Devices collecting email using Exchange Direct Push use what’s referred to as a ‘heartbeat’ communication to interrogate your Exchange Server for new information. A device will initiate a HTTPS connection (the heartbeat) to your mail server to request any new emails, contacts, etc for the user. If new information is available the mail server will inform the device, and the device will then initiate another connection to collect that new information.

In terms of network management, once the data leaves your internal network bound for a device, it is passed over the mobile phone operators’ network direct to the handheld. There is no Network Operations Centre involved as you would expect to see in a BlackBerry Enterprise Server environment.

Exchange Direct Push is a benefit if your organisation already runs (or plans to run) Exchange Server 2003. With no need for middleware or client access licence requirements this can be cost effective from a server side perspective, but the devices can be more expensive than the equivalent BlackBerry and you will want to ensure while you’re saving funds in one arena, you are not spending heavily in another.

The devices themselves are often rather complex and not always user friendly, and there is less unity between devices than with BlackBerry which could mean support headaches for your technical helpdesk or IT department. You will need to consider whether your users require devices which are feature rich, and at the same time whether they would perhaps be better suited to a more intuitive device such as BlackBerry.

The server side reporting tools provide little information about the handhelds in your mobile fleet, and there are very few IT restrictions you can put in place to lock down the devices in the areas you might want to. However, if you need to develop custom applications for your fleet of devices then you would find this solution easier from an application development perspective – Microsoft claim that just about any .NET application will work on a Windows Mobile 5 device. If you require the ability to edit attachments on the move then Exchange Direct Push is likely to be the kind of solution you will want to deploy.

For further information on Exchange Direct Push, take a look at our FAQ page, or contact us directly.

Adam Phones are fully licensed Service Providers for both Vodafone and O₂