Sierra Wireless has embedded Certicom's movianVPN into its VoqMail Professional Edition wireless email solution for its upcoming Voq Professional Phone.

As an embedded feature that supports multiple VPN gateways, the solution is designed to allow for minimal administration by IT managers. So, according to the companies, the Voq Professional Phone and the movianVPN client can be integrated into an enterprise's existing security infrastructure. In addition, the VP has a minimal impact on the performance and battery life of the phone.

By making security an integral part of VoqMail Pro and its VoqManager desktop IT provisioning tool, and not a separate add-on, Sierra Wireless claims it has created a turn-key enterprise and business data access solution that saves time and effort by eliminating the need for IT managers to work with third parties to buy and configure software and policies for each device.

movianVPN

movianVPN works with existing security infrastructures by supporting more than a dozen gateways, including those from Cisco, Netscreen and Nortel and the three major mobile operating systems, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Palm OS and Symbian OS.

Voq

Taking an important step towards the release of its eagerly awaited Voq Professional Phone, Sierra Wireless singed an signed agreement back in March with key European distributors, including A & C Systems, Cedros, Daimler, Dangaard, Speeka, and Xacom, to sell Windows Mobile smartphone in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Nordics, Switzerland, and Spain. A North American distributor has been announced.

Siierra Wireless first announced the Voq smartphone last October. It is slated to include not only a standard phone keypad, but also a unique flip open QWERTY keyboard that makes the thumb keyboard twice as wide as the width of the phone. It also has a 200MHz Intel XScale processor with stacked flash memory. Other features include 32MB of memory with 16MB available to the user, 48MB of flash memory, a Secure Digital slot, and a 220 x 176 resolution display.

The initial model will run on GSM/GPRS networks. Its email solution requires no desktop redirector or dedicated server with support for standard enterprise email systems including Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and Novell GroupWise.

Sierra Wireless has also signed an agreement with THBBury to provide car accessories for the Voq phone through THBBury distribution channels in Europe and North America. These accessories include a custom cradle that is compatible with the UNI System 8 car kit and supports European handheld standards for hands-free driving. The handset is voice controlled, allowing the driver to make a call safely while the sound is heard through the external speaker or routed through the car-stereo speaker system