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Mobile Messaging Gateways: Page 2 of 16

Once you've decided that the benefits of wireless e-mail outweigh the negatives, on which device will you deliver it? Those who send as much e-mail as they receive require highly interactive setups and may be best off using notebook computers with wireless data capabilities. In fact, this was the most deployed configuration in our e-poll, ahead of RIM BlackBerrys. With a notebook, connectivity options include both Wi-Fi and cellular. For cellular data, the cost of unlimited usage plans for laptops is much higher than for smartphones.

The form of wireless e-mail we most often associate with the genre, however, is a wireless PDA or smartphone, such as a RIM BlackBerry, PalmOne Treo or Microsoft Pocket PC, where you receive e-mail in close to real time. Good nationwide cellular-data coverage is available from many operators, and smartphones are an excellent fit for the speeds and capacities of these networks. The most common usage model is one in which 80 percent to 90 percent of e-mail is received and 10 percent to 20 percent is sent--no surprise given smartphones' input options. The little keyboards found on many newer wireless PDAs help greatly, but typing is still difficult.

The key feature of this model is the "push" of messages to the mobile client, which usually involves a gateway to do the pushing, most likely a client-initiated pull process. A variant of the PDA model is to have your users access mail servers directly from the device without employing the gateway. This setup is simpler, but you lose the push capability. However, though polling an e-mail server every five or 10 minutes may provide an almost-real-time mail experience, it's highly inefficient from a network standpoint: It decreases battery life, and you must configure your firewalls for inbound mobile communications.

The final usage model involves monitoring e-mail using a mobile phone while sending only a tiny amount--painfully, using the 10-key pad. You can use a microbrowser, which also requires a gateway, or a mail client on the phone itself. Many phones now include mail clients, though capabilities are limited and tend to emphasize POP3 and IMAP. Java capability is becoming more common on handsets, and we expect mail clients written in Java to become more sophisticated and to support a higher number of e-mail protocols. Another wireless option--and not one we recommend--is to receive e-mail notifications through text messages using SMS (Short Message Service). Message-size limitations mean all you'll see is the subject line and who sent the e-mail.





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