Mobile phones are becoming important tools for business on the move and the threat of losing all that information just by losing your phone is a serious one.
Although all platforms offer synching options via software bundled in the box to install on your PC, information stored on the internet is a much more secure solution.
Backup software provided with most new mobile phones is secure enough, but if your PC is destroyed you can lose that information, so online backup services provide extra security for your contacts, emails, text messages, photos and documents, which can all be managed online to give you peace of mind.
Contacts, emails, documents and photos are all stored on a remote cloud server, meaning if your computer is lost, destroyed or stolen along with your mobile, your data is still available within minutes.
Here, we take a look at just three of the options currently available.
MyPhone
Microsoft announced its own backup service for Windows Mobile customers at Mobile World Congress in February.
The service, which backs up 200MB of your data to Microsoft's cloud server, is still in its first beta stages and is currently being tested by a limited number of Microsoft's customers on a pre-register basis.
Microsoft was very quick to stress that it will not replace Microsoft Exchange and works in a completely different way, which is highlighted by the data you are able to backup when connected to Exchange.
For example, if you're connected, you can't back up any documents, SIM card contacts, or any information, which you have stored on your memory card. You also can't back up contacts, calendar appointments, or tasks if you have an active connection with Microsoft Exchange. The service is also only available for those using Windows Mobile 6 or higher, which is great for newer Windows Mobile users, but not those who purchased their handset a year ago.
But if you're not actively connected, contacts stored on your mobile phone, appointments, Windows Live contacts and photos can all be backed up onto a server run by Microsoft, which you can access by signing into your personal account at myphone.microsoft.com, so not all is bad with Windows' service.
You will need to download and install software for your phone too, but this is no big hassle if you already use third party apps on your mobile. After you've installed the software, you simply decide how much or little data you want backed up to the cloud storage. For the current beta, contacts, calendar, tasks, text messages, photos, videos, music and documents can all be backed up, providing they're saved onto your phone, not onto your memory card.
You can then simply decide when you want to sync your phone something which can be done automatically or manually and your data will be available on Microsoft's cloud storage space almost instantly.
Anywr
Anywr is an online storage service for any application or device that can by synched via SyncML, including web-based email, POP/IMAP email and your mobile phone contacts.
