UK estate agent Foxtons adopts Nokia Lumia 820 for employees

By Rich Edmonds
last updated

Nokia has announced that Foxtons, a London and South East England estate agent, has chosen the Lumia 820 as the company business smartphone. The Windows Phone has so far been deployed to 900 employees across 35 offices throughout London and two in Surrey. Estate agents depend on receiving, updating and sharing information quickly in the competitive property market.

It was an easy decision for Foxtons to switch to Windows Phone as the company already has an established Microsoft infrastructure. For example, employees use Outlook to ensure that they remain up-to-date with calendar appointments, which are synchronised to agents' Lumia smartphones for mobile viewing management. 

What's more is the in-house development team at Foxtons is already familiar with app development on Windows Phone and has now begun creating unique apps for the Lumia 820. Dan Rafferty, IT Director of Foxtons, explains:

"In a fast moving business with many staff movements across departments and locations, keeping an accurate, up-to-date contact list is a challenge for us. We've developed an app integrating our personnel system with our active directory and phone system so all the information is accurate and can be accessed directly from our agents' Nokia Lumia 820s. It's a great timesaver and asset for the team. The Nokia Lumia 820 aligns with our entire device strategy and allows us to fully integrate our current Microsoft systems throughout the company."

The Nokia Windows Phone was swayed by the suite of exclusive apps that are available from Nokia. The Lumia 820 sports turn-by-turn navigation for reaching destinations, as well as Nokia City Lens to show live detailed information on the local area to customers, revealing POI (Points of Interest) and more. It's an ingenious use of the mobile operating system. 

Adrian Williams, director of Business Sales UK at Nokia, had the following to comment on the Foxtons news:

"Foxtons is a great example of how a company can empower its workforce to work effectively on the move, with their smartphones integrated with its existing Microsoft infrastructure. We are delighted that Nokia applications such as Nokia Drive and Nokia City Lens are making a real difference for Foxtons employees in the competitive real estate market."

The Lumia 820 is a great mid-range Windows Phone that packs a punch and offers customisation option with wireless charging and NFC shells, available in a variety of colours.

Thanks, Harry, for the tip!

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

14 Comments
  • This is great news.
    Now ramp up production for all Lumia phones.
    For the people who got windows 8, check this awesome free app which helps finding great apps on windows store.
    http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/8a6dfd32-9d7a-4653-8b7a-2f032d2eb4d4
  • Impressive sale. I get the feeling that the UK is one of Nokias leading markets for enterprise. Lets hope there are more sales like these. Interesting they went for the 820, i can imagine the 620 being an ideal solution when one just wants a phone to run custom apps
  • I sent you guys this as a tip last week, don't you guys check that?
    Anyway I was out with one of their agents just after he got the phone and he was thrilled by it. He said everyone in the office was really happy with them so far.
    I think one of the main gains here for Nokia not mentioned in the article was that they previously had iPhones as their corporate phone. So it's even better for WP to see a company switching away from Apple here.
  • Many apologies, just looked back and found your tip. Sometimes we miss things in the queue when it gets rather busy, but as a goodwill gesture I'll add you into the article as a belated thanks :-)
  • No worries, I just wanted to know it worked. TBH I didn't really think it was big enough news to warrant an article, so was a bit surprised when I saw this posted today.
    More than anything it's good news for WP when more big companies like this make such switches, it means that WP will get equal or even top billing when it comes time for them to make phone apps.
  • Thanks to Microsoft for having a great wp OS.
  • Domination begins. Muwahahaha. No... I hope this is a good sign for Nokia.
  • +1 ^^^ I love this comment, lol! ^^^
  • Every little bit helps.
  • Awesome news  *Me Gusta**... Nokia is mother of all phone hardware..
  • Went into phones4u today to ask about a replacement mobile for sending in my 920, because everytime i made a phone call, screen went blank!
    Sales rep " why did you get a windows 8phone?"
    Me "i love the os, and it a great phone, i didnt want apple or android"
    Sales rep " its such a complicated phone!"
    Me "really?"
    Sales rep " yep, the live tiles is a mess and it gets frustrating"
    Me " hmm what phone do you have?"
    Sales rep " iphone 5"
    Me " why iphone "
    Sales rep " its the best phone"
    And so on...... Its these kind of things why people shy away from wp8.
  • I hate people in 02, three etc who blindly support the s3 and ip5 just cos kids and braindead people buy them to play games. I always check out all phones but dragged mostly to WP's cos I'm not one of those teens who gets a  phone cos everyone thinks it's cool -.-. So feel free to ring me up when that sort of argument comes up cos I'll be more than happy to talk to them with my Lumia 920 next to me :P
  • 900 new Nokia converts all with famalies and clients putting eyes on a quality Nokia product, nothing but good news here. Hopefully this will help drive more sales.
  • A bigger story would be the adoption of the Lumia 920 to replace the 400+ employee BlackBerries at the Mall of America!