Blackberry for very small company

[cth6]

I am helping my brother migrate to a Blackberry. I am very familiar with the BES architecture, but that is just too much for what he does.

He currently has an 8300 that is connecting via pop to download his email. I would like see if I can provide him with the ability to wirelessly sync his contacts and calendar from the outlook running on his PC, both of which are local and not hosted.

When BB's first came out I used the desktop redirector at work to wirelessly sync both the calendar and contacts, but we had an exchange backend. This was way before the BES was reality.

Can I still use the redirector without an exchange backend? Is there a better solution. I have read up on BIS, but it looks like that really only addresses email or hosted (ie GMail, Google) calendars.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks.

CT

[deRusett]

How many Black Berry's we talking about?

There was a software the name escapes me that gave BES functionality for free to groups of 5 or less I seem to recall
it was featured here, and MADE BY black Berry, damn I can't even begin to think what it is called right now

[cth6]

One blackberry.

I believe that you are thinking about Unite.

[JR750]

The Software is Blackberry Proffesional. You can download it from blackberry.com

When i first started my company, i used this. There were only four of us and it worked amazing. I have since expanded and now have about 45 employees and had to get a BES server.

[ds28]

I just started using a hosted BES provider with a hosted exchange account. It's a little pricey ($20/month) but it's great for having everything in sync (email, contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes. I know that my office PC, my Mac at home, and my BlackBerry are always in sync. If I'm away from all of these, I can always hop on Outlook Web Access.

All of the BES configuration is taken care of, so he wouldn't have to deal with an on-site server or administration of the BES.

[MaggieBerry]

Another option is AstraSync, I've installed it for a client running SBS with 20 users but only one BB.

BB Professional is available for FREE but AstraSync for $50/yr was much simpler especially for only one user

[HackerJL]

Originally Posted by ds28

I just started using a hosted BES provider with a hosted exchange account. It's a little pricey ($20/month) but it's great for having everything in sync (email, contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes. I know that my office PC, my Mac at home, and my BlackBerry are always in sync. If I'm away from all of these, I can always hop on Outlook Web Access.

All of the BES configuration is taken care of, so he wouldn't have to deal with an on-site server or administration of the BES.

Can you recommend a hosted BES provider? That would be handy!

[HackerJL]

Originally Posted by JR750

The Software is Blackberry Proffesional. You can download it from blackberry.com

When i first started my company, i used this. There were only four of us and it worked amazing. I have since expanded and now have about 45 employees and had to get a BES server.

Thanks! I thought after Unite bit the bullet, I was screwed without spending some serious coin.

[ds28]

Originally Posted by HackerJL

Can you recommend a hosted BES provider? That would be handy!

sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I've been using MailStreet since March. I heard mixed reviews going in, but when I was shopping around they seemed like the best fit for me.

I've been very happy w/ the service. I've only had 1 small period of downtime (planned maintenance on a late Sat night), and they've been very quick to respond to my support requests, troubleshooting, etc. They have a promo going on for a month of free BES and waived activation on their site, which cut about $50 off the startup price (1 month @ $10, activation @ $40)

They also provide a license/download for Outlook or Entourage for subscribers.

[silverback13]

Shoot depending on security and #of users you can always use google sync. I set that up for a friend that has a Sole Proprietorship and it works great for him. Sync's contacts and Calendar between google ,Outlook and his BB. Then uses imap for his domain email.

[bgrai]

I have looked up information about the Blackberry professional software. On Blackberries site, it says that it requires the following;

Software Requirements:

* Operating system requirements:
o Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Service Pack (SP) 4 (Server or Advanced Server editions)
o Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 (SP1 is required if you are using Microsoft Exchange 2007)
o Microsoft® Windows Small Business Server (Standard or Premium)
o If you are using Microsoft Exchange 2007, install the Internet Service Manager component of Internet Information Services from your Microsoft Windows installation media

* Messaging and collaboration server software requirements:
o Microsoft Exchange Version 5.5 native environment
o Microsoft Exchange 2000 native environment
o Microsoft Exchange 2003 native environment)
o Microsoft Exchange 2007 native environment
o Mixed environment (any combination of Microsoft Exchange Version 5.5, Microsoft Exchange 2000, Microsoft Exchange 2003, and Microsoft Exchange 2007)

* Database environment requirements:
o Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000)
o Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3a
o Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (Standard, Enterprise, or Express)

* Additional software requirements:
o Microsoft Internet Explorer® version 6.0 or later

Egads! All I want is to sync outlook contacts. Can anyone confirm that the program works with outlook on a regular computer, or will it only work with an exchange server?

[danrazvan]

I;m interesed in this too but BB Profesional is payd, 499$ / 5 user and 849$ /10users.
Where did you find the free version?

[bbjan]

Hi all,

We're a small business of 3 employees, 2 with bb's.
We use BIS, and host our emails with Yahoo Business. We use outlook in our desktops. We travel a lot and need to have emails and contacts in synch, including sent messages...for what I have read Blackberry Professional Service will do the job?? It seems like BES is too much for us?

I'm not a pro in these bb issues nor do we have an IT person so I would really appreaciate any help!!! Thanks in advance!!!

jb

[Tony Bag O Donuts]

may be a bit off topic but for wireless sync whether on att or verizon would one have to upgrade to the higher data plan?

at work our email host is network solutions and they are pop3 accounts, which we can access through their website/ portal.

Would we be in the same boat as the OP?
We have 6 bb users....

[tmd04020]

Ever consider using Google Apps? We have 3 users at our business and we use free google sync to wireless sync contacts and calender. It is setup using imap too, so it seems to work pretty well for us.