Nokia, Microsoft and Safaricom partner for Exchange ActiveSync Mobile Email in Kenya.

By Dan Muhuni

Nokia East Africa has made a milestone through the launch of a strategic partnership together with Microsoft and Safaricom. The partnership will now make Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync available to all Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices. Over 50 Nokia devices feature the Mail for Exchange mobile email application, making Nokia’s device range the largest ever to enable the solution chosen by more businesses than any other messaging solution. In particular and where Safaricom fits into the partnership, their customers will enjoy Safaricom data bundles available on their Nokia Eseries and Nokia NSeries devices as a result.

“The Nokia-Microsoft collaboration is to bring corporate mobile email to businesses and mobile professionals is truly unbeatable. No other device manufacturer provides the wide range of devices that we have which immediately mobilize the hundreds of millions of email accounts from Microsoft Exchange,” said Kenneth Oyolla, Head of Sales, Nokia East and Southern Africa. “The costs of mobility are contained as companies and especially small medium enterprises (SMEs) are able to utilize existing Microsoft Exchange infrastructure, and there is also the strong possibility that a large number of employees already have one or more of the 50 Nokia devices that enable Mail for Exchange.”

“Nokia is a valued partner and we are pleased they are making it easier for their approximately 120 million S60 3rd Edition customers to realize the benefits of Microsoft Exchange Server,” said Louis Otieno, General  Manager,  Microsoft East and Southern Africa.  “This collaboration with Nokia and Safaricom further demonstrates the importance consumers and businesses place on accessing Exchange Server data from mobile devices in addition to traditional desktop clients.  This partnership announced today will help Nokia give its users that access and help make them be more productive.”

Nokia owners whose companies use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange for free on their devices in various ways without paying additional services or subscription fees – from the email set-up plug-in on the home screen, by launching the application from the Download! folder, or via the Settings Wizard**. Once the application is set up, users utilize their current data plan service to get real-time access to their office email, calendar, contacts, tasks and company directory over a secure connection.

“We take corporate and IT security policies seriously, and a comparison study showed that the device management and security policies for devices such as the Nokia E and Nseries are robust,” added Mr Oyolla. “This should give business heads and IT managers greater confidence when choosing between device brands to mobilize their workforce.”

By connecting to the Exchange Server 2007, Mail for Exchange enables features such as Autodiscover, which drastically simplifies the set-up process by requiring the email account holder to only enter their email address, password, domain and usernames; ‘Out of Office’ messaging, enabling busy professionals to set their out-of-office messages directly from their Nokia device; synchronization when roaming, a must-have feature for travelling businesspeople; and also Flag status for follow-ups.

Microsoft and Nokia launched in May 2010 an important milestone for both companies: Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices. It is the first application from the companies’ alliance around mobile productivity announced last August. Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices is a new unified communications client which connects directly with a company’s communications systems to streamline mobile collaboration. It provides real-time presence information and rich instant messaging (IM) functionality and thus helps people connect more easily with their colleagues. Owners of Symbian based Nokia Eseries smartphones Nokia E72, Nokia E52 and Nokia E5 can download the English version of the application today from Ovi Store.

While the Exchange ActiveSync protocol is compatible with many types of devices, Nokia device users will have access to features that are currently not available in other Exchange ActiveSync licensees’ devices. Setting email priorities, alerts for meeting request conflicts, a standalone global address list application to search for a colleague’s contact details quickly, downloading and editing all types of attachments, not just image files, are must-have factors that users will expect from their mobile email application.

Microsoft Exchange Server is the industry’s leading server for e-mail, calendaring and unified messaging. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is the foundation for a dynamic and holistic unified communications experience, and has been designed to meet the challenges, and address the messaging needs, of today’s businesses. Exchange Server 2007 provides customers with anywhere access to information, advanced built-in protection and greater operational efficiency.

Nokia Devices Enabling Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync:

Nokia Eseries: Nokia E71, Nokia E66, Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia E70, Nokia E65, Nokia E62, Nokia E61i, Nokia E61, Nokia E60, Nokia E51, Nokia E50, Nokia E52, E72, Nokia E5

Nokia Nseries: Nokia N96, Nokia N85, Nokia N79, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N95, Nokia N82, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N81, Nokia N78, Nokia N77, Nokia N76, Nokia N75, Nokia N73, Nokia N93, Nokia N93i, Nokia N80, Nokia N91, Nokia N92, Nokia N71, N86, N8

Other Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices: Nokia 3250, Nokia 5500, Nokia 6290, Nokia 6110 Navigator, Nokia 6120 Classic, Nokia 6121 Classic, Nokia 6122 Classic, Nokia 6124, Nokia 6650 Fold, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, Nokia 5700, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 6220 Classic, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia S40 devices: Nokia C3