Apple recently announced plans to enable the iPhone to support the Microsoft Exchange Web e-mail client and to provide new features that have been demanded most by business users. Apple CEO Steve Jobs and senior executives provided more details about the company’s plans to open the iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) by June to support the development of enterprise-grade applications. Version 2.0 of the iPhone software, due to be released in June, will provide native support for push e-mail; push calendar; push contacts; global address list; support for Cisco IPsec Virtual Private Network, certificates and identities; the WPA2/802.1x security standard; enforced security policies; mass device configuration; and remote wipe.

In addition, the iPhone will gain “native” support for Microsoft Exchange by licensing the Microsoft ActiveSync protocol. This will allow the iPhone to work directly, through firewalls, with the Exchange server. All Exchange features will integrate into the iPhone’s native mail, calendar, and contact applications.

With these enhancements, the iPhone will become a popular choice for agency staff, especially younger producers. Agency IT departments should take the lead and integrate the iPhone into the overall communication framework.