AirTel introduces `mail live` facility for companies

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh circle of AirTel has launched a 'mail live' facility for corporate customers, which will enable companies to let their employees access office e-mails from handsets that have either WAP (wireless access protocol) or GPRS (general packet radio service) features.

To provide the mail live facility AirTel has entered into an alliance with Hyderabad-based JP Mobile, an enterprise mobility software solutions provider, to use the latter's SureWave Enterprise Server. JP Mobile has been till now focussing on the US market.

Announcing the launch of the facility, Subba Rao N V, AirTel vice-president of operations, said, corporate customers can now enable their members to read, reply, forward, delete or compose email from their respective office email accounts. The members can also modify contacts, view or edit attachments directly from their AirTel phones.

He added that the mail live facility provides multi-device compatibility. It is can be used with Palm, pocket PC, Symbian smart phones as well as phones with WAP and GPRS browsers.

According to him, "The facility also provides a single platform for all mail servers like MS Exchange, Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise. The facility, which at present is limited to the Andhra Pradesh circle of AirTel, will be expanded to the other circles in phases," he said.

Raghu Kumar, managing director, JP Mobile, detailed the security features of mail live said, "Unlike other products that rely on data routing or store-and-forward applications, SureWave is deployed behind the enterprise firewall and fully secures the enterprise data." He added that the use of industry standard protocols like SSL (secure sockets layer) and data encryption standards (DES) ensured strict privacy of the data exchanged between the corporate server and handsets of the employees. Password- protected, SureWave enables IT departments of corporates to offer members bi-directional synchronised access to data behind a firewall.

J P Mobile also offers Mobile Procurement and Approval System (MPAS) to assist in the ordering and tracking of mobile devices. Kumar disclosed that JP Mobile was focusing on the Indian market and working to adapt SureWave to CDMA platforms as well.