Blackberry FAQs
What is Blackberry?
What are BIS and BES?
What is the difference between Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) and Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES)?
Is BlackBerry Secure?
I travel around the world. Can I take my email with me?
Can I view attachments?
How do the Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Memopad synchronise with my PC?
Can I access the Internet on my BlackBerry device?
Which email platforms does BlackBerry support?
Blackberry is a company that offer a 'whole package' solution. They produce their own handsets/phones that allow you to surf the internet, collect your e-mail, organise your diary and if applicable download data from your company's server. It is like having a laptop in the palm of your hand.
BIS = Blackberry Internet Service
BES = Blackberry Enterprise Server
Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) is designed for the smaller business user that requires access to the internet and their e-mail (Yahoo, Hotmail etc). Blackberry Enterprise Solution (BES) is designed for businesses that have their own servers. They get all the benefits of BIS but they have the ability to communicate with the company server allowing your staff to liaise with fellow colleagues whilst on the move. Your staff will also be able to download data from your server when they are away from the office. BES allows diaries and organisers to be synchronised so you know where your staff will be.
Yes! BlackBerry is generally regarded as the most secure wireless solution in the world; it uses advanced 'end-to-end' triple DES and /or AES encryption technology, and even allows IT to remotely deactivate a lost or stolen BlackBerry. In addition, IT can force users to password enable their BlackBerry, and it even supports advanced security systems such as S/MIME.
BlackBerry quad-band devices can be used around the world and are available from over 95 wireless networks in over 40 countries.
BlackBerry supports all of the regular MS Office attachments you would expect (like Word, Excel, PowerPoint) as well as TIFFs (faxes), PDFs, and pictures in JPEG and BMP format. There are even applications available at www.handango.com that allow you to create and edit Word and Excel files!
BlackBerry never needs to physically 'synch' with your desktop PC; your Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Memopad all sync 'over the air' with the office, so it is effortless for your BlackBerry device to be a mirror-image of Outlook, Notes or GroupWise in real time!
Yes! In full HTML, and securely, using your company's existing infrastructure. So that means that not only can you access the internet for whatever you need, but that you can also access the company intranet for key business information when you are on the go. Key to this is that all of this web-based information is secure using triple DES and /or AES encrypted, just like all of the other data to and from a BlackBerry device.
The BlackBerry Enterprise Server integrates with Microsoft© Exchange, Lotus© Domino and Novell© GroupWise©, with exactly the same features, so whichever platform you prefer, it is BlackBerry-ready!
More...
Blackberry – Overview & Benefits