Nextel Rolls Out Wireless Business Solutions

Nextel

Much of the service offerings are developed in conjunction with partners such as @road, which developed a transportation fleet-management application.

@road developed a global positioning system unit that houses a Nextel Internet-ready phone for wireless communication. The unit feeds data, such as location or time spent on a job, back and forth to an employer, so the employer, for example a trucking company, could redirect its drivers or provide directions.

Ernie Cormier, vice president of enterprise solutions at Nextel, said the company has about 30 such services developed with partners.

Nextel currently sells partner solutions through its sales force, said Cormier. "We sell applications like @road, Corrigo and UPS Logistics," he said. "We co-market and co-sell these applications to reach our customers."

Nextel is also offering wireless access to such applications as e-mail, messaging and CRM, in addition to vertical application developed with solution providers. Horizontal application partners include Siebel and PeopleSoft.

The Wireless Business Solutions' offerings integrate with corporate intranets, back-office systems, sales-force automation and CRM applications.

The applications and services are offered in conjunction with wireless services such as Nextel's 4-in-1 offering of digital cellular voice, Nextel Direct Connect, Nextel Online wireless data, business messaging and wireless private and in-building custom network services.

On the tools side, a Mobile Application Manager gives companies the ability to securely download Java applications to mobile devices and build a private library of applications.