The Communicator, made famous in the 1960's Star Trek series, is the ultimate unified communications device. With the ability to easily locate anyone, anytime, and anywhere, a person with a communicator was very productive.

Connected to the ship's log, the communicator could store and retrieve vital information by simply accepting voice commands. I suspect in the not-to-distant future, we will see an incarnation of the communicator in our pockets.

The Converging of Wireless PDAs and Cell Phones

Just as the leading cell phone providers like Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson, have added screens and keyboards to accommodate text messaging and information display, so too have the text pager and PDA folks added voice.

Handspring started the ball rolling with the simple, but expensive, Springboard clip-on cell-phone, but then late last year announced their Treo "PDA-phone" that does a great job of integrating and preserving the form-factor of the telephone with a PDA. In the past week, Research-In-Motion (RIM - www.rim.com) announced a partnership with AT&T Wireless (www.attws.com) to support voice conversations over the RIM Blackberry. Now, in one device, the user receives email and voice on a device that fits in a shirt pocket.

Meanwhile, Palm (www.palm.com), not to be outdone, announced a deal with AOL to provide not just wireless email and web surfing, but "always-on" AOL Instant Messaging (AIM).

The full-featured buddy list of AIM is available on the Palm i705 handheld. The i705 owner can easily keep tabs on his/her buddies, just as his/her buddies can easily locate the owner. So, we have presence management, availability management, email, and important personal information rolled into one.

Interactive Intelligence (www.inin.com) announced the availability of Mobilit'. Mobilit is designed to help enterprises develop, deploy and maintain business applications for wireless PDAs including Compaq's iPAQ, Palm OS devices, and RIM Blackberries. Mobilit uses a proprietary gateway to permit retrieval of enterprise data (the star log of organizations).

Where Should We Draw The Lines For Unified Wireless Mobility?

Now, these highly personal devices are crossing the lines into enterprise application information devices. Before, individuals bought these devices to store personalized information that only meant something to the owner, such as appointments, addresses and notes.

Because the devices were light and easy to carry, it was only natural they evolved to support email and notification. Users could leverage their wireless "down time" for processing email just as the mobile phone helped them manage phone calls while away from the office.

The wireless addition makes them useful from any location that was in the wireless coverage footprint. Now, users can manage and access corporate data, know the availability of co-workers, chat with others instantly, and soon, handle voice and attachments.

Just as the notebook computer displaced the desktop machine for many people, the full-function "PDA-phone" can do the same to its larger sibling, the notebook computer, as well as its mobile companion, the cell phone.

This evolution brings about another interesting twist for the enterprise IT department and the corporate policymakers. In the beginning, the PC was a rogue device that was simply ignored because a few individuals bought them and used them for work activities. As the PC grew in power, use, complexity, and popularity, the IT department had to recognize the device as being a support issue.

The laptop and notebook computer followed a similar trend going from a highly personal to corporate device. Once again, the IT department had to provide the support for the growing mass of users of notebook computers. Plus, they had an additional issue not considered before: theft of the physical device with company information.

Supporting the Boundaries of Enterprise Information

We see the same trend occurring with the wireless PDA. No longer just a "personal data assistant", these devices contain valuable company information in customers' contact information, internal correspondence, and "always-on" access to company information resources. And they are much easier to steal, lose, or break.

But most importantly, the "PDA-phone" is also the most personal and immediate means of contact because it incorporates the ubiquitous cell phone.

The PDA, at one time, was simple to support. The functionality was more or less static, so the IT department could easily troubleshoot and fix the standard mechanical PDA problems.

With additional software "application" functionality, they are becoming complicated like notebooks with the inherent problems of maintenance. So in essence, the IT department will be required to enforce policies and standards on the individuals and their wireless PDAs to support the enterprise side of information access via customized application servers.

The problem that IT support staff will face is the fact that the devices, just like our communications habits, will be highly personalized and dynamic to fit the day-to-day needs of the individual. Each unit must support the functions required by the individual user, including service applications that are not necessarily provided by the enterprise.

It may be, therefore, that the IT support only extends to specific applications while the individual is responsible for the rest.

The Mobility of Person-to-Person Contact

The personal communications aspect of these devices is what interests us the most though. Now, I can own a device that travels with me easily that lets my buddies know my availability. They can check their buddy list and zing me a chat invitation.

Of course, depending on my mode of accessibility or availability, I may or may not be able to respond. It would be nice for the device to go one step further and let me "chat" with my colleague by voice if I am in a hands-free, eyes-free situation such as driving a car.

But wouldn't it be simpler to escalate from a chat mode attempt to a conversational voice connection, better known as a "phone call?" Maybe the buddy list needs to include some new availability icons such as "in car and driving" or "available by phone only".

Other ones could include "in meeting, so keyboard only", "open for business discussions", or "personal use only" for those times I am available for communications but not business oriented discussions.

The buddy list should extend to other communication media and modes besides simply text chat. Now that it is integrated into a portable, multi-modal device that is always on and always with me, it shouldn't be simply a single-mode form of access and communication.

It should use a common, internal address book rather than a separate one as the IM buddy lists do today. And it should let me switch from email to text chat to a voice connection (and vice versa) with a simple button push or command.

The Communicator, made famous in the 1960's Star Trek series, is the ultimate unified communications device. With the ability to easily locate anyone, anytime, and anywhere, a person with a communicator was very productive.

Connected to the ship's log, the communicator could store and retrieve vital information by simply accepting voice commands. I suspect in the not-to-distant future, we will see an incarnation of the communicator in our pockets.

The Converging of Wireless PDAs and Cell Phones

Just as the leading cell phone providers like Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson, have added screens and keyboards to accommodate text messaging and information display, so too have the text pager and PDA folks added voice.

Handspring started the ball rolling with the simple, but expensive, Springboard clip-on cell-phone, but then late last year announced their Treo "PDA-phone" that does a great job of integrating and preserving the form-factor of the telephone with a PDA. In the past week, Research-In-Motion (RIM - www.rim.com) announced a partnership with AT&T Wireless (www.attws.com) to support voice conversations over the RIM Blackberry. Now, in one device, the user receives email and voice on a device that fits in a shirt pocket.

Meanwhile, Palm (www.palm.com), not to be outdone, announced a deal with AOL to provide not just wireless email and web surfing, but "always-on" AOL Instant Messaging (AIM).

The full-featured buddy list of AIM is available on the Palm i705 handheld. The i705 owner can easily keep tabs on his/her buddies, just as his/her buddies can easily locate the owner. So, we have presence management, availability management, email, and important personal information rolled into one.

Interactive Intelligence (www.inin.com) announced the availability of Mobilit'. Mobilit is designed to help enterprises develop, deploy and maintain business applications for wireless PDAs including Compaq's iPAQ, Palm OS devices, and RIM Blackberries. Mobilit uses a proprietary gateway to permit retrieval of enterprise data (the star log of organizations).

Where Should We Draw The Lines For Unified Wireless Mobility?

Now, these highly personal devices are crossing the lines into enterprise application information devices. Before, individuals bought these devices to store personalized information that only meant something to the owner, such as appointments, addresses and notes.

Because the devices were light and easy to carry, it was only natural they evolved to support email and notification. Users could leverage their wireless "down time" for processing email just as the mobile phone helped them manage phone calls while away from the office.

The wireless addition makes them useful from any location that was in the wireless coverage footprint. Now, users can manage and access corporate data, know the availability of co-workers, chat with others instantly, and soon, handle voice and attachments.

Just as the notebook computer displaced the desktop machine for many people, the full-function "PDA-phone" can do the same to its larger sibling, the notebook computer, as well as its mobile companion, the cell phone.

This evolution brings about another interesting twist for the enterprise IT department and the corporate policymakers. In the beginning, the PC was a rogue device that was simply ignored because a few individuals bought them and used them for work activities. As the PC grew in power, use, complexity, and popularity, the IT department had to recognize the device as being a support issue.

The laptop and notebook computer followed a similar trend going from a highly personal to corporate device. Once again, the IT department had to provide the support for the growing mass of users of notebook computers. Plus, they had an additional issue not considered before: theft of the physical device with company information.

Supporting the Boundaries of Enterprise Information

We see the same trend occurring with the wireless PDA. No longer just a "personal data assistant", these devices contain valuable company information in customers' contact information, internal correspondence, and "always-on" access to company information resources. And they are much easier to steal, lose, or break.

But most importantly, the "PDA-phone" is also the most personal and immediate means of contact because it incorporates the ubiquitous cell phone.

The PDA, at one time, was simple to support. The functionality was more or less static, so the IT department could easily troubleshoot and fix the standard mechanical PDA problems.

With additional software "application" functionality, they are becoming complicated like notebooks with the inherent problems of maintenance. So in essence, the IT department will be required to enforce policies and standards on the individuals and their wireless PDAs to support the enterprise side of information access via customized application servers.

The problem that IT support staff will face is the fact that the devices, just like our communications habits, will be highly personalized and dynamic to fit the day-to-day needs of the individual. Each unit must support the functions required by the individual user, including service applications that are not necessarily provided by the enterprise.

It may be, therefore, that the IT support only extends to specific applications while the individual is responsible for the rest.

The Mobility of Person-to-Person Contact

The personal communications aspect of these devices is what interests us the most though. Now, I can own a device that travels with me easily that lets my buddies know my availability. They can check their buddy list and zing me a chat invitation.

Of course, depending on my mode of accessibility or availability, I may or may not be able to respond. It would be nice for the device to go one step further and let me "chat" with my colleague by voice if I am in a hands-free, eyes-free situation such as driving a car.

But wouldn't it be simpler to escalate from a chat mode attempt to a conversational voice connection, better known as a "phone call?" Maybe the buddy list needs to include some new availability icons such as "in car and driving" or "available by phone only".

Other ones could include "in meeting, so keyboard only", "open for business discussions", or "personal use only" for those times I am available for communications but not business oriented discussions.

The buddy list should extend to other communication media and modes besides simply text chat. Now that it is integrated into a portable, multi-modal device that is always on and always with me, it shouldn't be simply a single-mode form of access and communication.

It should use a common, internal address book rather than a separate one as the IM buddy lists do today. And it should let me switch from email to text chat to a voice connection (and vice versa) with a simple button push or command.