As SmartPhones continue to sell by the bucketload and increase their market share month on month it brings another factor into the equation when buying your business mobiles - the operating system.
There are currently several different Operating Systems for mobile phones on the market including:
- Windows Mobile
- Android
- Symbian
- BlackBerry OS
- iPhone OS
- Maemo
- Bada
The OS making the headlines at the moment is Android, an open source operating system developed by Google. This features on a number of phones from a range of different manufacturers including HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG.
Being open source means that anyone is free to develop applications for the Android operating system meaning that the number of apps available is increasing daily. These can be obtained from the Android market which contains many free (and paid for) applications making your business life easier.
One factor in the choice of business SmartPhone is the need to sync it with your existing server for email usage. Many IT workers find it easier to get the Windows Mobile OS up and running with a Windows server leading them to recommend this OS. However all operating systems should be capable of delivering push email for business users.
The range of applications available could be another factor, particularly if you rely upon particular applications which make your life easier when out and about. Also familiarity will play a role - once you get used to a particular OS it can be a pain to transfer to another. Even if they largely work the same and provide the same features their GUIs (Graphical User Interface) can be radically different leading to confusion and a steep learning curve.
For SmartPhone advice get in touch with us and we will guide you through the various options, getting you both the best handset for your usage in combination with the best business mobile tariff.