What phone for workforce....

Yeh iPhones all around would be the best. I just know users will complain about something unless it has an apple logo on it.

I think im going to have to get some trial units in really. No matter what I get I will no doubt get a similar amount of issues. People complained that the BlackBerry hammered their battery like no ones business but they fail to realise moving to a full LCD touch screen device is going to be no better.

I'm thinking something like the Moto G or a low end Lumia might fit the bill really. I had no problem with my exchange email on my Galaxy S and my Nexus 4 so hopefully the Moto G won't be too much different. Cheap handsets too aswell if they break/get lost/malfunction.

Skeeter - don't think the CEO would go for something like that. Think they'd like to have full say say over what people have as they want everyone with the same handset purely for administrative purposes and to enable collagues to support each other on their devices (I know 90% of androids interface is the same across devices)

Funny really though, management will no doubt say they NEED an iPhone 5S (they all have 4S's atm), however I'd argue they do no more phoning/email on the go than the normal workers. Talk about leading by example!
 
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We field tested 2x Nokia 925's a while ago and WP8 fundamentally just doesn't work as a productive tool.

The Calender is utter gash, most of our staff on the road have info pushed out to them via their calender so this was a big deal.

The browser laughable, it's slow to the point of painful at times.

No VPN is unforgivable in this stage of the OS's life. Without VPN it will never be taken seriously as a business option.

The worst bit however was the email client, we have blackberries, iPhones and Android devices all talking to our exchange server perfectly happily with no issues at all, however to get WP8 working took an unbelievable amount of effort as for some reason it didn't like our security certificate.

Moto G's are the answer OP, you can even get them in a dual sim variant if your users are so inclined.
 
You need a SAN cert for WP8 to not be unhappy IIRC. ROSSI it might be worth mentioning the Samsung Email app is different (I'd say better, some wouldn't) on some versions of Android vs the stock if you're concerned about usability.

The cost of the handset on business tariffs sometimes[/I ]isn't that big of a deal compared to the TCO of a handset over 2 years so some companies I have dealt with recently just took a bunch of them and gave people the choice to make people happy (and then locked them to within an inch of their lives). People took a lot more wp devices then i was expecting for work but I share the opinion of many here that they are awkward work devices.
 
WP8 for me. Easy to use, great compatibility with MS Exchange. Lacking 3rd party app support. Perfect for business users.

I own a Nexus 5 btw.
 
I'll be looking at trialling a few different WP8 devices and android ones first before I make a decision though. The Moto G sounds perfect really, especially considering the cost per handset compared to a high end Lumia, Nexus or an iPhone.

As long as it has a solid mail client and calendar and can view attachments (PDF's, Word, Excel and maybe PowerPoints) then it should be fine. There'll be no expectation for users to be working on documents on the move just to purely view and be able to check mails freely.

A good camera is a bonus but not a deal breaker really as we rely heavily on pictures being sent from out in the field for our website/social media etc. Anything will be better than the BB's we've been using though!
 
Get a WP8 to test and use it as much as possible. If you haven't decided it's garbage after a week ill find a hat to eat.

Assuming that is that it lasts a week before you throw it out a window having accidentally sent yet another half written email!
 
Are people just saying Windows phone because they think Microsoft will work well with Microsoft?

I have a Windows Phone 8 for work and its crap. Exchange is no simpler than on Android. It need a Microsoft account that isn't your work email to work. It lacks basic common sense functionality, is a pain to use, and doesn't connect to VPNs. It also doesn't have half the apps I want.

My Android phone is a far better work phone. Moto G all the way, buy shed loads.

And Android doesn't need a Gmail account to work? Wait... It does... Android also seems to have problems with more than one exchange account on a phone too.

While Android is great for some thing it's not great as a hands off work style phone. Heck WP even has a "find my phone" feature built in which no amount of hard resetting will get rid of.
 
Yeh I'd rather not want to have to set gmail accounts up for all of our users really, likewise I don't want to have to sign up for live accounts or apple accounts for all our users. Is it the same with all of devices nowadays? At least with the BBs I could just use enterprise activation and it was done.

If I got android devics would I have to get Goole accounts for everyone to back up their data?
 
Anyone tried Lync 2013 mobility enabled user on a Windows phone? I know 2010 isn't very good.
 
There are enormous updates coming which will favour businesses.

How many devices are you looking to purchase?

I work for Nokia, so may be able to put you in touch with people. May I ask what the company name is?
 
Moto G's are also very durable phone's with excellent build quality, perfect size for one hand and splashproof as employee's are very unlikely to treat it well as their own phone ;)
 
And Android doesn't need a Gmail account to work? Wait... It does... Android also seems to have problems with more than one exchange account on a phone too.

While Android is great for some thing it's not great as a hands off work style phone. Heck WP even has a "find my phone" feature built in which no amount of hard resetting will get rid of.

The difference is that you can't use an Exchange account or even an Office 365 account as the sign in account on a Windows phone, which is totally retarded. Same with Window 8. On my work laptop and work phone I've had to create a personal Microsoft account for the base OS to use. You can't centrally manage Windows Phones via an enterprise account system, which strikes me as a massive backwards step.

Yes Android needs a Google account, but at least if you have a Google Apps environment at your company you can use those accounts.

Anyone tried Lync 2013 mobility enabled user on a Windows phone? I know 2010 isn't very good.

Yep. Just as pap as 2010.
 
Go for the Moto G, the workforce will tinker with them, root them, break them, install god knows what malware from god knows what site, cry at the IT bods. It'll all be fine.
 
Go for the Moto G, the workforce will tinker with them, root them, break them, install god knows what malware from god knows what site, cry at the IT bods. It'll all be fine.

Not sure if serious but I doubt anyone will tinker with a work phone, or if most normal people even know what rooting and stuff even are.
 
citation needed, and it isn't like your any better then a "android boys shout" as you put it.

F-Secure: Android accounted for 97% of all mobile malware in 2013,

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This is the problem, the Android boys shout loudest, despite being infested with 97% of the mobile malware.

Because it makes sense to target the biggest market in the same way Windows used to be the major target on desktops because it was the most used.
 
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