Nokia aims to oust office phones

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 18 Sep 2007 at 13:55

Nokia is making a greater push towards unified communications with the launch of a new smartphone designed to replace the office phone.

The E51 is a dual-mode handset with both 3G and Wi-Fi compatibility. The latter allows the handset to connect to a business's PBX phone system, allowing users to look up colleagues on the internal phone directory and place calls from their mobile.

"We want to add mobile to unified communications. We think we are bringing something unique," says Antti Vasara, general manager of Nokia's mobile device business unit. "The E51 can also be your desk phone - it can be connected to your corporate phone system and have all the functionality of that."

Providing employees with mobile access to their fixed phone line can have tangible productivity benefits, according to Nokia's soltuions partner BT Global Services. It claims 56% of office phone calls go unanswered in businesses without fixed/mobile convergence (FMC), falling to 33% when the employee effectively carries their landline with them around the office.

FMC also allows employees who roam between different branch offices to have access to their landline facilities, providing the office has full Wi-Fi deployment. "For people who are making a lot of calls on their mobile, away from their desk, in offices with full Wi-Fi coverage, there are cost savings to be made," says Rakesh Mahajan, global director of mobility at BT Global Services.

Work and play

Nokia is also keen to stress the leisure facilities of the E51, with Vasara claiming that "the line between business and personal life is getting blurred".

As a result, the phone also includes consumer features such as a 2-megapxiel digital camera, FM radio, MP3 player and video playback from its 240 x 320 resolution screen. It also supports Bluetooth stereo audio streaming.

But with the same handset pressed into use for both work and leisure, is Nokia not concerned about potential security breaches from lost handsets? "If you lose your phone we can encrypt [corporate] data on the memory card," claims Vasara. He also claims networks can wipe or shut off the phone remotely, if it's reported stolen. "There's no extra threat being introduced by mobile devices," Vasara adds.

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