1. What is OpenHand?
The OpenHand wireless email solution is a client / server remote access software solution which enables various remote platforms to retrieve PIM (Personal Information Management) data from either Microsoft® Exchange or Lotus Domino®. This means that mobile devices with a connection to the internet, such as PDAs and laptops can connect quickly to email, contacts and calendar and other company applications.
2. Is OpenHand the same as the Blackberry wireless email solution?
OpenHand provides mobile access to PIM data like Blackberry's proprietary mobile service, however there are a number of differences:
- OpenHand allows you to choose your own hardware - the Blackberry solution is currently only compatible with the proprietary Blackberry device. OpenHand is compatible with a variety of PDAs and laptops, there is no need to purchase dedicated mobile devices with limited functionality.
- No Monthly contract. With OpenHand, you pay a single, one-off licence payment for each user named on the server. User licenses are transferable: as employees come and go, the licenses can be reused. In addition, one user licence supports all of our client applications, so OpenHand can be accessed by the user on a PDA, laptop and home PC, all for the price of one user licence.
- Stay with your existing telecom provider. Blackberry users must sign up for a GPRS telecom agreement with one of Blackberry's approved network carriers. OpenHand wireless email users can stay with their existing telecom contract and use either GSM or GPRS.
- OpenHand wireless email combines advanced data compression and latency reduction technology to deliver data at very high speeds. Built to run over the slowest readily available mobile networks (such as GSM), the OpenHand wireless email consistently outperforms others in terms of speed to access the information important to you, in the format you want it. OpenHand's superior speed also significantly reduces data costs.
- With OpenHand wireless email, data is never stored on the device, unless specifically requested by the user (a feature that can also be disabled by the server administrator). This ensures that if a device is lost or stolen, data is not at risk.
- OpenHand is not limited to mobile email - the architecture is easily adapted to enable access to other business applications (e.g. SAP, CRM). Providing a pre-built framework, companies are already taking advantage of the rapid deployment time for mobilising corporate data from third party or bespoke solutions. Demanding businesses want reliable, flexible and secure solutions... OpenHand delivers this and more.
- Worldwide access. Mobile data services are rapidly being rolled out all around the world by telecoms providers: Europe is still leading the rest of the world, but great strides are being made in the Americas, the middle and far East and Australasia - OpenHand has been used successfully in all these territories. OpenHand's network independence gives it global roaming freedom that most competitors simply cannot offer.
3. What does latency have to do with OpenHand's ultra-high speed?
Latency (or delay) is an expression of how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. In some usages, latency is measured by sending a packet that is returned to the sender and the round-trip time is considered the latency. Latency arises from the following:
- The medium itself introduces some delay.
- The size of the packet introduces delay in a round trip since a larger packet will take longer to receive and return than a short one.
- Each gateway node takes time to examine and possibly change the header in a packet.
- Within networks at each end of the journey, a packet may be subject to storage and hard disk access delays at intermediate devices such as switches and bridges.
The OpenHand wireless email solution combines advanced data compression and latency reduction technology to deliver data significantly faster. Built to run over the slowest readily available mobile networks (such as GSM), OpenHand consistently outperforms others in terms of speed to access the information important to you, in the format you want it.
4. Which remote platforms does OpenHand support?
We have full support for all Pocket PC devices (e.g. HP® iPAQ, HP® Jornada®, Nokia® 9210, O2® xda® Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox), Palm® OS 3.5.1 and above (including Palm® Tungsten) and Windows® 9x, NT, ME, 2000 and XP.
5. Can I use OpenHand on more than one device?
One user licence includes all client versions of OpenHand wireless email - this means that OpenHand can be accessed by the user on a PDA, laptop and home PC all for the price of one licence.
6. Why do you support Windows® PC platforms? I thought this was a mobile solution?
There are two main reasons we support Windows® OS:
- A large proportion of the mobile workforce find that PDA devices are not yet powerful enough to support their day-to-day business, perhaps because they need to access large files or spreadsheets. These people commonly use laptops that have either no remote access or have restrictive access, i.e. they must be plugged into a phone line, say, in a hotel room.
- An increasing number of home workers need access to PIM information as a part of their everyday schedule, but live in an area where broadband internet access is unavailable.
In both of these situations, OpenHand can provide speedy delivery of PIM information via the low bandwidth connections on offer.
7. What versions of Exchange / Domino do you support?
We support Exchange 5.5 and 2000, and Lotus Domino 5 and above.
8. How do I connect my OpenHand client to my OpenHand server?
To enable communication between the OpenHand server and the OpenHand client, the client first needs a network connection. Typically, laptops and PDAs have one of the following:
- a built-in network communication (integrated phone / PDAs and O2's XDA being an example of this)
- the means to communicate with a phone to enable this connection, either via Infra Red or increasingly Bluetooth (link to www.bluetooth.com), which is either built into devices (such as the later HP iPAQ's) or available as an expansion card (as with many of the Palm devices).
If your company uses a RAS server internally, devices can dial direct into the RAS server and use existing authentication to create the connection.
If your company uses Firewall Port Forwarding or a VPN gateway server to provide remote access to the network, the PDA can dial a public ISP or GPRS gateway to establish an Internet connection (in much the same way as a PC would connect to the Internet using a dial up modem or ISDN line). Once this connection is established, the IP / DNS address of the firewall or VPN gateway are entered into the OpenHand client once, along with the port number specified. Communication can then be made between the client and the server.
9. What are the recommended server hardware requirements?
We recommend the Intel PIII running at a minimum of 800Mhz, and at least 256MB RAM and 500MB free disk space.
10. How does the server communicate with my PIM server?
The server acts as if it were an Outlook client.
For Microsoft Exchange, no configuration is needed to the live PIM server, and no software need be installed on any PC other than the OpenHand wireless enterprise server.
The Lotus Domino installation must take place on a replicated Domino server - a minor configuration is required. The Lotus Domino server needs to set 'Restricted COM Access' for the OpenHand users whether on a user by user basis, or on a group basis. We suggest creating a new OpenHand group on the Domino server and adding all OpenHand users to this group. Each of the OpenHand users requires a valid 'Internet Password' set on their Domino account.
11. Do I need to pre-install any software prior to installing OpenHand Wireless Enterprise Server?
For OpenHand Enterprise Server for Exchange, the only requirements are NT4 Server or Windows 2000 Server, and a customer installation of Microsoft Outlook with the option to install CDO components checked. (CDO components are not installed by default with Outlook: they provide the libraries that OpenHand uses to connect and communicate to the Exchange server.) All other required software is provided in the OpenHand wireless enterprise Server setup program.
For OpenHand Enterprise Server for Domino, the only requirements are NT4 Server or Windows 2000 Server. All other required software is provided in the OpenHand wireless enterprise Server setup program.
12. How can I administer the server?
The OpenHand Administration console allows the administrator to maintain OpenHand users, as well as set logging options, apply new licence keys and configure the port that OpenHand uses to listen for incoming connections.
13. How is my company information protected?
No data is actually stored on the device unless the user specifically requests that a screen be saved on the PDA or laptop. This is unlike traditional synchronized solutions, where all data is stored on the device even after the session has ended. With the OpenHand wireless email solution, the second a screen is closed, that information no longer exists on the device in any form. This means that if the device is lost or stolen, company data is not at risk.
14. What specific security features does OpenHand employ?
The communication between the client and the server encrypts everything (including attachments) at 128bit AES level. This level of security was ratified in 2002 by the US government as the de facto encryption method of securing sensitive government data.
Security of the server is further enhanced because the communication protocol employed by OpenHand is 100% proprietary, and as such no piece of software other than an OpenHand client from within your organization can communicate with your server.
15. Are attachments supported?
Attachments can be downloaded, sent and forwarded using OpenHand wireless enterprise Server for Exchange, although not all mobile device platforms support all of this functionality. Attachments can be downloaded and sent using OpenHand Server for Domino.
16. Are attachments encrypted?
Yes, at 128 AES standard.
17. Can I access my Exchange global address list?
Yes, on all platforms.
18. Can I access my Exchange personal contact lists?
Yes, on all platforms.
19. Will emails sent using OpenHand appear in my sent items folder?
Yes, for both server versions.
20. What happens if I am composing a long email whilst online and I lose my connection before I send? Is the email lost?
No, the email is stored to a drafts folder. This email can then be retrieved and sent once you can re-establish a connection.
21. Can I compose messages without being connected?
Yes, you can compose messages and save them to your drafts folder. These messages can be retrieved and sent once a connection can be established.
22. Can I store data on my device to read offline?
Yes, you can download email, contact and calendar information for retrieval from your local folder store.
23. What type of connection do I need for OpenHand to run at an acceptable speed?
OpenHand is built to run on the lowest capacity and highest latency mobile networks commercially available. Because OpenHand delivers a LAN-like user experience using these high latency, low bandwidth communication channels, OpenHand will also satisfy users on all other readily available networks, such as GPRS and 802.11b.
24. What is the difference between using GPRS and GSM for my mobile communications?
GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) is a packet-based wireless communication service offering continuous connection to the Internet for mobile phone and computer users. GPRS packet-based service should cost users less than circuit-switched services since communication channels are being used on a shared-use, as-packets-are-needed basis rather than dedicated only to one user at a time. Mobile users of a virtual private network (VPN) are able to access the private network continuously rather than through a dial-up connection.
GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) is the de facto wireless telephone standard in Europe. GSM has over 120 million users worldwide and is available in 120 countries. Since many GSM network operators have roaming agreements with foreign operators, users can often continue to use their mobile phones when they travel to other countries.
OpenHand can be used with both GSM and GPRS connections - however users will probably find it cheaper to switch to GPRS because they will only pay for the data transferred - which is minimal, thanks to OpenHand's exceptional compression technology.
25. Will OpenHand become redundant when 3G is available?
When 3G networks are implemented, people will want to take advantage of the extra bandwidth available. As OpenHand is built to be carrier independent, it will run over 3G networks without any updates, configuration changes or service packs being applied. However, the speed at which OpenHand currently allows you to view data over GSM connections is so impressive that when 3G does arrive, OpenHand users will wonder what all the fuss is about, since they will already have enjoyed this quality of service for years!
|
