android and blackberry enterprise server?

[slackerinabox]

A job prospect mentioned that personal blackberry service is required for calendar sync and email. I definately don't want to buy a new phone and service so wonder if I can just use my droid. I don't know a thing abouy BES - is it proprietery or just branded exchange? If proprietery, is there anyway (paid app for example) to make it work?

Calendar is most important as they'll need to be able to schedule appointments for me remotely in real time.

Thanks!

 

[foghorn67]

A job prospect mentioned that personal blackberry service is required for calendar sync and email. I definately don't want to buy a new phone and service so wonder if I can just use my droid. I don't know a thing abouy BES - is it proprietery or just branded exchange? If proprietery, is there anyway (paid app for example) to make it work?

Calendar is most important as they'll need to be able to schedule appointments for me remotely in real time.

Thanks!

This is fucking ridiculous. It's a new trend of some sort. Instead of the employer providing a company phone, they make you buy one. I don't know why this just started now out of all times, but its stupid.
BES is BES. BlackBerry Enterprise Service.

 

[Chapbass]

A job prospect mentioned that personal blackberry service is required for calendar sync and email. I definately don't want to buy a new phone and service so wonder if I can just use my droid. I don't know a thing abouy BES - is it proprietery or just branded exchange? If proprietery, is there anyway (paid app for example) to make it work?

Calendar is most important as they'll need to be able to schedule appointments for me remotely in real time.

Thanks!

To answer your question, I would almost think of BES like a plugin to exchange/lotus/groupwise.

If your company uses exchange, then you SHOULD be able to login directly with exchange. The only other big question is:

If they don't use exchange, you could potentially run into problems.

If theyre security is so tight that they require you to be on the BES for those reasons.

etc.

 

[gsaldivar]

BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) is basically Blackberry's proprietary form of EAS (Exchange ActiveSync) for Microsoft Exchange corporate email servers. It's a conduit that allows mobile phones to get real-time updates of your company Email, Contacts, and Calendar (and Notes on Blackberry devices) from your Exchange email account.

Both BES and EAS allow the Exchange system admin to have some control over the device, such as requiring the user to enter a password to access company email, and the ability to remote-wipe the device if it is lost or stolen.

Only Blackberry phones work with BES. All other devices, can license EAS from Microsoft. EAS is available for iPhone, Android, and many other platforms.

Most wireless providers charge extra for corporate email on Blackberry devices connected via BES (~$15/month added to your data plan). Blackberry subscribers that don't upgrade to BES can still access non-real-time email using BIS (Blackberry Internet Server), but are blocked from corporate/Exchange email access. Non-Blackberry phones such as iPhone and Android, can access corporate Exchange email systems without restriction using EAS on a basic data plan without paying extra.

Depending on the device, you may sacrifice some control and privacy by connecting to Microsoft Exchange. This is by design, as the whole system is designed to ensure accountability for company information. Older phones may not allow you the ability to segregate private from company data, instead mixing all contacts and email into a single data pool which is synced to your company's Exchange server. Most newer devices running iOS3+ and Android will allow you to selectively segregate this data so that you can still keep your private info separate from the company's.

Hope this helps!

 

[Reliant]

It depends on their infrastructure and security, if you droid will work that is. It won't work with BES at all, but you may be able to use Active Sync.

 

[gsaldivar]

It depends on their infrastructure and security, if you droid will work that is. It won't work with BES at all, but you may be able to use Active Sync.

Correct. Whether or not specific protocols are supported, or specific phones are allowed to connect, varies widely from company to company.

 

[slackerinabox]

Thank you so much guys. Very, very helpful information. I think I'll play it by ear until I'm forced to change to a blackberry device. Which might be ok because my droid barely lasts until 4pm without needed too be charged while my old curve had days of standy.

 

[gsaldivar]

Thank you so much guys. Very, very helpful information. I think I'll play it by ear until I'm forced to change to a blackberry device. Which might be ok because my droid barely lasts until 4pm without needed too be charged while my old curve had days of standy.

I would check to see if you have any background apps that are consuming the battery. If you were to connect to an Exchangeserver on that device, the real-time data transfers would certainly cause you to burn through that battery at a much faster rate.

 

[slackerinabox]

I would check to see if you have any background apps that are consuming the battery. If you were to connect to an Exchangeserver on that device, the real-time data transfers would certainly cause you to burn through that battery at a much faster rate.

Funny - I had the instinct to uninstall a vast majority of my apps (other than the google branded ones and a few essentials, such as yelp and pandora) to see if it helped yesterday. I'd say there was a 20% increase in battery life, but it still was dead before my work day (currently training) ended. The droids battery life used to be fine since I would just dock it while in my cube, but since I'll be working as a newbie real estate agent in NYC I'll *never* be near a power plug or car charger, so I'm a bit concerned.

And this was with limited use - I had my phone on airplane mode during most of class [to use as a glorified watch] and checked email/made calls only during breaks.

Guess I'm just justifying getting a RIM product right now, but the os 6 refresh makes me want to hold out as much as possible, so I'll get some extra batteries for my droid until refreshed devices come out

 

[DivideBYZero]

Hold out until BlackBerry 6 devices ship, then make a choice.

 

[ObscureCaucasian]

How old's your droid? The battery might just be going bad.

 

[slackerinabox]

How old's your droid? The battery might just be going bad.

About a year old. Just ordered some spare batteries - my droid's going to have to do until BB 6 devices come out (or I decide real estate's not for me).