re: Mobile Notes/Domino connectivity from Nokia And Ericsson (Symbian)
>> Lotus Goes Wireless with Nokia And Ericsson
InfoWorld
Apr 02 2001
Lotus Notes Goes Mobile To Meet Customer Demand - Endless Connectivity To Their Calender, For Example.
IBM subsidiary Lotus Development announced an agreement with wireless phone manufacturers L.M. Ericsson Telephone and Nokia last week to put a mobile version of Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino on cell phones and other wireless devices by year's end.
Lotus will jointly market and distribute its mobile device software with each company, said Jim Pouliopolos, Lotus' senior mobile and wireless marketing manager. The software allows customers to access applications such as e-mail, calendars, and address books via WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) -enabled devices. CRM (customer relationship management) software, SFA (sales-force automation), and SCM (supply-chain management) applications built on the Domino platform will also be accessible.
Ericsson will integrate Lotus software into its 8380 smart phone and future communicator products. The 8380, which uses the Symbian Epoc platform, is a cell phone/PDA hybrid due for release during the second half of the year. Lotus and Ericsson plan to provide access to Lotus Domino Everyplace Access Server via the new phones, along with instant messaging capabilities through the Sametime Everyplace server.
Nokia also plans to ship Lotus Mobile Notes and Domino Everyplace Access Server software on a phone slated for release later this year, the 9210 Communicator. The 9210 will also be a phone/PDA hybrid operating on the Epoc platform, with a full keyboard and color display and data transmission speeds as fast as 43.2Kbps.
Wireless and mobile applications played a big role at the annual Lotusphere conference in January, said Mark Levitt, research director at high-tech market research firm IDC in Framingham, Mass.
"Lotus has an existing customer base that wants to stay connected," Levitt said. "Lotus realizes that it can't do it alone." Key to adoption of the technology will be a pleasing user experience, he said. "For the average user in the [United States], using a WAP phone to browse the Web is a frustrating, disappointing experience," Levitt said.
Corporate users can also greatly benefit from wireless services, as they could mean two or three more sales deals a month, which means a lot of revenue, Lotus' Pouliopolos said.
Luminant Worldwide, a professional services company based in Dallas, uses Mobile Notes to bring e-mail and calendar functions to its traveling sales force and client services team using WAP phones. Extending the Notes environment has increased worker productivity and responsiveness, said Chetan Sharma, director of research and development at Luminant.
"With the Mobile Notes on the phone, I can check e-mail and I can respond much quicker than waiting to find a dial connection with a laptop;' he said. Extending the mobile capability to other corporate applications "like CRM or sales automation adds a lot of value and is very appealing," Sharma said. <<
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