Iphone and business people

[requiemnoise]

How many of you are now having to support Iphone users? Is Iphone becoming a viable solution for sales people who need to access their company's Intranet data?

Thanks

 

[-Sean Casey]

I support iPhones. My preferred platform for end users is Windows Mobile 6.1 due to its tighter integration with Active Directory and Exchange. Much more managable from an IT standpoint. However, iPhone's are allowed and are supported. Of course this also leads to support iTunes.

I really enjoyed when someone moved their entire iTunes library into their redirected profile /w offline files. In XP you just lose access to most of your files when offline (2gb limit for the offline file cache), in Vista it tries to sync it all so when someone has a 19gb profile it causes a significant performance penalty trying to sync all of it. Great fun cleaning that up and iTunes is not always the most cooperative application.

 

[k1pp3r]

I'm still not supporting them in the enterprise. While they may integrate alright, its generally a hassle to setup and configure, not to mention remote support really isn't easy as pie

 

[requiemnoise]

I support iPhones. My preferred platform for end users is Windows Mobile 6.1 due to its tighter integration with Active Directory and Exchange. Much more managable from an IT standpoint. However, iPhone's are allowed and are supported. Of course this also leads to support iTunes.

I really enjoyed when someone moved their entire iTunes library into their redirected profile /w offline files. In XP you just lose access to most of your files when offline (2gb limit for the offline file cache), in Vista it tries to sync it all so when someone has a 19gb profile it causes a significant performance penalty trying to sync all of it. Great fun cleaning that up and iTunes is not always the most cooperative application.

Thanks. That is enough information to write a memo that says, no freaking way. I can easily get the similar data of help desk call logs for Windows Media Player and multiple by 2x for Itune. It will be too expensive to maintain.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I only support Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices in a corporate enivronment.

 

[requiemnoise]

I really appreciate all your responses. Now, few more questions.
1. How many calls per week did you get for mobile devices?
2. How long are these support calls last?
3. Did you hired an extra staff member, because of increased calls?
4. Did the productivity level of your sale staff increased?
5. If you have been utilizing the mobile devices for few years, what was it like at the beginning? How many calls during the first 3 months of the roll out? Did the calls died out by the end of yearly cycle?

Thanks again for contributing.

 

[Azhar]

I support Blackberry and iPhone via Exchange webmail push, and Windows Mobile via ActiveSync.

As for your questionaire, our company is a project management company with employees on client sites all over the US, so mobility is key. Employees are giving laptops and a cellphone (or smartphone).

No sales are involved in our company, however I would imagine job productivity having mobile devices are tremendously improved over having to carry clipboards and beepers around. I have no numbers, but I know for a fact all 47 employees in this company appreciates their technology a LOT.