ASP brings WAP to the workers

Users will be able to access emails, contacts and calendars held on their NetStore Microsoft Exchange 2000 service via WAP phones and devices.

The ASP has already signed a contract with an IT consulting company for 350 staff to use the Mobile Access Exchange 2000 service. However, it has entered into this market even though it recognises that the opportunity will be restricted by the immaturity of WAP devices.

Although the reputation of WAP has been severely tarnished by its failure to live up to the hype, the principal of accessing certain applications via small devices is still appealing to users.

Andy Lake, editor of Flexibility, an online magazine with resources for new ways of working, said that workers will ultimately benefit from this, but not until the technology improves. He said: "The interesting thing is how this will develop. There are a lot of small businesses that are beginning to get into new technologies."

Deborah Bennett, senior business systems manager at media distribution company Itel, agrees with this view. "In principle this is something we would use but it wouldn't replace the laptop. It would have to be part of a toolkit."

This is in line with NetStore's strategy. David Blundell, the company's VP of product development, predicts that WAP access would account for between 10 and 20 per cent of total access to applications by its customers. He said: "It's an excellent supplementary service."