One of the things that held Safari 2 back in business circles was that it lagged behind in some key internet technologies. Now that Safari 3 is out and running on the iPhone, NetSuite is giving high praise to the iPhone functionality with its CRM software, according to InformationWeek.

In fact, Apple has been working with NetSuite for several years to get the Safari Web Browser working well with this customer Relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning, and e-commerce software, according to Netsuite’s Sean Rollings, senior director of product marketing.

In order to do that, Safari needed more robust support for Dynamic HTML (DHTML), advanced JavaScript, cascading style sheets (CSS), and Ajax. With these tools, businesses can now use the iPhone to interact with NetSuite to obtain full access to their own vendor’s services, such as invoices, shipping, etc.

Mort O’Sullivan, president of privately held ArcaTech Systems in Mebane, N.C., spoke about his experiences with the iPhone. "It wasn’t intended as a business device, but it seems to work better than other phones in using NetSuite," Mr. O’Sullivan said. "It’s like years better." Another businessman, Brad Kugler, chief executive for Distribution Video and Audio, Tampa, Fla., agreed. "I expected to have an iPhone for fun; I’m sort of an Apple fanatic," he said. "But it works beautifully for NetSuite."

Other businessmen agreed as well. The large screen on the iPhone and its ability to zoom in and out facilitates interaction with the NetSuite system. Brian Keare, chief operating officer for Circle of Friends, thought it was as good as his Mac.

One remaining complaint is that Apple and AT&T, so far, only offer the iPhone on a personal account basis. That means, if used for small business, employees would have to submit expense reports, a tedium some don’t want to engage in. "If they offered this phone to business customers, it would be a very easy decision," Mr. O’Sullivan said to supply one to all his employees.