What phone for workforce....
- Thread starter R.O.S.S.I
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And will do for foreseeable future. they have a guaranteed update life, can't remember what it is though.
Good integration, office, cheap, reliable, fast and even von support is fixed in next update sometime in spring.
Just doing this now and we have chosen Windows phones.
Couple of reasons.
They work well with Exchange and Office as mentioned above.
Enough apps for our needs, but not so much rubbish that users will just fill the phones up.
Seems to be inherently more secure than Android as OS is (currently) locked down, not easy to fiddle with.
Standard look across models. Every Windows phone is virtually identical to use, without the issues of different skins on different Android phones.
Couple of reasons.
They work well with Exchange and Office as mentioned above.
Enough apps for our needs, but not so much rubbish that users will just fill the phones up.
Seems to be inherently more secure than Android as OS is (currently) locked down, not easy to fiddle with.
Standard look across models. Every Windows phone is virtually identical to use, without the issues of different skins on different Android phones.
Soldato
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Cant agree sadly. All our OS 10 BB, the users returned to us after a few months.
They hated them and asked for 9720's.
BB's are a nightmare to administrate. I would know. Horrible little things. Evil in a plastic case.
We are in the process of moving people over to iphone with a few sprinklings of windows phone here and there.
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Soldato
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Only issue I have experienced is the desktop software is utterly horrendous on windows phone.
Super basic.
But I guess everything is cloud based.
Soldato
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I've been provided with a HTC Rio S windows phone and it is perfect for its job. It is easy to set up to work with work wifi and the exchange is easy to set up. It is smooth to use in everyday use and it's browses the web perfectly. Why do you need something twice as expensive and much more powerful than that?
I work for a mobile phone provider to businesses and over the past year we have seen 90% of them drop blackberrys in favour of iPhones (mainly 4S's). There are a few who have gone for the newer blackberrys who say they are excellent, but we haven't had a single company switch to Android.
We made this mistake too - however now our budget phone of choice has been the Galaxy Ace 2 and they've been fantastic
(BIG OL DISCLAIMER - I work for Voda) As your requirements are probably mid size deployment (MDM, possibly multi OS) I'd give your network a call because most of them have universal MDM as part of their package deals including bus tariffs, fast replacement etc... I tend to work with the super large sector (5k+) in Europe and most customers take iOS/Android mix right now. It depends on your specific requirements mostly - one customer took all android so they could integrate an app with it etc... Any OS is easy to lockdown & manage with the current gen MDM stuff though, they are much better than they were a couple of years ago.
What do you mean? You just open file explorer and put your files on that way?
Soldato
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I think what meant was backup/restore.... but of course most of it is cloud based.
I suppose it's good actually and Im being overly harsh. It's just where I work we dont have a 'real' exchange server, and use open source alternatives, so it was a pain to get the phones integrated on to the network.
Man of Honour
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Phone is there for taking calls and perhaps checking emails,. I wouldn't expect staff to be productive on it.
I personally think that a BB is the best for writing/responding to emails as I like a physical keyboard to write emails with - it's easier (to me).
Are there any other phones of the same characteristics that would do that?
I personally think that a BB is the best for writing/responding to emails as I like a physical keyboard to write emails with - it's easier (to me).
Are there any other phones of the same characteristics that would do that?
Not a clue what everyone is recommending Windows for.
Google Drive and Quickoffice work perfectly on Android for opening almost any document you would need. 15GB of free Drive storage for all your documents too, synced calendar and contacts.
And if you get a Nexus device you won't loose support because it's supported directly by Google. Although I wouldn't recommend the N5 as you likely wouldn't be able to use the camera as it's dreadful.
Google Drive and Quickoffice work perfectly on Android for opening almost any document you would need. 15GB of free Drive storage for all your documents too, synced calendar and contacts.
And if you get a Nexus device you won't loose support because it's supported directly by Google. Although I wouldn't recommend the N5 as you likely wouldn't be able to use the camera as it's dreadful.
There's nothing wrong with the N5 camera.Apart from the software issue meaning a lot of people can't record sound properly. Plus, the camera is just dreadful unless you have some flood lights then good luck recording in any shady areas.
Other than the camera and quality control issues (not sure if this is fixed?) then the Nexus 5 is a wonderful phone.
Other than the camera and quality control issues (not sure if this is fixed?) then the Nexus 5 is a wonderful phone.
There's so much wrong with my W8 phone, but for starters;
No drop box
No decent browsers
No VPN
Lync is pap
Email client is pap
Calendar client is pap
Bing
Fails to recognise most documents as being openable
Doesn't search your address book as you type a phone number
Difficult to join meetings from calendar entries (doesn't highlight phone numbers)
General unintuitive UI for most things
Keyboard doesn't scale in landscape
Can't change the keyboard
Send button right next to enter, I'm forever sending half written emails
Random screen freezes and unresponsiveness
Yes they are little things, but they add up and annoy meal much I wish I had got something else. W8 lacks even basic customization and useability. Dropbox and VPN are the killers. What my company doesn't store on Dropbox is stored within the network requiring VPN. There are things I simply can't do for my job on my work phone.
On the plus side the battery is fantastic and its a really nice solid yet simple phone to hold and use (Nokia Lumia 620).
No drop box
No decent browsers
No VPN
Lync is pap
Email client is pap
Calendar client is pap
Bing
Fails to recognise most documents as being openable
Doesn't search your address book as you type a phone number
Difficult to join meetings from calendar entries (doesn't highlight phone numbers)
General unintuitive UI for most things
Keyboard doesn't scale in landscape
Can't change the keyboard
Send button right next to enter, I'm forever sending half written emails
Random screen freezes and unresponsiveness
Yes they are little things, but they add up and annoy meal much I wish I had got something else. W8 lacks even basic customization and useability. Dropbox and VPN are the killers. What my company doesn't store on Dropbox is stored within the network requiring VPN. There are things I simply can't do for my job on my work phone.
On the plus side the battery is fantastic and its a really nice solid yet simple phone to hold and use (Nokia Lumia 620).
Soldato
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I get the overriding feeling you think the phone is pap. Would you say that is correct?
Personally I don’t like the ergonomics of the device. Too big and chunky.
As far as I have experienced Apple seems to be the easiest devices to manage and administrate.
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The phones nice. The OS is the problem. A Lumia 620 with Android would be perfect.
The problem with iPhones for business is they cost sooooo much. When buying tens of phones it makes it very difficult to justify £500 per device over something like the Moto G at 1/4 the cost.
To the OP, is there any scope for changing the system? My work pay £200 towards the cost of a work phone, and its up to the employee to buy what they want. Android people buy Android, iPhone people stump up the extra cash themselves and get iPhones, and idiots like me decide to try something new and get a W8 phone and regret it.
The problem with iPhones for business is they cost sooooo much. When buying tens of phones it makes it very difficult to justify £500 per device over something like the Moto G at 1/4 the cost.
To the OP, is there any scope for changing the system? My work pay £200 towards the cost of a work phone, and its up to the employee to buy what they want. Android people buy Android, iPhone people stump up the extra cash themselves and get iPhones, and idiots like me decide to try something new and get a W8 phone and regret it.