Verizon Offers Push E-Mail For Regular Cell Phones

While Research In Motion is the clear leader in providing mobile workers with access to corporate e-mail on the go, not every business can afford to buy BlackBerry devices, or any smartphone, for its workers.

On Tuesday, Verizon Wireless launched a corporate e-mail application that may be the answer for companies needing a mobile e-mail system without wanting a smartphone.

RemoSync, developed by Remoba, allows customers who use Microsoft Exchange Servers to manage e-mail, calendar, and contacts in real time on many popular cell phones, including Samsung's FlipShot, and LG's Venus and Voyager.

"The addition of RemoSync gives our business customers the added features of a business device on the phones they carry with them every day," said Andrea Caldini, executive director of product management and development for Verizon Wireless, in a written statement.

This service has a host of e-mail options. It utilizes Microsoft's Direct Push technology so e-mails are viewable when the application launches. Users can read, edit, delete, and send e-mails, as well as handle meeting invitations.

Microsoft Outlook contacts can be downloaded to the phone, and it also has Outlook calendar integration.

This service is primarily aimed at small and medium businesses, Caldini said, and it's priced at $9.99 a month. Users without Verizon's unlimited data plan will be charged $1.99 per megabyte used. Caldini estimated the average customer would use between 1 and 2 MB of data per month with RemoSync.

While more and more users are buying smartphones, phones like Motorola's Razr and LG's enV continue to remain popular with consumers. Because of this, RemoSync could fill a niche for some small and medium businesses.

A major factor against Verizon's RemoSync is typing without a QWERTY keyboard, as many business users may find it extremely difficult to power through e-mails on a regular phone pad.

The service is available on select Get It Now-capable phones.