New to Android. Is it good for "business?"

[lsevo]

Considering (heavily!) the Evo but the boss just asked me how well it handles things like pdf's and .doc's and such. We're coming over from blackberries and I'm having trouble finding anything definitive about whether the Evo (or android in general) can handle those things natively. I see that there are apps that do it but come with mixed reviews. Just wondering what your experiences and/or expectations are.

Thanks.

 

[drksilenc]

theres a pdf viewer installed nativly and you can download an office like program that will read .docx format called documents to go.
also the evo has full exchange support because of htc sence

 

[lsevo]

Great! Thank you. One more hurdle cleared...

 

[asaberan]

also the evo has full exchange support because of htc sence

Sense is not the reason it has full Exchange support; this is built into Android.

It works quite well for business. At my office I have 5 Moto Droids and one Moment on my network and all of these are very heavy Exchange/business users--One of which I got a demo of just about every competing phone (BB Storm 1 and 2, iPhone, BB Curve, etc.) and he wasn't impressed until he saw Android. The only complaint I have heard is that the Droid (Not an issue on the Moment, which is Android 1.5) drops all settings for email accounts, frequently in some cases. This seems to have been extremely lessened by the push out of Android 2.1 by Verizon on the Droid, though.

One other minor issue one user didn't like is how the contacts were sorted (and you cannot change this), but you can search through them. He has hundreds of contacts, so I don't see how this is a valid complaint because he would always have to search to find any of them anyway.

Also, I believe Documents To Go is not free on some phones, not sure about the Evo. I'm pretty sure it came with the Moment, though I don't believe it is included on the Droid.

 

[lsevo]

Okay, I'll check that Documents to Go out. We very rarely have anything other than pdf's we have to look at so I don't see it being a deal breaker one way or the other, but the info is much appreciated.

As far as the contacts and stuff like that, I imagine there's a learning curve with anything new. We can figure out how to make all that stuff work I think.

 

[drksilenc]

like i said theres a free version that can read office documents. and a paid that can create documents

 

[neodorian]

Also no hard keyboard and no remote wipe may make it a tough sell.

 

[companyman]

Also don't forget that you can try it out for 30 days with no risk. If you find it doesn't meet your needs then you can return it and you pay nothing. This is probably the best way to make sure it's a good fit at your work place.

 

[neodorian]

Just put this video on your Evo and it will always be "business time".

YouTube - It's Business Time - Flight of the Conchords

 

[companyman]

Just put this video on your Evo and it will always be business time

Flight of the Conchords = WIN

 

[drksilenc]

remote wipe is coming in android 2.2

 

[companyman]

remote wipe is coming in android 2.2

And in the meantime https://www.wavesecure.com/wavesecure/android.aspx I have no idea of how good/bad this product is. Never used it before. I'd imagine there are at least a couple of these products available for android.

 

[Bek]

Also no hard keyboard and no remote wipe may make it a tough sell.

I haven't researched this in depth, but I thought remote wipe capability for Android is available in 2.1 now?

Edit: Nevermind... mixed up 2.2 upcoming features with 2.1 in my brain. Is it time to go home yet?

 

[lsevo]

If that vid doesn't come preloaded on the Evo then I don't know what they're doing over there at Sprint and HTC.

To be honest I had to go find out what "remote wipe" is so I didn't come in here looking like too big a fool. We're a really small operation and we don't worry about anything like that on our BB's now so I don't see that being an issue.

When it's all said and done we'll go with the device that I suggest and everybody will just get to used to it. That's how it was with the BB's. I'm sure the Evo will go over well.

 

[drksilenc]

lol my corp office has around 500 in it and atleast half use android.

 

[dsarch21]

being in the architecture business (not computer, ya know the mr. brady type architect thing) we use pdfs all the time to view in the field for construction details etc....has been a great experience. (that was with my old Nexus One)

good luck! the water is real warm, don't be afraid to jump in!

 

[eieio]

I ordered 12 for my field staff we do alot of documents on net books we are hoping to replace those with the EVO so techs can view documents and video chat and show problems.. As much as I like Fring as an option we will probably go with Qik.. It is more business friendly..

I think the 5 bucks a month is peanuts for what it will allow us to do with the program..

Even though it sucks as consumers to pay it. I still think business will use Qik over Fring

 

[lsevo]

You guys are all so helpful. I appreciate your info and advice. Now I just have to go about figuring out how to get some of these bad boys since all my "research" has pushed us past the pre-order point!

Thanks again.

 

[eieio]

You guys are all so helpful. I appreciate your info and advice. Now I just have to go about figuring out how to get some of these bad boys since all my "research" has pushed us past the pre-order point!

Thanks again.

Sign up for a business account. If it is 10 or more lines they will assign you a business rep and bring the phones to you..

Do it online and a Business rep will contact you.. I have not been in a store in 10 years..

 

[lsevo]

Yeah, sadly, we don't even rise to the lofty heights of 10. We're a little 3 man operation. I didn't know they worked the business thing like that though. That's pretty interesting.

 

[eieio]

Yeah, sadly, we don't even rise to the lofty heights of 10. We're a little 3 man operation. I didn't know they worked the business thing like that though. That's pretty interesting.

Still call it is worth it.. They probably will still assign you a rep, if you get a good one and you treat him right he his/her worth is weight in gold.. I started off with 4 guys myself and my rep has been there from the start, good guy..

Just be nice and treat him/her with respect and it will be rewarding

 

[lsevo]

I'll give that a go. No harm in trying, like you say.

 

[thezlog]

I'm one of two IT specialists at the firm I work for and it's my hope that I can convince the other half (the manager half) of the team that allowing people to use Android and Iphone is a great way to avoid having to expand our BES license bundle (aka les $$$$$).

 

[n0really]

Ask your sales rep to give you demo phones to use for a few weeks. This may not be possible with the EVO for a few weeks, but you can test the Hero.