EMS Sky Connect has announced Forté AirMail service for owners and pilots of business aircraft who want to easily access e-mail via their BlackBerry (News - Alert) smartphones, iPhones and other handheld devices.

This latest offering from EMS Sky Connect uses the Iridium network to reliably provide e-mail access to any WiFi (News - Alert)-enabled smartphone or PDA in Exhibit 4489.

In a release, Wiley Loughran, EMS Sky Connect’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, said he sees no reason for people to leave behind the normal modes of wireless connectivity simply because they boarded an aircraft.

Noting the importance of staying connected for doing business, Loughran said that their new Forté AirMail capability gives users the option to maintain e-mail capability in the air.

 

EMS Sky Connect offers many other Forté products for voice and text, and provides a complete office suite in the sky.

 

“Providing affordable in-air e-mail is one more way we can help our customers succeed,” Loughran said. “That is especially true now, during challenging economic times.”

 

The company has already submitted the Forté AirMail product for addition to the STC granted for the Forté telephone system. EMS Sky Connect is offering the Forté AirMail suite at $25,995, including WiFi interface, Iridium (News - Alert) transceiver, and antenna.

 

EMS Sky Connect, a division of EMS Technologies (News - Alert), Inc., has more than 4,500 Iridium-based communication systems flying worldwide. The company offers a broad range of satellite-based tracking and voice systems in both commercial and government markets.

 

In April, EMS Sky Connect deployed their Iridium satellite telephone and tracking system to Cessna CJ2 light jet airplane. Two New Jersey-based pilots flew this plane to set round-the-world record flight.

 

“It’s often difficult for people to imagine a telephone that can work anywhere on the globe, so we really enjoy supporting these kinds of flights, which prove that an Iridium-equipped airplane is never out-of-reach,” said Loughran, himself a certified pilot. “In the global marketplace, having real-time, always-available communications is a true necessity.”