Leaving Your Laptop Behind: 4Smartphone

Note: Rich Mullikin's company does work for 4Smartphone, who offer the technology solution described in this article.

As companies increasingly adopt wireless technologies to do business, access to real-time information and flexibility in working environments become critical factors in reducing costs and gaining competitive advantage. Virtually all companies have employees who are mobile or who work from remote locations, and more than 75 percent of knowledge workers will be mobile at least 25 percent of the time within the next two years; according to Meta Group's “Taking Business Mobile: The Impact of Wireless and Mobile Technology” (found at http://www.intel.com; search on “Taking Business Mobile”).

Youri Bebic is Vice President of Sales in North America for Gemplus International. Gemplus creates the SIM cards that provide the intelligence (and billing records) for cell phones. They're the world's leading player in the smart card industry in terms of both revenues and total shipments. Bebic travels extensively each year, including many overseas trips. He needed a mobile solution that eliminated the need to lug his laptop around to sales meetings, and cut down on all the extra hardware for trips abroad to Gemplus' international headquarters in France. “I constantly need documents, contacts, e-mails for review, and my agenda (calendar) so I don't miss any critical business opportunities,” said Bebic.

The laptop approach meant carrying a large briefcase along with his carryon suitcase. Inside it would be his files and papers, his laptop, and a host of cables and electrical adaptors with which to connect everything together and to power it all. When he's traveling for 12 hours and up, that extra weight is a chore.

Finding a Solution

Bebic knew he had a problem, and the solution came through his contacts in the cell provider industry. “I happened to know one of the founders of 4Smartphone; so I had heard about their product,” he said.

The Audiovox SMT-5600

4Smartphone allows him to carry a Smartphone with him wherever he travels, yet still connect back via the Internet to the computer in his office to access his Outlook information.

More importantly, Bebic is “always on.” His Smartphone receives e-mail, contacts and calendar information over-the-air, so he's able to keep working wherever he happens to be during his travels. “I now have the flexibility to only take my phone, know it will work in whatever country I am in, and know that my contacts, calendar and e-mail follow me wherever I am, saving me an incredible amount of time: that translates into money in my business.”

One convenient feature of the Smartphone he selected (an Audiovox SMT-5600) is that it is unlocked and works with SIM cards. This means that Bebic can use his cell phone in Europe as well as in the United States.

Getting going with 4Smartphone

4SmartPhone works with the Microsoft Exchange Server platform. It delivers seamless and secure access to contacts, e-mail, calendar and documents; further, there's no software that needs to be installed either on the user's Smartphone or on their PC. 4SmartPhone offers over-the-air synchronization between a Smartphone and an Exchange server, and features Web-based, over-the-air automated setup.

Bebic notes, “It takes 5 minutes to set up, and it's very easy to use: the GUI is user-friendly. You go to their Web page, enter your username and password, and off you go. You can manage your 4Smartphone profile, transfer info to a new phone, etc. Their system relays you to your home copy of Outlook, be it on an Exchange Server or on your personal PC.”

“There are two ways you can set it up,” said Bebic. “You can have your e-mails pushed to you, or you can synchronize manually. That's the way I like to do it, so that I'm not disturbed during meetings and so on. One click (selection) on the Smartphone and I get all my messages. It's an ActiveSync link across the Internet.”