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The Oracle People iPhone App is Here

Posted by JakePosted ago

Oracle People iPhone app Update: There is a new version of this app, Oracle People2. It supports iOS 4 and 3.x. See the details here. As before, drop a comment here or on the newer post to get the details from me.

With many thanks to Clayton Donley who built the app with help from Rich, Anthony and Noel, I give you the Oracle People iPhone app.

I’ve been teasing this app for nearly two week, and it’s finally approved and ready for general consumption. If you’re interested (and work for Oracle), drop a comment with your oracle.com email address, or email me for the download location.

Features
Contact info obfuscated to protect the innocent, i.e. meSo, what does it do, and why is it a big deal?

The app came from a really basic use case. Employees need the ability to search for other employees while on the go to contact them. Easy stuff, right?

Not so much actually due to the requirements for VPN and the mobile browser limitations. Sure, we have ways to get inside the Oracle firewall, but they’re not very mobile-friendly.

Clayton began with this in mind, and his implementation of VPN and OSSO is very user-friendly, at least compared to doing the same tasks in Safari. By the way, if you get annoyed at entering your credentials, that’s a security requirement, not a part of the app.

So, you can find people, and when you do, the app uses Connect API goodness to show you the person’s profile and Connect activity. The profile actually combines the person’s Connect and corporate directory profiles into a single view. Tapping the person’s phone number/s open the Phone app; tapping the person’s email address opens the Email app.

Pretty sweet, but wait, there’s more.

Create/Modify contact in your iPhone address book, invite to network, tweetYou can add the person to your iPhone’s address box or update an existing contact. This is a huge time saver because it populates the fields that you’d normally have to type in yourself. Brilliant. And, you’ll get a profile picture too, if the person has one.

In addition, you can invite the person to join your Connect network and send an OraTweet if you like.

Many people have IM IDs entered too; I haven’t tested this, but at some point, I can see the addition of tap-to-chat. Rich found a way to add his geocode, and we’re already pondering ways to update that from the iPhone. There are loads of geo features we could add, which would open a huge amount of cool features to road warriors. Stay tuned.

Comment on your activity logBeyond all the contact stuff, the app also surfaces a lot of Connect’s functionality to your iPhone. You can view your network (Connections) and various activity logs, and you can reply and comment on items in your activity logs, by email and by OraTweet.

There’s a lot in there.

People Involved
About Oracle PeopleAs I mentioned, this app is a joint effort. It’s also a great example of harnessing the talent of hackers for a really useful result. Clayton worked on this app in his free time, as did everyone else involved. The data flow between several systems inside the firewall via open APIs and RSS.

We’re seeing a lot more demand for this type of functionality internally, and Rich and Anthony have formalized API specs for Connect data to help people develop their own special side projects. Noel has an API for OraTweet as well.

So, if you have a project or want to scratch an itch, let us know.

Hit up the comments if you want the information about the Oracle People iPhone app. Remember to use your oracle.com email address.

AboutJake

a.k.a.:jkuramot

254 comments

  3. Just installed the app, and it works great. Really great to see all of this information coming together in such a useful and user friendly way.

    Is the source code available anywhere?

  4. I'm glad you agree. I love how all this happened organically too. You can hit up Clayton for his source code. Rich documented the Connect API stuff.

    Did you have something specific in mind?

  8. I think you know the answer. No, unless you come back to the fold, or did you leave before the acquisition? Sorry dude.

  14. Hi,
    I would love ago on this. At the moment I am using vcards and my mac address book.

    Cheers

    Jon

  15. Hey Chippy (This is my new endearing term, instead of referring to folks by name)–You know what frustrated me by this post? It's the following: “..due to the requirements for VPN and the mobile browser limitations. Sure, we have ways to get inside the Oracle firewall, but they’re not very mobile-friendly.” You see, I don't have an iPhone, just a Touch with the iPhone 2.X OS. And not that this has anthing to do with WORK productivity, but I sure would love to be able to access the outside world via WIFI when I'm in the land of “Clear.” Given that THIS app has a way to work through the VPN, etc., is there now a simple way to get my Touch in touch without having to drive down to SBUX? Thanks!

  19. The app uses the SSL VPN array, which is accessible via Safari too, i.e. it doesn't need the Cisco VPN client.

    It's been tested on Touches, so you should be all good.

    Re. connecting to clear, I don't have any new news there, and yes, that makes for an issue. But if you're at an Oracle building, you probably have your laptop. This app gets you inside the firewall for targeted tasks while you're away.

  20. Sorry not working. After spending 2 hoursgoing through various links with competing info I gave up, Great idea though.

  22. Got it working, Nice. I am in sales (thus the initial incompetence) and this app is great as I constanly need to talk to new folks within Oracle. Hint: Create the MobileDevices folder from the FAQ manually on your PC.

  23. This app is amazing!–If you want to use WIFI on your iPhone or iPod Touch, just make sure you are connected to the “clear” SSID (inside Oracle of course) This app works fine (no need to attach to clear-guest, or anything). Only the SSL and IPSEC vpns are permitted on the “clear” ssid (and of course you need an Oracle VPN account)

  25. Thanks for chiming in on the clear issue. That question keeps coming up on the Connect “Have an iPhone?” group.

  28. found it, installed it on my iphone, logged and it works really well !!! WELL DONE! THANKS

  38. Very nice idea, anybody developing it for blackberry, i just get one and love this type of app.
    Regards
    Nestor

  39. There is an Aria people search app that Tyler Muth built a while back; you can find details about it in the Have an iPhone? group on Connect.

  43. This sounds fantastic Jake!

    Can you please send me the link.

    Can't wait to try it.

    Cheers,

    Ric.

  48. I might be iinterested as well in getting the link. Kindly find enclosed my email address

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