By Patricia Cardoza, Microsoft Outlook MVP, who works as a Microsoft Exchange Administrator and Developer for Pacific Southwest Container, a large manufacturing company. Patricia maintains a blog about Microsoft Business Contact Manager (BCM) as well as a Web site, Cardoza Solutions, for BCM and Outlook resources.

Years ago, e-mail was a convenience. It was merely a quick and easy way to transmit information from one company or one user to another, but it wasn't considered a mission-critical business commodity. Many employees in an organization didn't even have e-mail. These days, businesses rely on e-mail for their everyday operations. As e-mail has grown more popular, users have gone from checking their e-mail once or twice a day to leaving Outlook open the entire time they are at their desks.

Today's workers aren't tied to their desks either. Mobile professionals and telecommuters are more and more common as mobile devices become smaller, more flexible, and more powerful. This article examines how one business uses a variety of mobile devices to provide its users with immediate access to their e-mail, no matter the time or place.

This business, a large manufacturing facility, has a number of different types of users. Each type needs a different level of access to e-mail. The following table describes the types of users and their e-mail needs.

While at their desks, the users access their e-mail by using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 as a client for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Outlook and Exchange allow users to organize their e-mail by using folders, Search Folders, and rules. Any mobile solution that is implemented needs to allow access to multiple folders, including Public Folders.

Why go mobile?

A typical day for production supervisors begins in the office. They check their e-mail, respond to the most important items, and then head to the manufacturing floor to oversee the day's production. Depending on how the production runs are going, they might spend between one and four hours on the manufacturing floor. During that time, their e-mail is piling up in their Inbox, and they might miss some critical items. If they carried a mobile device with them, they could check their e-mail no matter where they were on the manufacturing floor. Mobile access to their e-mail also would allow them to immediately respond to their team members' needs. For example, if a machine operator requests information that the production supervisor does not have, the supervisor can easily send e-mail to the appropriate individual on the spot and get the answers.

For sales representatives, the argument for mobile devices is even stronger. Typical sales representatives check their e-mail early in the morning before they head out to meet with customers. On a busy day, they could meet with up to seven or eight different customers. Without access to their e-mail, they can easily miss important developments, such as a delay in a customer's order or pricing information for an upcoming meeting. Figure 1 shows a typical mobile device screen with Pocket Outlook.

a-rgault: See comment below about 'Jane Digola.'Figure 1: Windows Mobile 2003 with Pocket Outlook allows you to access your POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail over a cellular data connection.

Advantages of mobile devices

Today's Windows Mobile-powered devices have a wide variety of capabilities that mobile professionals can use. Many devices are now being sold with an integrated camera. In the example of our manufacturing organization, the sales representatives use the integrated camera to take pictures of damaged shipments. A sales representative can immediately send the picture in e-mail to the appropriate individuals back at the main office to process a credit for the customer or fix the process that caused the damage.

Figure 2: A personal digital assistant (PDA) with an integrated camera allows you to take pictures of products while on the road.

A mobile device with Microsoft ActiveSync and a cellular connection can synchronize data over the Internet to schedule meetings or respond to meeting requests. Synchronizing e-mail, calendar, and contacts means that a user is never out of touch with the office.

Figure 3: You can schedule meetings and use Microsoft ActiveSync over the Internet or a cellular data connection.

In addition to e-mail, users can also send and receive attachments. Windows Mobile-powered devices have the capability to view Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, as well as a variety of image file types. Third-party software can also allow viewing of Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents. Figure 4 shows an e-mail message with an attached Word document. A user can download that attachment and use Pocket Word to open the document. The user can then edit the document and send it in e-mail to another user right from the Windows Mobile device.

Figure 4:a-rgault: The name 'Jane Digola' in fig. 4 isn't on the LCA approved names list. Is it legally approved? Not only can you view e-mail messages, but you can download and view a variety of attachments, including images, Word documents, and PDF files.

Choose your devices

The previous two scenarios describe briefly how mobile devices can benefit users at a manufacturing facility. As an administrator, if you make the decision to equip your users with mobile devices, you'll need to put some thought into the types of devices you're going to give them. You'll also need to decide if you're going to restrict the types of devices you let them use or give them the choice of any device on the market today. Which choice you make is often determined by the types of users you have. If your users are relatively technically savvy and can often perform minor troubleshooting tasks on their own, letting them have their choice of device isn't a bad decision. If your users are technophobic or simply expect the IT staff to help them with any and all problems, no matter how large or small, you might want to restrict the types of devices that you allow them you use.

PDAs, Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, Windows Mobile-based Smartphones, and Palm devices are usually slightly less stable than a typical cellular phone. Even with my Samsung i700, I find that I have to reboot the phone at least once a month. Software conflicts and user error are the two most common reasons that an integrated device might be problematic.

If you decide to standardize on a particular device for your users, you'll need to determine what that device is. The best method of choosing a device is to ask your users what they ultimately want to get out of the device. Send them a short survey and poll their responses. Once you've decided on a solution, you can also respond to users' answers to show them you listened to their input and found the solution that best meets their needs.

A sample survey might look something like the following:

This survey is designed to facilitate developing a handheld computing policy for the sales department. Please answer the questions below and return the form to the IT department. Thank you.

1. Do you currently use a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)? If you answered yes, which kind?
2. Which features are important to you when choosing a PDA?
3. Do you feel "out of touch" with the office at times?
   1. If you answered yes, what information do you need improved access to?
   2. How would this access help you do your job?
4. Please rank these PDA/mobile access solution features in order of their importance (1 through 10, 1 being the most important):
   1. Provides immediate, consistent e-mail delivery and notification
   2. Able to edit Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files
   3. Able to schedule appointments, tasks, and meetings
   4. Able to record memos
   5. Contains an integrated cellular phone
   6. Provides a color display
   7. Exchanges data with your clients/customers
   8. Provides access to custom business applications
   9. Takes, stores, sends in e-mail, and displays photos
   10. Other, please specify:___________________________________________

Once you have the results of your survey, you can begin selecting one or two devices for your users. You can find all of the facts and figures on the Internet, such as battery life, talk time, supported e-mail protocols, and accessories. That information doesn't tell you how the device really performs in the field. Only a field test can really tell you how the device performs for your particular needs. Most cellular vendors will allow you to trial one or more devices for two weeks or 30 days. That's generally enough time to know whether the device will meet your needs.

Once you've settled on a particular device for final implementation, consider choosing several individuals from your organization to participate in a pilot program. Select users with a wide range of technical abilities from a variety of departments to ensure that you receive meaningful results. You'll learn how the devices will benefit your users, what challenges they'll face, and what types of support issues you'll encounter when you deploy your solution.

Finally, be aware of possible coverage issues that might arise from users' travel habits. Different cellular providers often have widely differing coverage options. If your users need to use their cellular phones in less populated areas, in particular, you'll want to spend a little extra time examining the various coverage maps for the major cellular carriers. For example, GSM coverage has expanded greatly in the past few years, but there are still some areas of the country where GSM coverage is nonexistent but CDMA coverage is available. Most of the major cellular carriers have detailed coverage maps and will be able to work with you to determine if their coverage meets your needs. After following these steps, you should have a delighted sales force that's more productive than ever.

So what do you get for your investment?

Once you equip your users with mobile devices, they'll be able to access their e-mail just as though they were in the office.

One real world implementation

All of the information in this article was used to implement a wireless PDA solution for the manufacturing company mentioned earlier. Mobile sales professionals and senior executives use Windows Mobile 2003 PDA/Phones. On the manufacturing floor, production supervisors carry rugged Microsoft Windows CE devices with 802.11 b wireless access. Forklift drivers have lift-mounted Windows CE devices with bar code scanners to locate and move material.

About the author:   Patricia Cardoza is an independent consultant and full-time Exchange Administrator and Developer for Pacific Southwest Container in central California. She is responsible for all of the communications needs of the company and has recently supported a major business system conversion and survived to tell about it. Patricia's main development focus has been Outlook and Exchange development, where she has developed a complete Public Folder Sales Force Automation System that supports 15 mobile sales representatives and 30 office users. Patricia has also written three books on Microsoft Office technologies. In her little spare time, Patricia enjoys golf and spending time with her husband and very spoiled cats.