The primary concern among businesses when reviewing the best business smartphones is overall cost. Small companies cannot afford to purchase expensive smartphones with high-minute plans for all their employees. Your phone provider may offer special rates for businesses purchasing smartphones, plans, and accessories in high volumes. Another concern for businesses when buying smartphones is the level of service offered by providers. If your employees have phone problems beyond the skills of your IT department, you should be located near a store to handle repairs.
IT departments possess different concerns from their employers when it comes to business smartphones. Your IT experts will push for business smartphones containing office applications, file sharing, and other tools compatible with your office’s systems. An IT department can often look at a provider’s website to review patches, uploads, and other information to determine how much work would be involved in integrating smartphones. In general, your IT department is concerned with every employee possessing similar business smartphones to simplify activation and troubleshooting processes.
The average employee is concerned with functionality and size when receiving a business smartphone. Your employees cannot make sales calls, log contact data, and use Internet browsers on their phones without a simple user interface. The simplest way to ensure a strong user interface is to receive input from employees before committing to a business smartphone. Employees receiving business smarthphones may be concerned about bulky phones taking up space in their purses and bags. A business should keep all these concerns in mind when looking for the best business smartphones.
RIM BlackBerry Bold®
The RIM BlackBerry Bold® (http://worldwide.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/) is a business smartphone offered by AT&T© with plenty of mobile office functions. This 4.8-ounce business smartphone may be the biggest of the top products, but the Bold® is also among the most functional. BlackBerry© included its BlackBerry Handheld Software into the Bold® complete with one GB of memory. The two megapixel digital camera allows employees to record videos and snap photos for business purposes.
Users of the RIM BlackBerry Bold® use Internet browsers, mobile email, and GPRS to get work done. The Internet browser on the Bold® allows sales people and executives to stay in touch with their office emails. The mobile email feature allows a direct connection to your email account from the main screen of the Bold®. The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) simplifies the delivery of office documents and information from the Bold® to desktops, thereby making your day-to-day work easier to complete.
Samsung Omnia®
The Samsung Omnia® (http://omnia.samsungmobile.com/) sold by Verizon Wireless© is ideal for offices tied to Microsoft office and connectivity software. This business smartphone runs on a Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system making it possible to connect with office PCs. The Samsung Omnia® contains mobile versions of the Microsoft Office package along with the Microsoft System Mobile Device Manager 2008. The 128 MB memory in the Samsung Omnia® is meager compared to the competition, but sufficient for the average user. Verizon Wireless© allows users to do everything from send picture instant messages to listening to digital players from the Samsung Omnia®. The Samsung Omnia® is among the best business smartphones because it combines essential features into an affordable package.
Nokia E71x®
The Nokia E71x® (http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/NokiaE71x/index.jsp) sold through AT&T© is ideal for businesses trying to keep important documents moving from phone to desktop computer. This business smartphone features a Symbian OS 9.3 operating system capable of synchronizing with Microsoft Outlook and SyncMic. Nokia© developed the E71x® with businesses in mind by expanding the types of files supported by this phone. In addition to the Microsoft Office suite of programs, E71x® supports PDF downloads and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) programs.
The 4.4-ounce Nokia E71x® bursts with other functions that make this model valuable to small businesses. The QWERTY keyboard on the Nokia E71x® allows users to type out text messages and emails without using cumbersome phone keys. The GPS receiver in the Nokia E71x® keeps drivers and traveling sales people from getting lost on the road. The 110 MB memory and two digital cameras within this Nokia© model allow users to take perfect photos of product samples, homes, and other subjects of interest.
HTC Ozone®
Your search for the best business smartphone may look to major names like BlackBerry©, Nokia©, and Samsung©. The HTC Ozone® (http://www.htc.com/us/product/ozone/overview.html) offered by Verizon Wireless© may not leap out to consumers, but it offers great features at relatively low prices. This business smartphone is notable as the lightest product in this list, weighing at a slight 3.7 ounces. The HTC Ozone® lasts up to 290 minutes per charge, outlasting products like the RIM BlackBerry Bold with 270-minute charges.
HTC Ozone® users connect easily to their office computers, thanks to the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. Your employees can access slide shows, videos, and audio files, thanks to the Windows Media Player 10 Mobile in the HTC Ozone®. The Microsoft Office Mobile application provides Word, Excel, and PowerPoint write small for this business smartphone. HTC Ozone® users can take photos for work, thanks to a two-megapixel camera and LCD display screen.
RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630®
The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630® (http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrytour/) sold through Sprint© is designed for professionals trying to stay connected with their colleagues. This 4.6-ounce smartphone features Google Talk, Yahoo!, and AOL Instant Message features to meet the preferences of every user. The BlackBerry Handheld Software and Bluetooth 2.0 technology make emails and calls back to the office easier. The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630® goes well beyond its communication features to provide value for professionals on the move.
The lithium-ion battery on the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630® lasts 300 minutes to avoid frequent trips to the battery charger. BlackBerry© installed a GPS receiver on the Tour 9630® to help users find the right directions to meetings, airports, and other destinations. The phone’s digital camera benefits from a clear LCD display as well as 256 MB of available memory. The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630® is popular among business smartphone users because of its versatility.
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