In a previous article I explained the benefits of Blackberry Enterprise Servers, the protection they offer, and their ability to competently handle everything and anything email related. What I didn't mention is that BES capabilities are also available on other Mobile Operating Systems including the Palm OS, Symbian, and for this article the Windows Mobile Operating system.
With Blackberry Connect users can integrate existing email accounts, view attachements, use remote address lookup,and take advantage of other popular Blackberry Server abilities such as centralized IT management and bettercontrol over what emails are accessed.
In this article I'm going to go over some of the abilities offered via Blackberry Connect with Windows MobileDevices, then i'll provide a quick guide for determining whether or not your carrier and device are compatible.
Integration with existing accounts — With Blackberry connect users can integrate a variety of email addressesincluding personal and work supported addresses. The application uses the ability of push email technologyand seperates each account into their own inbox, meaning you can truly seperate work from pleasure.
Attachment viewing — Viewing email attachments is also a breeze thanks to Blackberry Connects supports for a tonof attachment types including Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, along with Adobe PDF, Corel, Wordperfect, HTML,and ASCII formats.
Wireless email synchronization — Just as users can with ActiveSync they also receive the ability to sync betweentheir devices and with their desktop inbox.
Advanced security features — With Blackberry Connect users also receive complete security via some of the strongestencryption standards available in the industry.
Wireless calendar synchronization — You can also sync to your desktop and device calendars which will allow you tokeep up to date with changes made on both hardware applications.
Remote address lookup — This is a feature that is also available with Windows Mobile 6.1 with Remote Address Lookupusers can search their company directories via BES and find all of the contact information they could possible need.
Centralized management and IT control — Users can use different applications yet management can occur from a simpleinterface that is run by the IT team.
Those are some of the main advantages that are offered via Blackberry Connect. With this technology users don'tnecessarily have to use Blackberry devices, yet they can be offered the same technologies, while allowing tech teams the ability to control every device with the same software. This is great for scaleability and in circumstancesin which the company may need to use Windows Mobile applications but still want to keep their BES up and running withoutoperating multiple servers and going through the trouble of integrating them to operate cohesively.
There really is no easy solution for this question. Certain Windows Mobile Devices are compatible, while others arenot.
To determine compatibility you can visit www.Blackberry.com to determine device compatibility. However you will alsoneed to contact your wireless carrier to determine if they offer Blackberry connect.
You'll find that most of the major carriers offer the ability. Once determined the installation is only an install file away.
You'll need to know your server login credentials and server location information which you can find from your network administrator or whoever handles your BES.
Blackberry Connect offers not only high levels of security, and the ability to take advantage of many popular email functions, it also allows users to choose their own devices outside of the Blackberry offerings which oftentimes don't offer the same technological based advances as Windows Mobile devices.
One more bit of advice, remember that Blackberry Connect is a monthly fee that is provided by your wireless carrier, its another consideration you may want to examine before choosing a Windows Mobile device for use with your business servers.