OK, as has been written about many times here, my company has a restrictive IT policy when using the BES to get corp email. They disable the camera and other media functions (music etc).


I just got a replacement device - my old one crapped out. The carrier shipped the device to me directly and it has not been hooked into the BES/IT policy yet.

My question is whether there are things I can do to insulate the camera etc. from the restrictive policy now, before I hand it over to IT. Changing names, installing new apps, etc - so the BES does what it thinks it wants to do but I still have camera etc.

This thread is not meant to be a discussion of the why/why nots of this. Just wondering if any cheats might work.

Thanks!

Kai

Welcome to the forum.

There isn't anything you can do to 'insulate' your device. As soon as it is connected to the BES, the IT Policy will enforce any rules that it has set. If the camera is disabled via the IT Policy, then say goodbye to the camera functionality.

Sorry, not the news you wanted, but that's the only answer there is.

Absolutely.

Don't activate it on the BES.

I was on the BES for 24 hours and I didn't like it. But I own my phone and don't "have" to be connected.

I agree!

Not getting on BES is not an option.

Anyone else have any ideas? Is there really no recourse?

Wirelessly posted (My blond BlackBerry)

No, sorry, no other options.

BlackBerrys are made to be secure. That is why there is no way around it. The easy way is to buy your own personal one. Use your business one for business and your personal BlackBerry for camera and media.

I still feel it's quite strange that any company would make it a policy to prevent their users from using a camera...I mean, come on..

My company's IT policy ( and I work for an American company, even though I am from East Asia ) prevents us from sending or receiving MMS, and that's about ALL the restrictions I have with my Curve...


Just my thoughts...

Ray

Have you ever heard of companies trying to protect their intellectual property?
What if a company is developing cutting-edge products in secrecy, and doesn't want their competition to find out what or how they're doing things? Preventing employees from taking photographs inside the facility is an absolute necessity.

Very common policy. My company will not even purchase any device with a camera for company use and has a written policy to preclude bringing personal cell phones with cameras into many of our buildings.

It's very common in environments where companies work with government agencies or any sort of sensitive information. Additionally, most large companies guard their internal information very closely to preclude it getting into competitors hands. There is as much fear of corporate espionage as there is of national espionage.

this is not a thread about policy decisions. where are the techies????

Wirelessly posted

Dude, the only techies that can help you is the Administrator at your company.

Short of getting another BB for your personal use, there is no other solution to your problem.

Sorry, mate.

Cheers

Ray

Before the Enterprise Activation, you can install the application for your BB through the Desktop Manager. You'll need to find the installation files to be able to do that. After the Enterprise Activation you'll able to use them.
This is all assuming you IT guys won't check your device before activating it.

Not true..
BES can prevent use of an application even after it's been successfully installed.
It can also be removed from the handheld.

There are no "cheats". It's been explained to you.
BES can and will override anything you do to your device, and there is no way around it.

I agree, but kai_bberry can at least try this. Most BES admins only disallow the installation of apps. Which means that he will be able to use all the apps if they were be installed beforehand. His device is now without a IT Policy. It is the best option he has.

Simply put: Lets hope that kai_bberry BES admins aren't that good/precise/picky/strict at that job.

No, let's not hope that.
Let's hope that kai_bberry realizes that he's an adult and should start acting like one.

Like you said BES "can". But it is depending on the IT policy in place. Or like I stated before. How good the BES admins are at their job.

OK my company's specific IT policy does not wipe new app installations. Not completely anyway. When I had my former Blackberry I installed the GoogleMail GoogleMaps and other apps and they all worked post BES. What got disabled were the camera and other media functions. Period. So that is what I am trying to prevent.

Being new to the Blackberry I am trying to see what could be done. To give a simple parallel example, my former company banned chat programs. They used batches and other methods to target specific programs. So AIM, GTalk etc. However if you simply changed the name of googletalk.exe the program WOULD run post the programmatic action by the company.

I know that is a simple example, but what is the BES actually doing? Disabling the camera program? If so, can another software control be put in place that might work post BES? Or is it disabling hardware programmatically? If so, can anything be done there?

I realize anything that might work could get rooted out as the IT policy is updated/learns.

Please no more lectures/arguments about why/why not. That is a discussion for another thread.

THANKS!

Kai