Hosted BES - first year report

[david_uk]

I've noticed quite a few posts here from BIS users asking "Shall I Shan't I?", so I thought I'd share my experiences on my first anniversary of Hosted BES.

If you're wondering whether Hosted BES is for you, I suggest that the features list is just the tip of the iceberg.

What Hosted BES appears to offer is OTA sync of all your Outlook folders and real time push email. This sounds great and it is. But what it delivers in practice is something far more powerful; by enabling you to use your BB like a remote control, it raises its functionality, reliability and usefulness to a whole new level.

Apologies to those corporate BES users who take these features for granted (but possibly have to work within the goldfish bowl of a central IT Policy).

For a self-employed single user, though, the $20/mth average fee seems modest in relation to its benefits. Some examples:

(1) You're in the field and a customer refers to an earlier message. With BIS you can't always answer the question "what did I tell him last week?" because BIS doesn't automatically sync your Sent Items folder. With BES you just know you've got the whole story to hand.

(2) Your desktop PC goes down. Unless you've just backed up your .PST files you've probably lost your messages, contacts, calendar, the works. BES keeps all this data in sync without your having to take any actions. Meanwhile if you need the Big Screen Experience you can view all your Outlook folders on any Net enabled PC via Outlook Web Access.

(3) You lose your BB or have it stolen. With Hosted BES, you log in to your BES account and kill the device by performing a Wipe Handheld remotely, then do an Enterprise Activation on your replacement device and all your data and settings reappear in the right place.

So (and it's always worth checking the market) big thanks to Hosted Microsoft Exchange - Wireless Outlook Web Access Microsoft Exchange Hosting, Corporate e-mail Hosting (http://www.ExchangeMyMail.com) for near faultless service and support, and with whom - since you ask - I have no other relationship other than as a satisfied, if distant, customer.

[Spectral]

When doing a remote kill, does the device password get removed?

Is it possible to first push a super-restrictive policy and lock down absolutely everything to make the device useless to a thief?

[takeshi]

If you're wondering whether Hosted BES is for you, I suggest that the features list is just the tip of the iceberg.

That's defintely true. Still, a lot of people will be happy saving ~$30/month and sticking to BIS.

You also get:


Full reconciliation.
Folder redirection (so you can get subfolders delivered to your BB).
Filing ability on your BB. You can move email in your Exchange account from folder to folder with your BB, provided that you have wireless reconcile enabled.
The ability to edit filters, folder redirection settings and signature directly on the BB.
The ability to switch the Out of Office Assistant off and on from the BB.
Some additional filtering capabilities though filtering based on Importance and Sensitivity seem to be it from what I can tell...
Wireless backup and restore (very handy for switching devices).
Better 3rd party app support. I've never had to touch my TCP settings.
"Webmail" in the form of OWA though that's downplaying the capabilities of OWA. You really get Outlook "light" via any PC with a web browser. However, OWA doesn't seem to work as well with Firefox.
Server-side rules which run even when Outlook is closed or your PC is off.
Intranet access but that seems pretty useless with hosted BES from what I can tell.

Granted, some of those aren't BES-specific advantages and really have more to do with Exchange.

Note that these features only apply to your BES account. BES doesn't extend the capabilities of email accounts that you have integrated with BIS.

Additionally, most BES providers are licensed such that they can supply you with a copy of Outlook.


It would be cool if a clean-up and confirmed list like this could be added to BlackberryFAQ.com. I just can't commit to FAQ maintenance.

EMM's SoloSync service looks interesting if you already have an Exchange server and you're just looking for BES...

[jdkno]

That's defintely true. Still, a lot of people will be happy saving ~$30/month and sticking to BIS....


I don't think it is so much as saving the $30.00 as much as it is adding another $30.00/mo. to the rest of what you are paying on the phone. You are already paying $50+ for talk time, add in another $40 or so for unlimited BB access, some might have the $10 extra for X ammount of text messages, some may have the $10 extra for GPS use as well. So using the BIS you are already close to or over $100 and to some people adding another $30 to it is not something they want to do considering without using the BES you don't really know what you are missing out on.

Now if someone were to start a hosting that could give you all the advantages of BES and lets say do an introductory offer of $10 or so for the first 3 or 4 months, then $30/mo. after you would probably have more people going to BES over BIS. They would acctually get to use and realize what it has to offer for a reasonable rate for more than just a quick 2 week session(really how much can you figure out in 2 weeks), before you get hooked on it and realize that the $30 is well worth it.

[LarryH]

The $30 dollar figure sort of creeped into this thread. The OP stated $20. I've been with The Message Center Exchange Hosting (http://www.themessagecenter.com) for quite some time now and can report the same positive experiences. Basic Exchange hosting is $9.95/mo so if you're using a Windows Mobile phone, you're good to go.

Hosted BES adds another $9.95, bringing the total cost to just under $20/mo. They have no first-time setup fees or cancellation fees. I also believe you get a month free.

Still $20/mo but when $30's been posted, it looks like a good discount. :)

[Alex Alexzander]

I also use a hosted exchange service with BES as an add on. It is true that all these fees add up. But I have to agree with the original poster. It's worth it. I still say true push email is the killer app for the blackberry. It's extremely fast, and very reliable. And as was said, both sent and received email is on the bb. Your notes, calendar, and even your address cards are synced OTA. I can't begin to explain how great that is. Someone hands me a business card, and I enter it into my BB. Later when I am in front of my Outlook client, the contact information is already there.

I have never been a fan of POP mail. It's the worst mail there is. With hosted outlook, you can have multiple computers, and every sent email, every contact, ever everything is synced without you doing a thing. Even if you send the email with the blackberry. It's on your PC too. All of them.

Anytime you run into software that has push technology, give it a shot. You'll begin to realize that push technology is the future. The REX Wireless guys are doing it with ToDoMatrix and IdeaMatrix. The new WorldMate Live is a push technology product, and it's fantastic that you can setup an itinerary and it just pushes the data to your mobile application from their web application. Honestly, I think push is the real Web2.0, and AJAX and all that stuff is missing half the story. Working with web applications is one thing, but to make the data truly mobile, it needs to push to a mobile device so you have it where ever you are.

The answer isn't pretty phones with impressive web browsers. The answer is push technology, where web applications push to your mobile device. Everything else is 2nd rate in my opinion.

-Alex

[DaBlackberryBoy]

I will direct my question to all for your advice...

I stopped using Outlook as my "PIM" when I had my 8700g due to calendar/tasks issues that plagued me. I loved the integration with Outlook, nice and simple. At that time I was a BB novice, and knew nothing about BES and hosted exchange OTA syncing. I have since upgraded to a 8800 and purchased todoMatrix/ideaMatrix to act as my "PIM" which is working great. The one most important thing missing is calendaring though (calendaring to me is being able to see what all is on your agenda and being notified that you already have something planned as busy, out of office, etc,.). Sometimes I double book appointments and meetings, and do not know that I have until its too late. Like the rest of you all, I am very busy and rely on limited knowledge and my software to let me know what is going on so I can prevent double booking and keep a true "schedule". Right now I assign a context called @<hidden> to all items in TM that are appointments so that then I can keep track of appointments - it works. I have been trying to push the RexGuys into trying to integrate either their own custom calendar or else the native BB calendar into TM so assist with this minor but important flaw, but no luck so far. They have been working on their Outlook integration that is coming up, but because I am unsure what what all of that entails, I will assume that what I call "calendaring" will not be implemented, until I hear it from them.

So due to that, my questions/concerns:

- I currently use TM/IM from Rex, they compact their databases so that the space/memory that the programs take up is optimized via their special database design. If I switch over to BES/hosted exchange, how does the BB device handle storing data? (I would say on average that I probably have 300+ tasks, 50+ appointments and 25-50 emails vary from day to day, but emails stored I keep about 1MB most of the time)

- I come from the land of WM devices, but have become a BB convert. I like the idea of being able to login to the OWA and do stuff and it syncs to my device and vice versa. (I do this with RexWireless and their RexDesktop). But I really like Outlook as it will keep things simple and my device can try to remain what I call "pristine" of third party apps. But at the same time, I like what third party apps provide. In this sense, I like being able to nest folders and whatnot in TM, but you could do that in Outlook with some setup, I just never tried it. Can anyone provide any of their pros/cons that they have between TM and Outlook, to help me see other points and perspectives.

- Pricing, who has the best price on exchange hosting and also the best SERVICE, which is obviously most important? The only downside I see with BES/exchange hosting is having to pay a month charge, but that is not an issue.


I know in the end it is my decision with what I am most comfortable with. Basically, whatever is the most productive is the most comfortable for me. I know some of the questions are loaded, but any friends any help would truly be appreciated. Thanks!