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smartphones

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About smartphones

Configure Email and Calendar for Your Smartphone

Related Resources

To Order Service or Questions: help@u.washington.edu or call 206-221-5000
(This is a For Fee service, please see service plans and costs below)

Overview

A smartphone is a device that offers telephone service and data services such as email, calendaring, a Web browser, and storage for contact lists. Most smartphones have a microprocessor, some memory, a screen, a keyboard, and a wireless modem.

The smartphone has two components: the device itself and the service. The device is small and looks like either a phone, or a PDA (personal digital assistant). The service is through a service provider, which sells a set of services for a monthly fee. These services will specify the number of minutes, whether you can send/receive data (such as email or pictures), the speed of the connection, etc. The capabilities of your smart phone will be determined by the model and service level you choose. For example, if you want walkie-talkie capability, you are limited to certain models of BlackBerry devices using Nextel services. This is why it's important to know what capabilities you need in a smartphone, before you look at specific models or service providers.

Smartphone FAQ

Smartphone Service Plans and Costs Available from UW Information Technology

Smartphones range in price from free-$600, and monthly service plans that include voice and data (i.e., email, web access) range from $65-100. Get current device pricing information from the vendor links here.

Smartphone Support Rates (per device):

For more information, email smartphone@u.washington.edu or call (206) 221-5000.

Purchase a Smart Phone

Contact smartphone@uw.edu to purchase a Smartphone. To see what models and options are available, look at the cellular provider Web pages, found here.

If you are already a supported user please email your purchase request to smartphone@uw.edu
And please include the following information:

  • User Name:
  • Service Carrier Desired: (AT&T, T-Mobile )
  • Department:
  • Device Model Requested:
  • Budget Coordinator Mailbox:
  • UW Device Phone # (if this is an upgrade or replacement):
  • Budget Coordinator Name:
  • Voice Plan:
  • Budget #:
  • Data Plan:
  • Other Information:
  • Text Plan:

Support

After you decide which smartphone to purchase, contact smartphone@u.washington.edu to make your purchase and if you also need help configuring or troubleshooting your device, assistance is available on a time-and-materials basis. See rates above.

Using Outlook Web Access to Wipe a Mobile Device

If your mobile device is lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised, you can issue a remote wipe command in Outlook Web Access. This command erases all data on the mobile device. Your mobile devices frequently store sensitive data. If you lose a device, wiping all data from the device protects that data by removing it from the mobile device. It is also a good practice to wipe a device that you are no longer using.

  1. Go to:
    https://owa.uw.edu/owa
    and enter your complete UW email address and password.
  2. Select Options, See All Options in the upper right corner of the display.
  3. Select Phone from the left menu.
  4. Click the Mobile Phones tab.
  5. Select the device for which you intend to submit a wipe request and remove from the list.
  6. Select Wipe All Data from Phone, and select OK on the pop-up information window.
    Once the command is submitted, all exchanged data on the phone will be erased.
  7. Click Remove Phone from List.

WARNING: All synchronized information and personal settings are wiped from the device. This returns the device to the original factory settings.
Note: After you wipe a device, you must remove it from the list of mobile devices. If you recover the device, you can add it back by initiating synchronization from the device.

For more information about smartphones, please send an email to smartphone@u.washington.edu