1. bbinoz's Avatar
    Dear CrackBerry Forum

    I own a financial services business and employ 17 full-time traders and 5 administration staff. About two months ago I shut down the last physical server we had on-site and now my entire workforce uses Azure cloud solutions. I don't employ a dedicated IT administrator and enjoy researching and implementing technology myself. I have always been a huge fan of cloud computing and it gave me a real buzz (and also scared me) to see everyone log on to virtual workstations using our virtual sever.

    It has been surprisingly difficult to find a secure instant messaging solution that everybody can have access to in or out of the office. We have been using Lync to facilitate instant messages for the past few years (it was called Office Communicator).

    Instant messaging is extremely important for us due to the time sensitive nature of our work. I use email to communicate to clients and for formal remarks around the office but most of our communication is through IM. It is important that I'm able to send out broadcast messages to all traders in addition to just sending group messages to teams or to the admin staff.

    The biggest problem I am having with Lync is poor connectivity to mobile devices. I am increasingly spending time away from the office and overseas and the ability to send IMs from my phone without using the stupid Lync connectivity app would be worthwhile changing the whole system.

    Up until now I have not issued out company mobile phones to my staff however recent problems in communication (staff member not paying bill) as well as the release of BES12 Cloud have convinced me to reassess everything.

    I am considering rolling out BB10 devices to all 22 staff as well as setting up BES12 Cloud so that I'm able to communicate with all staff without complicated issues or fear of having messages go unread. I have been hesitant about doing this previously considering the potential security issues however with BBM now being encrypted and options being made available for archiving all messages for compliance purposes then I really don't see why I shouldn't do this.

    I am after input from anyone who currently uses BBM for corporate use. It is my intention to replace all Lync Instant Messages, text messages and short emails with BBM. The advantages are that it doesn't matter where I am, I can see all messages being sent and received from my device in addition to being able to visually confirm my messages have been read (and not just delivered) to traders. I will activate corporate email on each staff member's device but will train and instruct staff to use BBM for short messages wherever possible.

    Has anyone here replaced Lync with BBM? How does BBM behave on a desktop environment using Blend? Are there any disadvantages to what I have put forward?

    Thanks for your comments.

    Storm 2 > Bold 9900 > Classic
    Reed Richards likes this.
    04-06-15 02:21 AM
  2. martinjdub's Avatar
    Interesting position you're in.

    I am a wireless admin for a large civic government where I manage 4000+ smartphone with BES12 for various business units and have seen this scenario played out many times. Liked you, we use Enterprise IM along side, email, text and BBM but when it comes to broadcasting highly sensitive or urgent messages in times of crisis (we've had a few natural disasters of late) for our senior management, Enterprise IM, email and text fall short for the reasons you mentioned.

    BBM has a massive advantage over the other platforms since individual contacts, Private Groups and even Channels can be created to manage users and the communications for a large group (virtual distribution list) or specific individuals . Also, the confirmation that the messages have arrived and read with any internet connection available is paramount for my users since Voice, text and Email services can be impacted negatively when stressed.

    All that said, my users are not subject to only use BBM but our advice is that's it's the preferred platform.

    Hope that helps
    04-06-15 11:35 AM
  3. bbinoz's Avatar
    Thank you so much for your opinion. It is the features which you've mentioned that have resulted in me going ahead with the roll out of BB10 devices for all of my employees. The biggest issue that I was unsure about was the ability to use BBM on a desktop environment but after using BlackBerry Blend for the first time yesterday all of my concerns were eliminated.

    I will write a policy on the actual use of BBM and will need to spend some time working out what we will use it for and what we will not be using it for but as a general guide:

    - News alerts
    - Trade discussion, instruction and confirmation
    - Pricing queries
    - Task / Job delegation (Me to Traders, Traders to Admin)
    - Commission status
    - Employee leave
    - All other internal miscellaneous discussion

    Will now all be handled using BBM.

    I really do not want anyone outside of my business being added as BBM contacts (no friends, family) to preserve security and to minimise disruption - does anyone know if this can be controlled using BES 12?

    We will continue to use email to communicate with customers and other organisations as I feel it is much more professional than instant messaging. Talking about customers though will be fantastic on BBM Protected!

    Storm 2 > Bold 9900 > Classic
    04-07-15 01:31 AM
  4. martinjdub's Avatar
    "I really do not want anyone outside of my business being added as BBM contacts (no friends, family) to preserve security and to minimise disruption - does anyone know if this can be controlled using BES 12?"

    BES12 can manage the following BBM features:
    BBM video
    Sharing BBM screens
    BBM channels
    Allow or Disallow BBM
    Use BBM protected.

    As I've not tested BBM protected, I'm not clear if that feature is there but I don't believe so.

    I don't see anything in the IT Policy around restricting BBM contacts to work related personnel only. That said, BBM has historically been considered a personal app but your idea is a great one and I'd suggest you submit it as a feature request of BBM protected.

    For the time bring, perhaps a company wide BBM policy is needed to manage those contacts.

    Sounds like you have everything covered but I Hope that helps!
    MartinJdub
    04-07-15 08:46 AM
  5. BrizzadMan's Avatar
    Replacing Lync with BBM might be possible for you.

    - Do you use audio/video capabilities in Lync?
    - Have you extended Lync to your telephone system, for employees to dial out on?
    - Do employees leverage Lync for meetings & desktop sharing?

    BBM alone, even with desktop capabilities via Blend won't replace those features of Lync.




    Posted via CB10
    04-07-15 09:46 PM
  6. martinjdub's Avatar
    - Do you use audio/video capabilities in Lync?

    Yes.

    - Have you extended Lync to your telephone system, for employees to dial out on?

    Yes.

    - Do employees leverage Lync for meetings & desktop sharing?

    Yes.

    BBM alone, even with desktop capabilities via Blend won't replace those features of Lync

    Agreed.
    04-09-15 11:27 AM

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