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Rollout: Windows Mobile 6.0: Page 3 of 5

A Bigger SIP

One of the most talked about features in Windows Mobile 6.0 is the inclusion of Microsoft's own SIP stack. SIP expands communication options by letting callers use their Windows Mobile phone as a VoIP phone over Wi-Fi, where they can place and receive calls to a PBX or commercial SIP server. Unfortunately, the inclusion of SIP and, more specifically, the configuration of it, is at the discretion of the mobile operator. T-Mobile did not include SIP support in the units we were sent.

Microsoft also has made improvements to calendaring. With Windows Mobile 6.0, users can view attendees for meetings and their status (whether a colleague will or won't attend a meeting). Users of Windows Mobile 6 Professional can send new meeting requests directly from their handhelds. Building on the idea of collaboration, Microsoft also now lets users access files from Windows Server over SMB or SharePoint file shares behind the enterprise firewall by using Microsoft Exchange as a proxy.

This feature is similar to RIM's Mobile Data Services, though limited by comparison. Although Windows Mobile 6.0 allows for file share access, RIM's Mobile Data Services can tunnel a variety of data requests behind the corporate firewall. We'd like to see broader proxy access (for instance, to SQL requests to back end servers), but generic document access is a decent start.

Management of Windows Mobile handsets remains within Exchange, and administrators can perform basic security tasks, such as remotely wiping devices and enforcing strong device PINs. However, advanced features, such as disabling applications or performing device inventory, which are available in mobile device management systems from RIM, Nokia and Sybase, are not included.