[BoldPreza]

If you have to switch you have to switch. Oh well now the fun part. Shopping!!!

IPhone is a great option but you are not looking to spend that kind of money it seems. Flagship phones are very expensive and the Compact android phones suck but last year's flagship phones are still brilliant pieces and where you should look for the best bang for the buck.

The Sony Z2 like I have is very very close to the latest Sony flagship but now can be had on sale. If I were to look right now though I would go for the HTC One. Either M7 or M8. Both well built amazing sound and because they didn't sell as well as Samsung can be had for a steal.

[anon(5061193)]

If I was forced off Blackberry.. I would go Windows Phone....

[Mric182]

Try the Good (Android) application and if it doesn't work than I would go Windows phone probably a Nokia 930 or so

Posted via my Q10.

[anon(8063781)]

If you have to switch you have to switch. Oh well now the fun part. Shopping!!!

No doubt! If it was me, I'd look at the positive. If your company is going to pay $50 a month, and your job is stable, sign a contract and get a flagship.

Mmmmm.... new phone smell....

[Plazmic Flame]

If you go non-BB, then I would suggest iPhone 6 Plus for battery life.

[dlrogers81]

I'm using the Note 4 right now, and I'm very pleased with it so far. Unfortunately a lot of companies are doing the same thing.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 4 using Tapatalk

[playfoot]

Still keep your BlackBerry for personal use, even upgrade to a new BlackBerry. But, no one can force you to stop using BlackBerry. If you work for a company that requires iPhone or Android, they'll need to supply it. It's a work tool, like a PC or Laptop, they don't ask you to bring your own.

I took my BlackBerry to work on my first day and they said I had to connect it to their enterprise server. I told them that I had a few BlackBerry phones and won't be giving you access to any of them. An hour later, I had a shiny new BlackBerry on desk.

Posted via CB10

Absolutely correct - if work stipulates make, model and carrier, it must be supplied by the company.

[ADGrant]

Realistically though, if it's a work phone, OP is likely looking for the path of least resistance (as do most users). OOBE.

In which case pure vanilla Android with no skinning is likely his/her best option, imho. If they have to go to the trouble of removing even the slightest bit of bloatware, they might as well take the time to learn root. But if it's a corporate phone, that might not be permissible.

Yeah, form factor would be important too (to me personally anyway).

Good will not work on a rooted/jailbroken phone. May not like side loading either.

[ADGrant]

Absolutely correct - if work stipulates make, model and carrier, it must be supplied by the company.

I don't think they stipulating anything other than they only support iOS and Android which covers over 90% of the US market.

[taveesh]

BB10 does have Android runtime. Can't he still use Good on BB??

Posted via CB10 on the Q10 with OS 10.3.2.158

[Old_Mil]

Some battles aren't worth fighting. Unfortunately, IT decisions in corporate America are often made by people who have very little understanding of the issues at hand.

Just got a Droid with a big 5.5 inch screen and an octocore and go on with life.

Posted via CB10

[jmr1015]

No I don't nor Did I paraphrase that sentiment. I stated productivity will be affected. Change is good but I've posed experienced and sound questions hat need to thought of before disrupting users such a this a. Primary means of communication when mobile. I find it odd nobody can challenge this just my preference of productivity for BlackBerry.

So I ask you why the majority of fortune 500 companies still use BlackBerry, why government globally, why large as firms etc when BES can be used to secure competitive devices, hmm.

Posted via CB10

Where are those statistics posted? Which companies that make up a "Majority of Fortune 500 companies?" Which "government[s] globally" and which "large firms?"

[stuart445]

So my company will be shutting down our BES in June. The only way to get email on a phone will be via the GOOD application which will only be supported on iPhone and android. That rules out keeping my blackberry or going to windows phone.
The company will provide a $50/month credit if I go with AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon.
I'm on call almost 24/7 and will gravely miss the custom notifications and easily changed sound profiles.

With all that information, what options should I investigate? I haven't had a non-blackberry phone literally this century...

Edit : I will have to pay for the phone , so price is a concern.

The Sony Xperia Z3 is a quality phone you should get that I made the change from the Z30 and I don't regret it at all

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[anon8656116]

Features I use frequently:
Wireless hotspot, custom ringtones for emails from different contacts (I think Good screws me on that)
Custom ringtones based on sender for txt messages
Different sound profiles
Long battery life

iPhone doesn’t have sound profiles, aside from:

• Silent mode (hardware switch), which turns off sounds, but not necessarily vibrations. You can disable the latter for Apple’s apps, but not necessarily for third-party apps, although messaging apps generally allow you to do that. Only very rarely will I get vibrations (since I typically dislike them).
• Do Not Disturb mode (software quick-toggle or time-based), which turns off all your notifications, including sounds and vibrations. You can choose between complete DND and DND when you’re currently not using the phone.

In addition, iPhone has simple, but straightforward notification settings that you can change on a per-app basis. Custom sounds is not an option as far as third-party apps are concerned (unless the apps support this themselves, within them). On iPhone you can only natively set the tones for some of Apple’s own apps, including the ringer, messages, mail, calendar events and reminders. You can set different ringers or message tones (not mail) for individual contacts, but it can only be done in Apple’s own contact sheets (typically found in the Contacts app) and only (again) for Apple’s own apps, unless the third-party apps offer a solution on their own.

My guess is that the Good app will impede plenty of this, especially when your corporate contacts and mails are within that app. It would entirely hinge upon the customisation options within that app, if there are any.

As for wireless hotspot, that depends on your carrier (some disable it). If supported, it works pretty well.

The battery life is generally good. It’s not best-in-class, but the standby is more than acceptable to me and the iPhone does conserve a lot of energy due to the lack of ‘true’ background processing (which is not that much of a problem in practice, since apps load/resume quickly and updates are fetched asynchronously in the background, if enabled). My iPhone 6 gives me easily 6–8 hours of active usage before it depletes. To me that typically accounts for more than 24 hours of usage, often 36 or more hours without charging. But that depends on your usage habits.

I can’t speak for Android of course, just giving you my perspective. I especially appreciate the privacy options on the iPhone (you can disable many permissions, just as on BlackBerry), which are severely lacking on Android. Also, depending on brand, you will be saddled with bloatware and custom launchers, which you typically can’t get rid of without rooting.

[Brown Noise]

Get a phone that complies with what they want. They should have an approved make and model list if this is Their Policy, so insist on one and ask for that list in writing from the IT department (use the excuse "so you can take it to the shop and pick one off the list"), then buy a phone off that list (if there is a most recommended - I'd ask for one to be on the list - get that one). Keep the supplied list very safe (with copies) so you can neatly sidestep any future blame games (incompetents always try to scapegoat and shift blame). eta: Only have approved apps on that phone, and ask for a list of approved apps. If supplied with non-approved apps, uninstall them (any unapproved that can't be uninstalled, notify the IT Department in writing, and ask for a workaround).

Playing fast and loose games with customer, product, and employee security is going to cost 'corporate' bigger than massively, sooner rather than later. Liabilities and vulnerabilities are stacking up extremely high (greatly assisted by *way too many* IT departments that are too keen to kiss corporate a$$ and not lay the law down to protect the interests of shareholders, product, and clients), and there will be a huge amount of damage done 'somewhere' that will have them all panicking even if they haven't been affected by a hugely expensive security breach *yet*. It's not a question of if, it's always when.

So bite your tongue and let them all fall into the traps they are creating for themselves (they are refusing to consider the blatantly obvious, are ignoring their very real responsibilities and duties, with too many proving to be completely deaf to reason, and it isn't your job to get them up to speed on essentials they should already be up to speed on). You have been made aware of something extremely valuable about your employer's vulnerabilities, so pay close attention to what is a clear warning.

In the meantime, look for work elsewhere, with an employer that is not so intent on committing suicide for themselves, their shareholders, their employees, and their customers.

Nobody likes to be 'laid off' out of the blue, and "But nobody could have seen it coming!" doesn't wash when the chips are down and the liquidator has just walked through the front door.

[jmr1015]

Get a phone that complies with what they want. They should have an approved make and model list if this is Their Policy, so insist on one and ask for that list in writing from the IT department (use the excuse "so you can take it to the shop and pick one off the list"), then buy a phone off that list (if there is a most recommended - I'd ask for one to be on the list - get that one). Keep the supplied list very safe (with copies) so you can neatly sidestep any future blame games (incompetents always try to scapegoat and shift blame). eta: Only have approved apps on that phone, and ask for a list of approved apps. If supplied with non-approved apps, uninstall them (any unapproved that can't be uninstalled, notify the IT Department in writing, and ask for a workaround).

Playing fast and loose games with customer, product, and employee security is going to cost 'corporate' bigger than massively, sooner rather than later. Liabilities and vulnerabilities are stacking up extremely high (greatly assisted by *way too many* IT departments that are too keen to kiss corporate a$$ and not lay the law down to protect the interests of shareholders, product, and clients), and there will be a huge amount of damage done 'somewhere' that will have them all panicking even if they haven't been affected by a hugely expensive security breach *yet*. It's not a question of if, it's always when.

So bite your tongue and let them all fall into the traps they are creating for themselves (they are refusing to consider the blatantly obvious, are ignoring their very real responsibilities and duties, with too many proving to be completely deaf to reason, and it isn't your job to get them up to speed on essentials they should already be up to speed on). You have been made aware of something extremely valuable about your employer's vulnerabilities, so pay close attention to what is a clear warning.

In the meantime, look for work elsewhere, with an employer that is not so intent on committing suicide for themselves, their shareholders, their employees, and their customers.

Nobody likes to be 'laid off' out of the blue, and "But nobody could have seen it coming!" doesn't wash when the chips are down and the liquidator has just walked through the front door.

Wow. This site never disappoints. So the OP should view his company switching from BES to GOOD as a sign that "The sky is falling!" and immediately begin seeking other employment before the company goes under?

I'm guessing when you say "with an employer that is not so intent on committing suicide for themselves, their shareholders, their employees, and their customers." do you really mean "with an employer that uses BES, and only BES."?

[JosevuN3]

No I don't nor Did I paraphrase that sentiment. I stated productivity will be affected. Change is good but I've posed experienced and sound questions hat need to thought of before disrupting users such a this a. Primary means of communication when mobile. I find it odd nobody can challenge this just my preference of productivity for BlackBerry.

So I ask you why the majority of fortune 500 companies still use BlackBerry, why government globally, why large as firms etc when BES can be used to secure competitive devices, hmm.

Posted via CB10

I really don't get your grammar, but lets guess. why many firms out there -except those small group (500)- don't use blackberry?

[miaminemo]

Absolutely correct - if work stipulates make, model and carrier, it must be supplied by the company.

They dont stipulate that you use it. This is our option.. we could choose to just stay up online VPN connected so we can get emails. Texting is considered a 'privilege'...

We just got an email this week dictating TMobile will soon be supported , but the stipend for all carriers will be going down to $25 per month. Sucks.

[MobileMadness002]

If I was forced off Blackberry.. I would go Windows Phone....

That would probably **** them off as well......

[MobileMadness002]

I don't think they stipulating anything other than they only support iOS and Android which covers over 90% of the US market.

Then they are not providing a BYOD solution and should also be providing the devices in such circumstances.

[playfoot]

They dont stipulate that you use it. This is our option.. we could choose to just stay up online VPN connected so we can get emails. Texting is considered a 'privilege'...

We just got an email this week dictating TMobile will soon be supported , but the stipend for all carriers will be going down to $25 per month. Sucks.

I may have misunderstood. However, if work demand a certain tool or device, and you are simply an employee, the tool or device must be supplied by the company. As for stipends, the company must cover the cost of services it requires you to carry: plain and simple.

[miaminemo]

I'm guessing you are not correct. The company I work for employees hundreds of attorneys and spent months rolling out the plan to decommission corporate owned phones. They DO own the laptops they provide us, so thats probably the explanation : "if you are on call then you can either sit on your laptop waiting for an email, or you can - for your own convenience - provide us with your personal phone number so we can alert you when an issue arises. " I'm sure the $25 stipend they give us fulfills some other legal requirement or else they would not be giving it.
We also work for a company that sold our parking garage to a third party so they could charge us for parking.
That being said, I haven't found a job tempting enough to get me to leave.. (and fortunately my wife's company has far better insurance, etc)

[ADGrant]

Then they are not providing a BYOD solution and should also be providing the devices in such circumstances.

Yes they are. In the US, BB has close to zero consumer market share and Windows Phone is only about 3%. Most BYOD solutions do support Windows Phone anyway.