unmetered email services

Email, it’s become a vital part of our everyday existence. We depend on it for both our business and personal lives and yet very few of us have access to it on the move. Vodafone is about to change all that though and it invited an exclusive group of journalists to its posh digs on Park Lane to spill the beans. Somehow, I was also let past the security guards.

In what turned out to be a highly significant announcement, the company unveiled three new unmetered email services and unprecedented new levels of remote device management and customer support. Between the packages everyone is catered for too: from high level enterprise right down to consumers.

So given that you’re primarily readers of a consumery-type nature we’ll jump straight into what this means for the man on the street. In a word: Nirvana (not the grunge band). Users who pick the Vodafone Business Email ‘Personal’ option can get unlimited access a POP3 or IMAP email account including all attachments for just £15 per month. Should you have a contract in excess of £40 anyway, the cost is just £10 (all prices include VAT).

Full push email functionality is offered, meaning real time delivery along with the ability to view the more commonly sent file formats like those used by Microsoft Office, pdfs and multimedia. Eight handsets will initially be available with the service: the Sony Ericsson P910i, Nokia 9300, 6680, Vodafone v1620, VPA compact, HP hw6510 and Motorola MPX220 (top). Coming soon are the Vodafone v1640 (above), v1240 and Nokia N70. If you own one of these handsets already Vodafone can upgrade the software on it remotely and you’ll be up and running. Unsurprisingly, customers can also add the email package into their existing contracts at any time and everything kicks off on 1 December.

As for the ‘Enterprise’ edition of Vodafone Business Email essentially this is very similar but, like software, it is dealt out on a licence basis. A firewall server licence is also required which costs between £485 and £2,500 depending on the size of the business (though it’s free until 31 May) and its an extra £32.90 on top of each employee’s monthly contract.