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Mitel Unifed Communicator (UC) Advanced software, already available on BlackBerry smartphones, can now be run on Android devices, enabling IT managers to accommodate workers who prefer to use their own smartphones in the workplace. Mitel UC Advanced gives desktop and mobile users a single interface to access voice, video, instant messaging, conferencing and presence. The mobile client application includes a location-based presence capability that allows users to indicate how they would like to be contacted based on where they are. For example, using GPS location, a user may have a status of ‘mobile’ when they are on the go in which case calls would be routed to

their smartphone.When the user arrives at the offce, their status can automatically change to ‘in the offce’ with calls routed to a deskphone. Other features include the ability to: click-to-dial from the corporate contact list and place calls through the corporate network; view missed, dialed, and received calls; access visual voicemail from an offce extension; and manage messages by preference rather than sequence.

Mitel made the prediction following a survey of participants in a webinar to launch its new Freedom architecture, which gives customers the convenience of a single number (and mailbox), contactability on the device of their choice (with follow-me capability) and a full and consistent feature set regardless of location.

More than half the survey respondents said that mobile phones would become the dominant communication device in the workplace and that businesses would move to a ‘bring your own device’ strategy.

Graham Bevington, Mitel managing director for EMEA, said: “Organisations should be establishing their unifed communications strategies now in order to prepare for new ways of working that are already on the horizon.With a UC solution in place, such shifts in working practices can be simply and securely accommodated whilst enabling the benefts of reducing costs and fexible working practices that can improve productivity and attract the best staff.”

Internet Service Provider Timico is another company to have launched new mobile device management services in response to the proliferation of employee-owned devices in the workplace and growing corporate use of consumer tablets and smartphones.

These include the UK’s frst cloud-based mobile device management and security service for small and medium-sized businesses. The hosted version of Sybase Afaria provides SMEs with a single administrative console to centrally manage, secure and deploy mobile data, applications and devices. Timico’s service is device OS agnostic and can manage all the main vendor types including Apple’s iOS, RIM, Android andWindows Mobile 7.

Vodafone is equipping hundreds of London taxis with mobile phone chargers so that passengers can recharge their phones on the move. In another new development, Vodafone customers will be able to pay for their journey using their phone. The Vodafone-branded cabs have an eye-catching Union Jack design and are part of a new publicity campaign that also includes a feet of Vodafone-branded Heathrow Express trains.

Efftel’s analysis of 1,800 UK corporate users (1,430 Blackberry owners and 370 users of iPhones or other devices) reveals that the average monthly data use was 15MB for each Blackberry user and 96MB for users of iPhones and equivalents. The average data ‘call’ was 0.38MB for Blackberries against 5.5MB for iPhones. According to Efftel, average Blackberry usage is lower partly because RIM’s devices are more effcient in the way they compress and transfer data and partly because the iPhone makes it easier to use data ‘apps’ and other forms of data transfer.

David Rosenthal, managing director of Efftel, said: “With employers encouraging staff to always be in touch whether travelling or working from home, the number of company mobile phones in use has seen a huge rise in recent years. But what most employers perhaps don’t realise is that whilst national traffc is generally included within the fxed cost of the contract, roamed usage is not, and the average iPhone user is likely to cost

signifcantly more than a Blackberry user when roaming, leading to substantial additional charges.”

In response to growing corporate use of smartphones, Efftel has launched a new auditing service for mobile devices. As part of the service, it will check customers’ mobile phone bills to ensure that the network operator is applying the correct rates; users are on the most appropriate roaming or data tariff; all phones are properly accounted for; and unused services are not charged for. It will also identify any unused SIMs, highlight potential misuse by employees and suggest ways to cut down on unnecessary calls.

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