1. mrsubway's Avatar
    My friend got a Blackberry Storm for an employee, and he wants to monitor the e-mails that are both sent and received through the phone.

    In other words, if she sends an e-mail he wants to know. It is for business use.

    1. Will a free BES do this?
    2. Do you NEED BES?
    3. Does the Windows Server BES is stored on have to act as the pop/smtp server itself, or can an existing company e-mail account hosted by panix still be used?

    Ideally, it would be cool if, when she sent an e-mail, he was just forwarded a copy of it.

    Can any of this be done? We've got a Windows 2000 server running, and we're going to buy a 2003 server.
    06-30-09 06:51 PM
  2. gtstang462002's Avatar
    Not going to happen. There are privacy laws at work for this very reason, business use or not.
    06-30-09 07:40 PM
  3. mrsubway's Avatar
    Hm. She knows about it, but if it's a no no, then it's a no no. Thanks anyhow.
    06-30-09 08:02 PM
  4. gtstang462002's Avatar
    Hm. She knows about it, but if it's a no no, then it's a no no. Thanks anyhow.
    Let em think that they are getting monitored and they will usually stay in check. If your friend is managing the BIS account they could always have the emails that are sent also get forwarded to another address, but you would only see what is going to the phone and not what is getting sent out. This does not stop the use of 3rd party programs like the GMAIL app from being used.
    06-30-09 08:06 PM
  5. yapkuen's Avatar
    Not going to happen. There are privacy laws at work for this very reason, business use or not.
    Which is usually why most companies have a written e-mail policy disclosing that they can monitor emails and require their employees to sign it as a precondition to employment or receiving a work e-mail address.

    To the OP: your friend would need to comply with both state and federal law, so best bet if it's really something he wants to pursue is for him to consult an employment lawyer.

    As for the tech side of things... that beats the heck out of me. Sounds like he probably doesn't have an IT department (or person) that he can consult. Does he currently have BlackBerry service for other employees at the business, or is this his first? Whoever the BlackBerry service provider is might be a good place to start - even if it's someone questionably competent like a Verizon rep, they should eventually be able to pass him along up the ladder to someone who knows.
    06-30-09 08:13 PM
  6. mrsubway's Avatar
    LOL! It's small. I help him out because he's a friend. He just doesn't want any rif-raf on his e-mail accounts. He only cares about the one he's giving her, not personal ones.
    06-30-09 09:35 PM
  7. Wheeel's Avatar
    Monitoring employees isn't illegal. Our company does it. We use Actymac Dutywatch, this is an app for Mac OS.
    However, I guess it's obvious an employer who is going to start monitoring his employees has a moral duty to inform them about it.
    07-02-09 04:56 AM
  8. yapkuen's Avatar
    Monitoring employees isn't illegal. Our company does it. We use Actymac Dutywatch, this is an app for Mac OS.
    However, I guess it's obvious an employer who is going to start monitoring his employees has a moral duty to inform them about it.
    And a legal duty. Email monitoring is generally illegal under federal and state employment laws if it hasn't been disclosed beforehand in a written policy. I'm guessing your company has everyone sign a copy of the IT policy at some point during the hiring process.
    07-02-09 01:57 PM
  9. paintdrinkingpete's Avatar
    In short to OP's question: yes, you can do this, we do it at our office.

    1) all employees are made to sign an agreement stating that they understand that ALL email is monitored.

    2) easiest way to do it is to have BES set an automatic BCC: recipient to all messages, which will get delivered to a centrally managed administrative mailbox.
    07-02-09 03:15 PM
  10. Wheeel's Avatar
    And a legal duty. Email monitoring is generally illegal under federal and state employment laws if it hasn't been disclosed beforehand in a written policy. I'm guessing your company has everyone sign a copy of the IT policy at some point during the hiring process.
    Yes, including this point to the IT policy also should be done.
    07-03-09 04:44 AM
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