Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, announced the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0 at Microsoft Tech?Ed 2005. These new wireless features work with the new Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2), and are focused on business customers. They are intended to offer a faster, more direct messaging experience, improved security management, and better cost efficiencies and scalability. In addition to providing IT administrators with the ability to better manage and protect information on a device, the feature pack includes Direct Push Technology, which keeps the business user's Outlook Mobile up to date by delivering information quickly and directly to a Windows Mobile-based device from Exchange Server.
Enhancements to Outlook Mobile
Windows Mobile Direct Push technology. Outlook information, including e-mail, calendar, contacts and new support for Tasks, is pushed from a direct connection between Exchange Server and a Windows Mobile-based device, providing users with immediate access to Outlook information, without the need for an additional and costly server infrastructure required by other solutions on the market.
Wireless support for contact information. Support for over-the-air lookup of global address list information stored on Exchange Server enables users to access full contact details on a Windows Mobile-based device. The feature is broadly integrated throughout the messaging, phone, calendar and contacts areas, providing users with a consistent messaging experience.
Direct Push Technology is integrated with the Office Mobile suite in Windows Mobile 5.0. Users can send Word, Excel, PowerPoint, music and video attachments in messages with rich e-mail formatting and no size restrictions.
Users can access Contacts information from their home Exchange server when out of the office.
The Messaging and Security Feature Pack is also intended to improve efficiencies for IT organizations by streamlining management of device security policies through Exchange Server 2003 SP2. IT professionals can manage Windows Mobile-based devices the same way they manage PCs and servers through new features that support the following:
- Remotely enforced IT policy. Via the Exchange Server 2003 console, IT administrators can remotely manage and enforce select corporate IT policy over the air. For example, IT administrators can mandate a personal identification number password to be set for every device and set recommended and mandatory policies, as well as set exception lists for users to be exempt from these policies.
Security policies can be enforced on the device including authentication, passwords and certificates.
- Local and remote device wipe. The ability to remove all information, over the air, and reset a device to its original state enables IT administrators to better manage sensitive information on a misplaced Windows Mobile-based device. In addition, the administrator can choose to have the local memory on a device erased if the correct password is not entered after a designated number of attempts.
- Certificate-based authentication. Native support for new certificate-based authentication, utilizes industry security standards to enable users to gain access to their corporate network, without using a separate password, and eliminates the need to store corporate login credentials on the device.
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