February 28, 2008
ITaP: iPhone devices do a lot, but calendars can be tricky
With more than a million sold, iPhone devices are finding their way to campus. The iPhone works as a phone, as an audio player, and as a connection to the Internet and e-mail. But synchronizing the iPhone with enterprise Outlook or Entourage calendars requires proper configuration and some manual processes, according to Frank Wolf, Mac specialist and systems administrator for Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP).
"The iPhone is still being considered by many to be a revision-one product when thinking about it in an enterprise. I recommend to the people we support that they hold off on getting an iPhone until the next revision is released," Wolf says. "Early adopters run a risk of getting left out of more enterprise-friendly features of future releases. The next version of the iPhone is rumored to be 3G-capable, which would bring faster cellular network speeds."
Some Purdue faculty and staff in West Lafayette are using the iPhone to maintain calendars successfully. The iPhone synchronizes with a computer via a USB connection -- usually the cradle.
Ken Rice, network engineer and host master for Purdue, has owned an iPhone since last July. While his iPhone is in the cradle, he gets calendar and contact updates for his Mac using Entourage. Then he uses the .Mac sync service to update other machines. iTunes, which picks up the information from Apple's iCal program, enables bidirectional sync with his iPhone while it is in the cradle.
Every user has different calendaring and e-mail habits and their own set of desktops, laptops, and handheld devices to synchronize. Users who want to sync with servers and systems at Purdue need to consider first whether the iPhone is lined up with their work habits.
Campus computer users who want to use a handheld device primarily to check and schedule meetings probably will want to continue using a device that synchronizes wirelessly like a Blackberry or other Windows-compatible mobile device.
Julie Kercher-Updike, associate vice president for ITaP, says, "If your primary use for a device is for a phone, Internet access on the go, and reading e-mail, then the iPhone is a pretty slick device. If you want to have up-to-the- minute calendar access, then the iPhone might not replace your Blackberry just yet."
iPhones interface reliably with the Purdue wireless network, Purdue Air Link (PAL), and Purdue career account e-mail servers. Because Apple has not yet implemented Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), enterprise security on the device, the iPhone does not work with the newest client for accessing Purdue's wireless network, known as PAL 2.0. Instead, the iPhone works with PAL 1.0 using a virtual private network (VPN).
"I typically turn off the WiFi connection when I'm at work and simply use AT&T's Edge service," Rice says.
Faculty and staff at the West Lafayette campus use the iPhone to access e-mail on the Exchange server and Mailhub effortlessly.
"The iPhone uses the IMAP or POP3 protocols to access e-mail, so it takes less than five minutes to set up a connection and from that point forward, it just works," Rice says.