Sproqit scales up mobile email

Sproqit Technologies will today announce a workgroup version of its Sproqit email tool that gives users remote access to their Outlook inboxes from smartphones and wireless handhelds.

Sproqit Workgroup Edition will be available from the end of July and will support up to 50 users. Like the firm's first product, Sproqit Personal Edition, the new version gives each user a live view of their inbox from a wireless handheld. However, Workgroup Edition runs on a server instead of on an individual's Windows PC.

"Because it runs on a server, staff don't need to leave their PC switched on and connected to the LAN any more, which is important for workers with laptops that get locked away after-hours," said Kevin Green, head of business development for Sproqit in Europe.

Sproqit's thin client architecture means that no user data is held on the user's device ? it just functions as a viewer. This means there is no duplication, with copies of emails in two or more places, Green said. "And it is true push ? as soon as an email reaches your inbox, you can see it immediately," he added.

It also makes more efficient use of bandwidth than synchronisation-based email systems, according to Green. "If I get an email with an attached file, I can read [the message] without the attachment being downloaded to me, so perhaps 10kB gets sent instead of 1MB." This makes Sproqit significantly cheaper to run, as firms do not have to change their mobile data contracts, said Green.

The architecture also has other advantages, according to Sproqit. Mobile users get the full protection of their corporate anti-spam and antivirus systems and there is no need to establish a complex virtual private network (VPN) connection.

Sproqit currently supports only Microsoft Exchange Server, but the firm plans to add support for Lotus Domino mail systems when it ships Sproqit Enterprise Edition later this year. Also due later this year is support for Symbian OS and Windows Smartphone handsets. Clients are already available for Palm OS and Pocket PC devices.

Sproqit Workgroup Edition is priced at ? ¬849 (£584) for the server and five user licences. Five extra user licences cost ? ¬499 (£343), with 10 extra costing ? ¬849 (£584).