Even before Apple launched its campaign Thursday to persuade corporate users of the benefits of its iPhone, Kirk Loevner, CEO of medical information provider Epocrates, was convinced it would have great appeal among business users.

Of course, the device already has great traction as a music and video entertainment player among consumers. Loevner, who worked with Apple to pave the way for its use by Epocrates users, said in an interview Friday that he believes the iPhone's consumer-friendly features will appeal to enterprise users, too. In addition, he cites some attributes that will attract business users.

"There's a terrific amount of storage," said Loevner as he listed the finer business-friendly points of the iPhone. "They'll do graphics and images because of the high-resolution display. And they will like the elegant touch interface."

Particularly appealing to enterprise and business customers, of course, is the promise that iPhone users will be able to get e-mail, calendars, and contact applications. Apple has agreed to license Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol, which will smooth the way to e-mail.

As a successful business delivering a range of decision-support software, market research, mobile medical education, and clinical messaging and reference to medical professionals, Epocrates delivers its products via PDAs and other handheld devices. The company says more than one in four U.S. physicians use its services.

Users simply go to the Epocrates Web site and download the product or service they want; accuracy is particularly important for its users, and Epocrates said more than 50% of its physician-users believe they have avoided at least one adverse drug event or medical error a week by using Epocrates software.

The large 8-GB and 16-GB memories available for the iPhone are important for Epocrates users, Loevner said, noting that when access to database information is needed, important applications should not have to rely on Internet connections, which don't always exist in all hospitals. He added that downloaded database material on iPhones is available much faster than it is over Internet connections.

Apple said new business features of the iPhone will be released in June.

Loevner has a more than passing interest in Apple software. Several years ago, he led Apple's software division and was an outspoken advocate for the Macintosh, which pioneered much of Apple's user-friendly campaign.