10 Ways Apple Should Improve the iPhone for Business

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Posted December 12, 2008 at 11:28am by iClarified

While the iPhone offers numerous features there are many ways it can improve as a enterprise device, according to ComputerWorld.

Here are the 10 things that they think Apple could -- and should -- offer to make the iPhone a killer business device.

1. Provide expanded configuration and restriction options for administrators
2. Provide a way to enforce the use of configuration profiles
3. Develop over-the-air deployment for profiles
4. Develop direct push options for platforms other than Exchange
5. Offer a unified in-box
6. Develop tools to create and edit Office documents
7. Allow file storage/management on the iPhone itself
8. Add copy and paste functionality
9. Implement enterprise licensing for the App Store
10. Develop a mass deployment solution other than iTunes

The iPhone has a lot of potential as a business device, but its ultimate success will depend on how well it responds to the real-world needs of corporate users and IT managers. To succeed, Apple will need to prove that the iPhone is more than a media player or a toy.

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10 Ways Apple Should Improve the iPhone for Business

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DrBrain - December 18, 2008 at 6:02am

Being able to flag emails... so that you can later on review at the office the important ones you received while you were on the go.

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JRagan - December 15, 2008 at 3:02pm

* Parse textual phone numbers in appointments to dialable numbers (I have a lot of conference calls scheduled and currently I have to write the number down out of the iPhone app't in order to dial it. * Email font selection. Times New Roman is not an acceptable business font. A Sans Serif font should either be default or at least selectable. * Proper font parsing in email bodies. Preview actually handles fonts better than message detail. (Wingding fonts like smiley faces display properly in preview but don't display properly if the message is actually opened) * Ability to filter contact display by Outlook category. * Inability to view recently received emails on the lock screen that haven't been read. -- If you miss the message alert, you have no way to know that you received a new email without waking up the phone, unlocking the phone, opening the mail.app and then navigating to each of your accounts. This is a major miss on Apple's part. If it wasn't for Intelliscreen solving this problem for me, I'd have thrown the device out of the window. * Inability to forward contacts as emails or texts. I should be able to send a contact as a v-card in an email. * Inability to attach multiple photos to an email. Why is this business-related? One example - the need to take pictures of white-boarding sessions. * Inablity to tether easily. As a business traveler, this is a necessity. Yes, it is possible with a jailbroken device, but it's definitely not easy and painless. * Can't forward meeting invites. If you forward a meeting invite that was received, the iPhone strips the special email functions out and sends it as a normal email. * Improper handling of complicated phone number sequences (i.e. mix of numbers and multiple pauses). I'd like to save the conference call line numbers I call into often, but if I include the multiple pauses needed and save to a contact, the iPhone will refuse to dial the number. * Allowing changes to Voicemail and Call Forwarding options. For business purposes I must be able to change call forwarding functions. I also use SpinVox to dictate all my voicemails to text/email which are then sent to my phone. This is infinitely more usable than "visual voicemail." To use Spinvox I have to change the voicemail number and call forwarding number for missed calls, etc to go to the SpinVox number. This can't be done via the iPhone GUI. Instead I had to pop the SIM card out and put it in my old WinMo device to change these settings.

Bryan - December 12, 2008 at 3:57pm

I completely agree with Silvio. I've been asking for such an application because Apple still hasn't included it within the Calendar application. We need some kind of Godlike To-do list & Calendar application in one that let's you schedule phone calls (whether they are in your contact list or not) and then with a touch, makes the call. Maybe even an option after the call to take some quick notes as to what you talked about. Listening App Programmers? I would PAY for this. :) I still have to carry around my Palm Treo because the iPhone can't do this very simple task. Regards, Bryan

t11chb - December 12, 2008 at 1:45pm

Erm....Maybe an unlock option so we can freely choose our own provider. lol

Silvio - December 12, 2008 at 1:18pm

How about parsing out Calendar events for phone numbers so you can touch the number to dial? Similarly to how phone numbers are hotlinked in Email and on Webpages. It's a pain to open a calendar item, remember the conference call number and passcode, then switch to phone and dial it all.

nino - December 12, 2008 at 1:16pm

hey should also add link and telephone links in the calendar!!