The perfect business phone?

Having looked at approximately 20 phones over the last two weeks, We have come up with a summary of what we might consider a perfect business phone. Use these tips to find something that might work for you and keep in mind, not all the features mentioned here are essential to everyone.

Operating System: Windows or Palm or Symbian based? We personally don’t think this is too important, unless you have some religious arguments for or against any of these operating systems. Windows Mobile 5.0 phones tend to work better with Windows and Microsoft applications. They might be more suitable if you have an Exchange based server, specially if you’re looking at the newly announced Push capabilities in Exchange.

Screen : Look for something that support 320×240 at the very minimum, specially if you’re going to be browsing intranet or internet based pages. The larger the screen the happier you’ll be with your phone.

3G : 3G is rapidly becoming essential, as tariffs become more and more affordable. The high speeds that you get from 3G will make it easier for you to catch up on news, email and downloads to your phone. We personally like the fact that we can watch CNN’s headline news on our phone. Makes trips in the taxies and busses seem a little bit shorter than they normally would. (Not to mention emails download much faster over IMAP / POP3 connections with 3G transfer rates).

WiFi : WiFi is important for a few groups — for those who are stuck with data plans which do not offer unlimited transfers, for those who want their phone to be useable at home and in the office to check email — where the 3G / GPRS signals might be weak and finally for those who want to use VoIP to make cheap calls. With Skype available on Windows Mobile, you can easily stay in touch with your Skype contacts, using a VoIP circuit over your WiFi connection. In general, while roaming, it is generally cheaper to find WiFi connections.

VPN: Make sure there is some sort of VPN support on the phone. Very important if you’re going to connect to a server behind a corporate firewall.

One hand usage: Seriously, we love being able to type with two hands, but when it comes to making a call, while you’re walking through the busy streets of Hong Kong you don’t want to stop and use both your hands to access the phone book, make a phone call and generally just talk to someone.

USB Charging: If you travel and have a fully loaded bag, you’ll appreciate a phone that can be charged via a USB cable. This means one less adaptor to carry (and loose) and you can easily boost your battery by plugging the phone into an available USB socket (they’re everywhere .. just open your eyes).

Software: Windows seems to have more software available for it than Symbian or Palm. If you have some essential utilities like currency converter, expense manager, make sure you check for a version that works with your target phone.

Bluetooth: Must have for a busy traveller who needs to do several things at one time. We’re not aware of any modern (released in the last 6 months) business phones which do not support bluetooth. The new phones support higher transfer rates and will allow you to use stereo headsets to listen to music or watch streaming video.

Memory: Make sure that the memory slot in your phone is compatible with the memory slot on your computer, or at least readable through a third party reader. The last thing you need is .. if and when your phone crashes, to loose access to the memory card.

Camera: Strictly optional. We use it to take cute shots of our son at the beach .. but not much else.