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Wed, Jul 9, 2008 15:27 EDT
New Details on Apple iPhone 3G Activation for Business Customers
Topic: InfrastructureBlog: Mobile WorkHorse
Current Rating: |
Apple's next generation iPhone 3G smartphone is set to hit retail store shelves this Friday, but many questions about the much anticipated device are still unanswered, at least from a business standpoint. For instance: How will organizations and businesses activate the iPhone 3G, and will a trip to an Apple or AT&T store be required?
Thanks to a brief message I just received from AT&T Spokesperson Seth Bloom, I can shed a bit of light on the subject.
From the message:
In general, enterprise customers will get their iPhone 3G through their normal IT processes. This will ensure that their business can take advantage of any corporate discounts that may apply. Activation will work this way:
* If your company has a corporate contract with AT&T and pays the bill for your iPhone 3G: Your IT department will provide you with iPhone 3G, just as it does any other device. Then, all you need to do is synch it to iTunes from your computer and it will be good to go. You do not need to go to an AT&T retail store.
* If you pay the bill for your iPhone 3G: Buy iPhone 3G in an AT&T retail store. Give the salesperson your company's contract number with AT&T and the device will be activated. (Apple stores will not be able to set up accounts with service discounts.)
So to sum that up, corporate users who don't pay their own smartphone bills will not have to visit Apple or AT&T, but they will need to sync their devices with an iTunes account.
Interesting, but I'm still wondering how IT departments that ban or discourage the use of iTunes on their corporate machines will activate the iPhone 3G devices and distribute mobile applications. Will an IT person have to activate each and every device using a machine with a sanctioned iTunes account? Whenever new applications or upgrades are deployed, will users all have to turn their devices in to that one iTunes guy? If so, that'll get old very quickly...
I immediately shot a question to Mr. Bloom on the subject, but haven't yet heard back. I'll post the answer from AT&T in the comments section below as soon as I get one.
AS
activation, Apple, Apple iPhone 3G, AT&T, Consumer IT, iPhone, iPhone 3G, mobile, smartphone, wireless
From AT&T's Seth Bloom:
"Someone within the company must have the iTunes application on their Mac or PC to tether and complete activation."
There you have it. iTunes is a neccessary part of the activation process. Companies that ban iTunes from corporate machines are out of luck.
What do you think? Is this a big deal or a non-issue? As mentioned in my post, the fact that iTunes is required to activate the Apple iPhone 3G and to distribute mobile business apps, seems like a turnoff to me. But how many organizations actually ban iTunes from corporate machines?
AS
Rating:
What isn't clear to me is whether the iphone can be activated from an individual's itunes account and still billed to the company.
As I understand it right now, a company needs to have a single itunes account to activate all of it's iphones and the employees need to use that account for all of their iphone management functions. There are way's for IT departments to manage this (especially for small companies) but what about downloads? Are employees supposed to use the company account/computer to download music? What about syncing? Sure, if you want you can have every employee's music on the corporate itunes account but there are copyright issues there (10 people sharing their music when only one copy has been bought - when you've paid you've paid), quite apart from the massive inconvenience.
It strikes me that Apple have bearly given any thought to business users and made no concessions at all. This is an effect of what I call their "different road" philosophy: different for the sake of being different, leading to some functions or lack of, that make little sense to most people and force us into odd working practices.
Thanks for posting your info.
Al Sacco writes about (and drools over) anything and everything mobile or wireless as it applies to the global workforce--with a focus on BlackBerry smartphones. Follow this blog on Twitter: @MobileWorkHorse.
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