own SIP proxy there was no easy way to change the IP address so you had to hack your DNS to get it to point to the ShoreTel SIP proxy. Also you need at least iPhone firmware 2.2 as previous versions had WiFi connectivity challenges that negatively impacted the potential for using a SIP soft phone.

After the iPhone WiFi acquired an IP address, if you attempted to ping the address you would see latency in excess of 300ms. With version 2.2 this issue has all but become unnoticeable. As with any SIP extension setup on ShoreTel, you need to assign sip extension proxy resources on a ShoreGear switch. In the sites section of the ShoreWare Director, Make sure you assign a virtual IP address. This is the address that you use for your iPhone SIPphone "domain" when setting up. Of course, you will need a Manager user setup with a SIP phone password ShoreWare defined in each section of the user.

Clearly, the assumption is that you have a WAP, make that your iPhone connection. The fact that the wireless network can route ShoreTel! Once ShoreTel SIP users, virtual IP address and proxyresources are configured it is time to configure your iPhone Sip Phone! After you down load the application and tap to activate the application you will get a screen that lists the options: Dialer, Recent, Contacts, Accounts and Settings. Hit the Accounts tab and you will then EDIT a new SIP account.

To get this app to work on ShoreTel you need to enter only three values. First you need to enter the domain name, we have previously defined in the ShoreTel Director as the Virtual IP Database. The user name and password are specified in individual user ShoreTel. Hit the tab end and the phone should register and you can make calls and received by ShoreTel. I have a video clip you can see that it works will include acute! The video shows that enter the user name, but if you want to make the iPhone a kind of extension ShoreTel, the extension user. This was just a fun project and latency oniPhone WiFi is always a challenge for the SIP phone to be used again. I suspect that the version 3.0 of the iPhone will solve this little problem, but it was a blast to try! Have fun!

Acer M900 Answers All of Your Major Mobile Phone Requirements

Mostly mobile phone users want to carry a sophisticated phone that looks beautiful and able to provide many useful features. It is important that the widget can perform all of the major as well as basic features that the user would need for the whole day. A phone like Acer M900 fits the description. It is not only addressing the mobile phone design but also the web browsing, image capturing and music playing requirements.

The Facade: -

The device is incorporated with the huge 3.8 inches TFT color screen with 65k colors and 480 x 800 pixels resolution. The users can get widget based user interface, handwriting recognition feature and fingerprint feature. Acer M900 is a bit heavy device which weight is of 188 grams and measures 119 x 62 x 17.1 mm with a slide out full QWERTY keyboard.

Great Multimedia Features: -

A 5 mega pixel camera is able to capture still as well as moving footages beautifully. Side by side it adds up 2592 x 1944 pixels resolution, autofocus and LED flash. It also comes with second VGA camera for video calling.

Furthermore, you can keep listen to your favourite tracks by using MP3 player and also get updated with FM radio feature. You can also download various polyphonic, MP3, WAV ringtones from the Internet. Acer M900 also has 3.5 mm audio jack feature.

Battery backup and Memory capability: -

The users can save data according to their requirements as it comes with an expandable MicroSD memory card slot option. Battery backup ensures approximately 470 hours of standby time and around 4 hours of talk time.

Connectivity and Other Attributes: -

GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, WI-FI, wireless Bluetooth and cabled USB are connectivity options provided by this chic handset so the users can easily connect their device with the compatible widgets and transfer data at fast speed.

Acer M900 embeds Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional that works over Samsung S3C 6410 533 MHz processor. The users can also access Internet as it comes with HTML web browsing technology. Besides, it is packed with Pocket Office feature that supports World, PowerPoint, OneNote and PDF viewer formats.

SmartPhone Comparison - Samsung BlackJack vs. Cingular 8525

The Samsung Blackjack is one of the best phones on the market. It is known to be the best 3G phone easier. E 'of a thin phone and sleeker, with an impressive display and comes with support for video services and music. The Cingular 8525 is the best Mobile Pocket PC providing access to the Internet, e-mail and special offers for business applications with the speed of broadband. It also has the voice and data, so as not to miss a messageor a call when you browse the net. Here you will come across the best and smartest phone comparison of the Samsung black jack vs. cingular 8525.

The Samsung blackJack is easy to use. There are more of entertainment features and the business applications the phone features lot of entertainment options like, you can listen to music, see video clips and also can browse the internet. The small jack has incredible color screen, and also wireless broadband facilities. It also contains 1.3 mega pixel digi cam which can record video and take pictures of your choice. You can also connect Bluetooth headset to this beautiful Samsung blackJack. Whereas the cingular 8525 has a built in keyboard, Wi-Fi, and 3G wireless networking. When compared to other phones the cingular 8525 connects to the net faster and its speed is relatively high. It has 2 mega pixel camera with the ample resolution. It gives you with the best connectivity service.

You can also get a clear idea seeing the comparisons of Samsung blackJack accessories. There are plenty of Samsung accessories for you to choose. From the Samsung memory cards, covers to protector cases you can find everything. The Samsung blackJack accessories also include Bluetooth devices and also audio connectivity. From the travel charger to the data cable you can find everything you want in the Samsung blackJack accessories. When you decide to buy cingular 8525 accessories there is a wide choice to make. That is from the cell phone and PDA screen protector to signal booster there is lot more of accessories available. From the car holder to the transflash memory car reader you can make your pick from these cingular 8525 accessories. You can also get the sim card information backup device. The cingular 8525 accessories also include pen stylus and also beautiful cases.

The BlackJack is slightly faster when compared to other Smart phones available in the market. But the cingular is the fastest in the connectivity. If you are used to other mobile phones then you will be surprised when you use the black jack. The application process is different when compared to other phones. The cingular 8525 is considered to be more potential than the blackJack. The other draw back is that the blackJack has only 1.2 mega pixel and it don't have Wi-Fi and it has a small screen.

The 8525, is a PDA which allows additional programs it also allow you to work on Word and Excel. If you want to work on these applications then you have to make your choice of buying a cingular and not a blackJack. The blackJack doesn't have touch screen. If you are interested in getting a phone with some extra features then the blackJack is your right choice, whereas if you want to buy one for your business and personal applications then the 8525 will be the right alternative.

5 Tips to Keep Your Magic Jack Working Perfectly

Much of having success in using the new VoIP phone service called Magic Jack has to do with your computer. Many problems are blamed on the device when in fact it is having a conflict with your computer in general or with specific programs you have installed on your computer. Here are 5 tips to keep the Magic Jack working for you:

1. Make sure that your Windows operating system is up-to-date. If you haven't updated in a while, do that now by going to the Start button on your computer and then clicking on Window's Update either on your Start Menu or in All Programs. It might take a long time to get your computer updated but it is worth it by your computer and its programs running better.

2. Have a good virus and anti-spy ware program installed on your computer. Keep this up to date also, updates can be as often as once a day. Usually these programs will update themselves without your having to do anything special. Look in the settings to ensure this will be done for you. Perform a full system scan once a week.

3. Run the disk defragmenter program every 3 to 4 months, even if it tells you it isn't necessary yet. You can find this program by going to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

4. Restart your computer once a week. Once a month, unplug the Magic Jack USB device and then plug it back in.

5. Use an A/C powered USB hub to plug the device into. These are very inexpensive and can be purchased either online or off-line for under $10.

By following these five tips, you can avoid a lot of common problems people seem to have when using a Magic Jack. Remember that the company may be able to fix a defective Magic Jack but cannot fix a defective computer.

Their new VoIP phone system installation, all phones with a single run VOIP Service Line

First of all, if you are subscribed to broadband or high speed internet you need to get VOIP - Period!  VOIP in itself is superior to any land-line service, especially in cost, and should be piggy-backed with your broadband line to take advantage of the service that's already there (and that you're already paying for). Most of the potential bandwidth in this line is goes unused, so adding a little more load on that line is insignificant, and free. The cost of VOIP is separate but so is a land-line, and all the advantages and perks that come with VOIP will not be discussed here.

The confusion comes during the installation of VOIP and most new users overlook one of the easiest, yet most useful parts of the service - it can work on all phones throughout the building, not just the one closest (and connected to) the adapter. This "adapter" is actually a router which is shipped and supplied free by most carriers. A router is similar to a multi-socket extension cord. The broadband line that comes from the modem (supplied by the broadband service) simply plugs into the router and then there are multiple outlets from the router where you can run one or more broadband lines to one or more computers or other devices (to form a network).
 
Also located on the router are phone jacks for plugging phones into. Notice the plural term "jacks." This is where new VOIP subscribers short change themselves. The tendency is to simply run a phone line from one of those jacks to the nearest phone and boom, you have your new VOIP. Unfortunately, you're also tethered to just that one phone, or you may decide to run a very long extension line to another phone in another location. Wireless handsets make this set-up a little more convenient and multilple wireless handsets go even further. However, it gets much better than that.
 
You might as well put all your existing phones back to work and for no extra cost - Here's how (this is assuming that you will no longer be using your old land-line service): After the VOIP is installed and running on the phone that's plugged directly into the router, have the land-line phone company disconnect their service line from the junction box on your house (or building that the old service was connected to). The phone company must physically disconnect this line, not just turn off the service and leave the line connected.

Next, simply connect the phone line from the router into the nearest phone jack on the wall, or wherever the nearest phone was plugged in before VOIP. That's it - now all phone jacks throughout the building are live with your new VOIP service (just like they used to be with the old land-line service). The phone that was plugged directly into the router previously can either go back into one of the other phone jacks on the router or into a 2-into-1 splitter where the VOIP line connects to the wall jack. The splitter is usually supplied by the VOIP service with the router or one can be found for a few dollars at any electronics or hardware store.