Following in the footsteps of Cingular Wireless last month, Sprint this week will start selling Good Technology Inc.s GoodLink wireless push e-mail services directly to its business customers.
Sprint, like Cingular Wireless, will bundle GoodLink into its existing data plans, which Good said should simplify billing and support for enterprise customers.
Sprint will sell GoodLink as part of its unlimited data plan, which costs $40 with the additional purchase of a voice contract or $45 for just the data plan. Enterprises must also pay $1,500 for the GoodLink server and one year of support and a $99-per-user startup fee.
“We have been happy purchasing Good and mobile services separately, but I can see how this would be a hurdle for other companies. Bundling the billing is a really smart move on their part,” said GoodLink user Justin Hectus, director of information for Keesal, Young & Logan P.C., in Long Beach, Calif. The law firm has deployed GoodLink on about 85 mobile devices, including Microsoft Corp. and Palm OS-based devices.
Goods technology is similar to Research In Motion Ltd.s popular BlackBerry device and enterprise server, but Good offers the technology on a wider range of devices from mobile operating system makers such as PalmSource Inc. and Microsoft.
Good this week will also announce Version 4.5 of GoodLink, with support for Microsoft smart phones, such as the Audiovox SMT5600 and the Motorola MPx220. Also new is support for Samsungs i730, which connects over Verizon Wireless high-speed EvDO (Evolution Data Optimized) network as well as Wi-Fi.
Also in GoodLink 4.5 are new management features that allow IT administrators to ensure that applications are installed and running on remote handhelds and to make sure mobile workers are in compliance with corporate security policies on a user-by-user basis.
Good also plans to extend GoodLink support for IBM Lotus Domino in the first half of next year. GoodLink currently supports only Microsofts Exchange Server. The move will be important for Good, as Microsoft announced earlier this month that it will offer push wireless e-mail with Exchange Server 2003.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on mobile and wireless computing.