Review: HP's Windows Mobile handset offers advanced voice features to corporates

The business-oriented Voice Messenger smartphone boasts support for VoIP, Wi-Fi and SIP

HP’s iPaq 514 Voice Messenger is a business smartphone that offers the user advanced features, such as IP telephony via a Wi-Fi connection, in addition to all the standard capabilities in a Windows Mobile device. However, despite this, the handset seems to have been designed with more emphasis on ease of use than many rival models.

Available since July, the Voice Messenger is – as its name suggests – a more voice-oriented device than other HP iPaq models. It is styled as a candybar phone handset with a 2in colour screen and weighs just 102g. With Windows Mobile 6 and its ability to link directly with corporate Exchange mail servers, the device is worth evaluating as a standard handset for business users, especially those considering IP telephony deployments.

Unlike HP’s Mobile Messenger devices, the iPaq 514 has a standard phone keypad rather than a full qwerty one. This makes the unit less suitable for heavy email use, but we found it easier to use than other similar devices, thanks to well-sized keys and an indicator at the top of the screen that shows whether the phone is using the T9 or multipress input methods. Users can switch between methods using the '*' key while in a text field, and holding this down also brings up a list of symbols – handy for entering '@' in email addresses, for example.

The iPaq 514 is a quad-band GPRS phone, although it lacks 3G support for high-speed data. However, it does have 802.11b/g Wi-Fi capability. As might be expected, we found browsing the web much faster when connected to a Wi-Fi access point than with GPRS.

HP also enables users to make VoIP calls using the Microsoft Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) client in Windows Mobile 6. This is intended to link to a corporate IP PBX or SIP server, but lacking such infrastructure, we found we could use the iPaq to make internet calls using an online SIP service accessed via a broadband connection. We found the call quality impressive, but the volume was a little on the quiet side even when we turned the sound up.

Once configured, the SIP client will attempt to register with the server whenever Wi-Fi is active and the handset is connected to an access point. Users can set the phone to one of three settings: automatically use VoIP for calls whenever Wi-Fi is available; only use VoIP if the cellular network is unavailable; or turn VoIP off completely.

However, it is not possible to configure the SIP client from the iPaq 514 itself. Instead, HP includes a tool – the HP iPaq Setup Assistant – that allows the handset to be configured from a Windows PC when it is connected. As well as VoIP, the tool allows users to configure email, Wi-Fi access point settings, speed dial options and even browser favourites, and set them all with the click of a mouse when done.

In a corporate environment, the SIP client and other device settings can be configured remotely by an administrator using HP’s Enterprise Mobility Suite.

The iPaq 514 has the usual complement of tools and applications for a Windows Mobile handset, which in Windows Mobile 6 includes Microsoft’s Office Mobile suite comprising the mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In previous versions of the platform, only larger Pocket PC devices had these applications. We were able to view Office documents emailed to the handset from a PC, edit them and then return them.

The Outlook mail client in Windows Mobile 6 can now display HTML-formatted messages, and can search for emails through a user’s entire inbox with Exchange Server 2007 mail systems. We were unable to test this feature, but found the mail client easy to configure for POP3 accounts. The device can be set to automatically check a POP3 account for messages at intervals ranging from once every five minutes to once a day.

HP includes a speech recognition tool – Voice Commander – that enables users to perform tasks by voice control. This includes calling people in the contacts list, viewing appointments and starting other applications. This requires no training, and we found it generally recognised commands if we spoke slowly. There is also a separate Voice Recorder for memos.

We were impressed by the battery life of the iPaq 514, which we used for at least a week without it needing a recharge. This is despite the fact that we made frequent use of the Wi-Fi interface to test VoIP, as well as browsing the web over Wi-Fi. In the past, we found Windows Mobile devices often required charging every day, even with only modest use of the handset.

The handset takes an 1100mAh battery that can be removed by sliding off the back of the case. The USB cable for linking to a PC also serves to connect the phone to its supplied mains charger.

As well as Wi-Fi, the iPaq 514 has a Bluetooth wireless interface with support for various profiles including wireless headsets, synchronisation and hands-free kits. The handset also has a MicroSD slot for Flash storage cards, protected by a flexible cover. A 1.3 megapixel camera is also built in, which is a relatively low resolution by recent cameraphone standards, but which seems to take reasonable quality snapshots.