[BIS + BES] Sync BES Contacts

[rockerboy402]

Hello everyone. I'm on a BIS through Verizon and recently just started at a new company that offered Enterprise. I had our I.T. guy activate my BB on BES so that I could check my work E-Mail on my phone. I've read that I can also access the contacts saved on the BES, but not sure how.

A few things:

- I do NOT want my local contacts to sync up with the BES
- I want to combine my local with my BES contacts
- If I leave the company I want to be able to unsync my BES Contacts and retain my local


Thanks in advance!

[rockerboy402]

Still haven't been able to find how to do this. Maybe not possible since I have BIS AND BES?

[JeffH]

You can only have one Address Book. When you sync to your desktop, the contacts in Outlook will merge with the Contacts in the Address Book. If there are any duplicates, you'll be prompted to reconcile them. Once you've done that, you'll have one combined address book in both places. You may be able to accomplish some of what you want by using Google Sync. I haven't tried it.

You should also be aware that it is almost never a good deal for the employee to put his personal property on a corporate BES. When you do, you surrender all rights to your device. An IT Policy is now controlling your phone.

An IT Policy is the way a company enforces its IT Security rules on BlackBerry's that have inside-the-firewall access. BES users get over the air synching of their Calendar, Email, Address Book, Tasks, and Memos. In return, they accept that the company can monitor all their email, log their phone calls, and in general control every aspect of their phone: whether they can install apps, use the Media Card or Bluetooth, or access the internet, for example.

IT Policies can be very strict to benign. Mine, for example, only requires me to use a password and Content Protection and sets the max timeout to 30 minutes.

If you have an employer-provided phone, and attempt to remove the IT Policy, your attempt will be detected the next time you attempt to log on to the company servers, the IT policy will be pushed back on your phone, and you could face severe disciplinary consequences for violating security.

Finally, consider:
Can a BES administrator read my PIN and/or SMS messages and see my phone call logs?
Yes, if the BES is version 4.1 or newer and the device is o/s code 4.1 or later.

• Starting with BES 4.1, the BES admin can log all PIN and SMS messages to the BES server, including the content of those messages.
• BlackBerry Messenger messages and conversations can also be audited by the BES administrator.
• In addition, the administrator can view all phone calls made/received to the device including date/time, number dialed, and the name of the person you are calling or who called you if that name is listed in your contact list.

Source: BES Users FAQ - BlackBerryFAQ

See also this link, courtesy of member Motorcycle Momma: What does BES see? What can be tracked?

[rockerboy402]

Is there a way to still get my E-Mail to my phone without being on the BES server? It is exchange email.

[JeffH]

You may be able to forward your work email to a personal email address if your employer permits it. Many don't because it's an obvious security risk. Basically, if your employer wants you to have wireless email access, he should provide the BlackBerry and pay for the service. Then there's no ambiguity about his ownership and right to control how you use the BlackBerry. That leaves you free to use your personal BlackBerry as you wish.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JR750]

Originally Posted by rockerboy402

Is there a way to still get my E-Mail to my phone without being on the BES server? It is exchange email.

Yes, well sometimes... If you have BIS try going into it and putting in your email, and password and see if the BIS sets it up as a POP 3 or IMAP account. If you do it this way you wont be able to sync your contacts, notes, calendar, or anything else. There will also be approx a 15 min delay in your emails.

[rockerboy402]

I checked and my employer doesn't enforce any type of IT policy. I don't even think they host the BES server themselves. It appears to be Hosted.

[jbeachy]

If it's Exchange, you can typically create a BIS account. The account information for Exchange is usually owa.yourdomain.xxx and typically uses your work login information. I have a BES device but I've helped numerous people at my company connect their personal devices to OWA, usually without difficulty. You may need to get the port information from your IT friends but usually it comes in automatically.

Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab