Sprint is launching the Sprint Business Mobility Framework in the US market. The framework is a new solution to meet advanced mobility requirements of business customers by extending corporate applications to the hands of mobile workers and expanding the power of those applications with location-based services, messaging and geographic notifications.

In conjunction with the launch of Sprint Business Mobility Framework by Sprint, Microsoft Corp. announced the available integration of the Microsoft MapPoint Location Server (MLS) with Sprint's network. Sprint becomes the first mobile operator based in the U.S. to deliver real-time location services with MLS.

Using the new services, businesses can enable new or enhance existing applications to locate and track mobile workers or assets nationwide. In addition, companies can direct workers across geographic lines, provide text or voice messages, and share critical wireless data information with workers.

The portfolio of capabilities includes presence (provides a status indicating whether a mobile device is on or off), Cell Sector Location (provides the latitude & longitude of a mobile device's CDMA cell sector, along with accuracy estimate), Precision Location (provides the latitude & longitude of a device along with accuracy estimate; depending on conditions, accuracy can be within 5 meters), SMS Alerts (Text Messages), Voice Alerts (enables an application server to call any phone and play a message using Sprint text-to-speech technology or via a prerecorded audio file) and more.

The Sprint Business Mobility Framework provides an open-standards network gateway interface to the Sprint Nationwide PCS Network, enabling seamless integration of applications with Sprint network services.