Mobile Device Manager goodness!

Usually i'd ignore Microsoft's emails that pop into my inbox but the latest one was a gem. They are introducing the new Microsoft System Centre Mobile Device Centre, which allows for excellent corporate control over Windows Mobile Devices which include remote wipe, remote restrictions of device capabilities (such as disabling Wifi, BlueTooth or the camera on the device), and it's all controlled through Active Directory policies.

What I found most interesting about the software was the new "mobile optimized" IPsec VPN connectivity that allows the device to connect to the HQ and allow the user to have access to "behind the firewall" services and applications. It's certainly no easy task at the moment to start using push email on these devices without accidentally putting a big hole in your security! For instance on our site, an engineer enabled access to our Outlook Web Access but also at the same time managed to allow unsecured access to Sharepoint because it was a Microsoft Small Business Server. This engineer was subsequently bundled into the trunk of a car and has not been seen since...

So the System Centre Mobile Device Manager provides a nice way of providing access to email through a secure VPN tunnel, and uses the following extra nice features:

• Authentication
• Session Persistence
• Fast Reconnect
• Internetwork roaming
• Standards based MobIKE, IKEv2 and IPSEC tunnel mode

This software is out mid 2008 apparently, but at the moment only three devices are supported at the moment. I got all excited when I first saw this, but then realised the software isn't out yet, and my lowly Orange E650v isn't supported yet anyway...

• TYTN II (Tilt)
• Samsung i600
• Palm Treo 750

Go here for the Microsoft site, and watch the Webcast!

Cisco Mobility Connect in CallManager 6.0

Hoorah! Today I configured CallManager 6.0 Mobile Connect and it's a fantastic feature. When someone calls my DDI both my IP Phone and my Mobile Phone ring out, and I can choose to answer either. If I hang up on the mobile, I can pick up the call on my IP Phone without the call dropping, and should I choose to, I can transfer the call from my IP Phone to my Mobile seamlessly.

Ace!

2 problems to take note of:

- The first problem is what you set on your mobile phone as your voicemail. My problem was that originally my mobile phone was forwarding to my IP Phone extension in the event of forwarding to voicemail. If someone calls the mobile it would go to my extension (and ring out if I was logged in, otherwise would go to my Unity VM).

Now what will happen, is that if someone calls my mobile, it will forward to my extension which is logged off, which will in turn call back my mobile in a sort of strange loop. A possible fix for this is to get Unity to recognise your mobile number as a number that can access your mailbox directly, and get the mobile to forward to a generic VM pilot number instead of your direct extension. I will update when I have a solution to this.

- Problem 2 is the obvious issue of timers between making calls and having enough time to answer them. Be careful with timers as it takes a while (A LONG time if you use a GSM gateway :D) to build the call to the mobile. By the time your mobile starts ringing the CM will already have reverted to VM!

The best guide (Which isnt very good) to setting this up is the Cisco SRND for CM6.0