Wireless Exchange Email Access

Although I dread carrying my notebook computer on business trips, I need access to corporate email while I'm away. But my notebook usually sits in my hotel room, making daytime email access inconvenient and infrequent. Wireless access to Microsoft Exchange Server from a cell phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) improves internal communications and can give your company a competitive edge. Many enterprises use such services and products—and many more will use them in the future—so keeping up with current wireless email developments and products makes good business sense.

A variety of products can conveniently and securely deliver Exchange email to mobile employees. I discuss several of those solutions here. (For a list of the products I mention, see "Contact the Vendors," page 80.) The Windows 2000 Magazine Lab tested a few products earlier this year (see Tom Iwanski, "Wireless Application Protocol Solutions," http://www.win2000mag.com, InstantDoc ID 19657), but the market has grown substantially since then.

All the products I mention reside in your network's demilitarized zone (DMZ) between your mobile users and your enterprise application servers. The products receive a request from a mobile user, retrieve the requested information from your enterprise applications, then deliver it to the user's handheld device in a format that fits the device's screen. Vendors have different terms for their products (e.g., wireless application servers, wireless data platforms), but I refer to them all as wireless middleware. Every solution I mention lets users employ one email address for all their correspondence. But before we look at products, let's review some wireless basics.

Wireless Basics
Wireless email solutions typically require users to have either a cellular phone equipped with a browser based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) standard or a wireless modem—equipped PDA or Pocket PC with a WAP or HTML browser or client. (For information about WAP, see Tao Zhou, "Going Wireless," March 15, 2001.) Because PDAs have more powerful processors and larger memory capacities than wireless phones do, some wireless middleware platforms provide clients for PDAs rather than rely on a browser as the UI for those devices. In addition to providing a richer interface than a browser does on a PDA's larger screen, clients let users download data to read offline. Thus, before boarding a plane, you can download all your messages and read them in flight—an option you don't have with a WAP or HTML browser. In solutions that employ clients instead of a WAP or HTML browser, the authentication and encryption methods the device uses depend on the vendor and on whether the wireless service provider uses a gateway. However, today's PDAs sacrifice the notification feature that most cell phones have, for power and screen size. Unless you direct message notifications to a separate pager or cell phone, you won't know whether new messages are waiting until you launch the browser or client and check your messages.

Wireless capabilities also add significant weight and bulk to most PDAs. Phones provide better portability and might also be less costly because one wireless account can serve both your email and voice needs. Some new models, such as the Sprint PCS touchpoint 3000 and the Ericsson R380 WORLD, provide relatively large screens, software keypads with stylus entry, personal information manager (PIM) functionality, and synchronization with your desktop Microsoft Outlook client. But as phones add functionality, they also tend to become larger.

Even if you opt for a wireless modem—equipped Pocket PC, some wireless email solutions won't let you open attachments—and if you can open them, slow wireless speeds (typically from 9.6Kbps to 19.2Kbps) might make you think twice. One alternative is to forward the attachment to your company's fax server and have the attachment sent to a nearby fax machine. Another option is to run Astata's AstataView Corporate Enterprise Solution (ACES), which can render the document as text and display it on your handset's screen. Onset Technology provides a similar solution called METAmessage Conversion Server (MCS)—Enterprise Edition, which can render the attachment as text on your handset's screen or send it to a local fax machine. Before buying such a product, make sure that it supports your handheld devices.

A Compendium of Email Solutions
Implementing a wireless email solution involves many considerations, including security, cost, ease of use and deployment, scalability, manageability, and features. Unless otherwise specified, all the products I mention in this column can provide access to your Exchange email, Outlook Calendar, and Contacts. However, product-specific features will make some products better suited than others to your environment.

One of the first decisions you'll need to make is whether you'll want access to other enterprise applications such as customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). If email access is all you need, consider one of the several middleware products that focus specifically on email access.

In contrast to most wireless products, Research In Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry Enterprise Edition is a complete solution that includes BlackBerry Enterprise Server software, wireless service through the Cingular Wireless or Motient wireless network, and a handheld device with a synchronization cradle and software for your desktop system. BlackBerry is available in four models and two sizes. The larger devices are slightly smaller than a Pocket PC and have a 19-line screen. The smaller units, which are pager-sized, have an 8-line screen. All models provide PDA functionality.

The Lab tested these devices (see Anneliese Walsh, "BlackBerry," March 2001) and found their keyboards to be easier to use than software-based keyboards or character recognition features on Palms and Pocket PCs. Battery life was also superior. RIM handhelds use the vendor's client software rather than a browser.

Unlike most other wireless email products for Exchange, BlackBerry uses push technology, so your messages automatically appear on the handheld's display as soon as they arrive. In addition to providing email access, BlackBerry provides for wireless synchronization of your Outlook calendar with the calendar on the device and lets you initiate, accept, and reject meeting requests. BlackBerry lacks a native ability to handle attachments, but third-party products can provide a solution. RIM says that messages remain Triple DES (3DES) encrypted at all times between the handheld and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server system.

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