Can an iPhone meet these business requirements?

[IT-Architect]

My business needs are:

1. A good local backup that I can restore the whole phone back to a previous point in time.

2. Local synchronization with Outlook desktop or exchange. Cannot be stored on a remote server.

3. Automatically record both sides of telephone conversations, including when on Bluetooth.

4. Be able to initiate calls using my Bluetooth headset

5. Be able to use voice commands to initiate calls from the phone without the headset

6. Decent navigation

7. RDP so I can work on customer's and our servers.

8. VPN so I can work on customer's and our servers.

9. A good file manager like ES that can work over an SSH connection.

10. A good SSH terminal program like PuTTY.


My wants are:

A. Good speech to text that I can use in texts, E-Mails, and word processing documents. (I could care less about text to speech)

B. Good handwriting recognition in useful for texts, E-Mails, and word processing documents.

Thanks!

 

[Hrhnick]

1. A good local backup that I can restore the whole phone back to a previous point in time. Yes.

2. Local synchronization with Outlook desktop or exchange. Cannot be stored on a remote server. Exchange Server? Yes. Outlook? I don't use a PC, idk.

3. Automatically record both sides of telephone conversations, including when on Bluetooth. Yes, third party app.

4. Be able to initiate calls using my Bluetooth headset Yes

5. Be able to use voice commands to initiate calls from the phone without the headset Yes.

6. Decent navigation Yes.

7. RDP so I can work on customer's and our servers. Yes, third party app.

8. VPN so I can work on customer's and our servers. Yes, third party app.

9. A good file manager like ES that can work over an SSH connection. Yes, third party app.

10. A good SSH terminal program like PuTTY. Yes, third party app.


A. Good speech to text that I can use in texts, E-Mails, and word processing documents. (I could care less about text to speech) Yes.

B. Good handwriting recognition in useful for texts, E-Mails, and word processing documents. No


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A lot of these questions depend on what you expect "good" to mean.
I'd suggest contact your local Apple Store's business team, or just using your resources like Google to research.

Also 1-800-MY-IPHONE (1-800-694-7466) is Apple's iPhone sales department, they should be able to answer questions as well.

 

[IT-Architect]

Yes...Good handwriting recognition in useful for texts, E-Mails, and word processing documents. No

I've been living on Google searches. That is how I found this forum. The problem is a lot of the apps on the Android site are not real. For instance, call recording. It doesn't work on Bluetooth. Calling from Bluetooth works fine, but if you use speech to dial from the phone, Google wants all of your contacts, even when you dial by number, and Google interprets the number, and puts it on screen, they still want all of your contacts. I may have to chase down an iPhone.

 

[Hrhnick]

I've been living on Google searches. That is how I found this forum. The problem is a lot of the apps on the Android site are not real. For instance, call recording. It doesn't work on Bluetooth. Calling from Bluetooth works fine, but if you use speech to dial from the phone, Google wants all of your contacts, even when you dial by number, and Google interprets the number, and puts it on screen, they still want all of your contacts. I may have to chase down an iPhone.

Using any kind of voice dictation/voice dialing via Siri is all done server side. Apple works the same way as Google does when using speech to text. The same goes with Cortana, Microsoft's voice tool, server side.

That said disabling Siri enables "Voice Control" which is what was used in the iPhone 4 and earlier models. Voice control does not have speech to text, and the voice dialing is inaccurate as its ability to understand human voice is limited without having a server to do the transcription. It "works" offline.

 

[IT-Architect]

Using any kind of voice dictation/voice dialing via Siri is all done server side. Apple works the same way as Google does when using speech to text. The same goes with Cortana, Microsoft's voice tool, server side. That said disabling Siri enables "Voice Control" which is what was used in the iPhone 4 and earlier models. Voice control does not have speech to text, and the voice dialing is inaccurate as its ability to understand human voice is limited without having a server to do the transcription. It "works" offline.

That is very valuable information for me. I agree that serious voice-to-text needs to happen on the server side. I have never had a problem with voice dialing locally with my old phone, and that is what is used when I'm on Bluetooth on the new phone. It's only when I'm not on Bluetooth that Google Now gets into the mix. I will turn S-Voice on and see what I get.

Thanks Tons!

 

[IT-Architect]

Samsung S-Voice on and see what I get.

S-Voice is a local app. It was disabled and invisible on my phone. Samsung tech support turned it on. It works perfectly!

 

[Hrhnick]

S-Voice is a local app. It was disabled and invisible on my phone. Samsung tech support turned it on. It works perfectly!

I would be cautious, since it sounds like privacy is a concern for you. Samsung actually discloses that S-voice is provided by a third party.

Also:

"In January 2012 AndroidPit discovered that Vlingo sends packets of information containing the users GPS co-ordinates, IMEI (unique device identifier), contact list and the title of every song stored on the device back to Nuance without proper warning in the privacy policy. Users of Vlingo have also found the program sending data to servers at the dhs.gov domain name."

 

[mofunk]

Speech to text and text to speech yes. Its why a lot of visual impaired people choice the iPhone. It's called Voice Over.

Siri incorporates a lot of Voice Over features. I use it when I'm driving. Read my messages. Apple has it on the Macs and iOS device.

YOu have to know how to ask the question correctly. Like "read last email from Joe Smith" ((siri reads it and ask if you want to reply))


http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/


iPhone for Business

http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/

https://support.office.com/en-US/Ar...ab3-8b65-22915e4043dc?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

 

[IT-Architect]

I would be cautious, since it sounds like privacy is a concern for you. Samsung actually discloses that S-voice is provided by a third party.
Also:
"In January 2012 AndroidPit discovered that Vlingo sends packets of information containing the users GPS co-ordinates, IMEI (unique device identifier), contact list and the title of every song stored on the device back to Nuance without proper warning in the privacy policy. Users of Vlingo have also found the program sending data to servers at the dhs.gov domain name."

Thank you very much for that useful information. Just because it is the government getting the information is no longer a reason for trust since over the past several years departments in our government have proven themselves to be organized crime. They hold up people for information, and threaten them with shutting down their company and putting them in prison if they say anything, and many such actions in other areas. People have quit high paying jobs with them because they could not do what they were being ordered to do, which leaves behind only unsavory characters all the way to the top. I would assume Apple and Microsoft are in the same position, willingly or not. It's time to starve the organized crime monster who is using our money to ruin us and benefit their friends.

Thanks all for your help. You've helped me a ton. I have what I need.

 

[IT-Architect]

Thanks all for your help. You've helped me a ton. I have what I need.

PS: In the past week, I've gained more respect for the iPhone environment. The Android attraction is you get a lot more phone for the money with Android. The problems are:

1. No backup: That's correct. The bottom line is there is no workable backup for Android. I've read plenty about ADB restores on the web. Most end up doing a factory reset and setting up everything manually. The bragging rights of Android is it is easy to customize to get what you want. That's a lot of work, and you lose it all with a bad app install or if you need a new phone. The iPhone has had real backups for years.

2. There is no way to record calls while on Blue tooth. It has been blocked. Apple can, so it has nothing to do with countries and privacy laws. Android phones have apps pre-installed that send your private information all over the place. The only plausible explanation Android cannot is they have unresolved security issues with that. E.G. it is not ready for prime time.

3. Rooting and Android phone is far more prevalent than jail breaking an iPhone. Reasons cited is customizations. That is not plausible. The Android phones are incredibly customizable without rooting them. In fact there is hardly anything to be gained. From what I read, it is to gain functionality, expected and needed functionality, functionality that exists on the iPhone without jail breaking it.

4. The KNOX counter: The root exploits used to gain root access without tripping KNOX counter, no longer work. If you don't use an exploit, you trip the KNOX counter when you get root access, which voids your hardware warranty and support. Many see that as not making sense, and say flashing a ROM etc. has nothing to do with the hardware, and they should be able to reset it back to factory as was common in years past. Well, I remember years past, and one of the common hacks was overclocking the CPU and video. The other side is the support personnel don't know what they are up against because the operating system and built in apps may no longer be standard. Moreover, they CANNOT do patches if the parent files are no longer the originals or in the same place.

5. Androids attraction may be configurability, like a 16 year old customizing his first car. I like that a lot. The iPhone's strength is consistency and maturity. It is much easier to support a device like that. It's a tool you can use and ignore. You don't need to void any warranties to get the functionality necessary and to have peace of mind that you backups will always restore.

Summary: In my view, even if you do get a lot better hardware for the money with Android, that doesn't necessarily translate into it being more cost effective. I bought a Galaxy Note 3 on Verizon. It would have cost twice as much to buy the equivalent iPhone 6 Plus on Verizon to get the 1920 x 1080 screen that I need, and still wound up a little short of the Note 3. My thoughts at this point is I could have paid twice as much for equivalent hardware from Apple, and still easily been money ahead. IME, the Android ecosystem is not real, and the iPhone ecosystem is. That's a difficult thing to admit.

My thoughts