Blackberry software is a nightmare

Vertigo

Vertigo

Vertigo

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28 Dec 2003
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Firstly, how exactly do Blackberries work? Never having even used one I haven't the foggiest. Presumably they give you some email address like [email protected] and all mail sent to that is forwarded to the phone?

Secondly, I'm trying to investigate the Enterprise Server software for a friend and it's a nightmare. I can't find anything which gives a straightforward explanation of how it works or how it should be configured, just shedloads of pointless technical documents which tell you nothing about the basics.

Anyone got any info or handy links? RIM's website is a disaster.
 
not sure about the enterprise stuff but my blackberry works like this:

vodafone/o2/whoever give you email address ([email protected]) and webpage to set it up

you login to the site and enter your pop3 account details, the blackberry then gets the email automatically, without affecting your desktop email.

Hope that makes sense!

oh and you can set reply to address, so if you answer a email from your blackberry, it comes from your main pop3 email account, not your mobile email
 
You'll probably on be interested in BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) if you're running an Exchange Server.
It basically plugs into the Exchange server and handles all of the push e-mail side of things.

What you need to remember is that Blackberry's are a push e-mail system.
So as e-mail arrives it is pushed out to the Blackberry device.
This is as opposed to the "pull" service that many PDA people use.
It might not sound like much difference but with regards keeping Blackberry devices up to date with e-mail it does make a lot of difference.
 
We have around 8 blackberries on the go at the moment, Login or register the set online, insert the imei and pin number from the back of the device and create a new username/email address then it ties that email to the device.
im using a qtek 9100 instead :)
We have them setup with vodafone email also, in Ad there is a container for blackberry users and their email is setup accordingly.
 
The friend in question is running an Exchange Server - I installed it for him.

Basically all email for his domain comes into the Exchange box and is sorted out there.

He's got himself a Blackberry and, from what he's told me, it sounds like his provider (Orange I think) are telling him to mess around with the mail configuration at his domain host to get it to send email to the Blackberry. This doesn't sound like a very elegant solution to me.

Basically all his email still needs to come into the office server so I presume they're advocating configuring the mail forwarding at the domain host to send a copy of all main for him to his Blackberry somehow. Don't know how this is supposed to work - should he have been provided with an email address by Orange and all mail forwarded to this gets sent to the Blackberry?

The BES looks like a far more elegant solution. Allow all mail to come into the Exchange Server as before but from there the BES would handle forwarding it to the phone and loads of other funky synchronisation stuff. Just trying to wrap my head around how it works, specifically how it communicates with the device via the phone provider.
 
Been doing some reading and getting a handle on this but have one crucial question.

How exactly does a Blackberry communicate?

I know it's a push system, but pushed from where and how? Does it use an open GPRS connection so the phone is constantly online or some other technology? Presumably Blackberry themselves maintain a shedload of servers whose job it is to communicate with the phones, I just don't know how this is done.
 
Vertigo1 said:
How exactly does a Blackberry communicate?
Click to expand...

BES server needs the exchange management tools installed. It creates a MAPI connection to the exchange server to keep track of incoming emails / mailbox changes.

The server connects RIM's servers using SRP. These then send updates to the Blackberry devices.

Let me know if you want any more info (done about 20 BES installs so far)
 
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