I am a former BB user who has always been using the Enterprise server. Because of the increasing use of WinMobile handhelds in my company - and the push email that MS has released, our IT department is phasing out BES.

With Cingular announcing the $29.95 BIS personal plan - as well as $29.95 for unlimited data on a Win smartphone, $44.95 for a pocketpc - the blackberry platform is starting to look more competitive.

I am interested in what I lose if I switch back to BB and go with the personal plan. Lemme give some details -

I have a server that I could load the Outlook connector on - so that I would have it running 24/7 (which I understand is a requirement). We are a MS shop running Exchange 2003 and have Outlook Web Access enabled as well.

Don't really care about other email accounts - just want real time (or near realtime) access to work account AND over the air Outlook sync.

I know I would lose folder capability with the 2.0 version.

My biggest concerns are - could I get realtime (or near) access to email with BIS 2.0?

Will I be able to accept meeting appointments, sync my tasks, calendar, contacts etc. over the air - like I can with BES?

I've read the manual for BIS and it seems to focus just on email so I'm concerned.

Also - what other features do I lose by not having BES?

Thanks for any help and details on the differences - and if BIS is a viable alternative in my situation.

i dont know about a lot of the features you had with the BES, because i have never been on one. Email is fantastic with the BIS. the only syncing over the air will be via bluetooth within range of course, and thats probably not what you want.
there are BES services you can sign up for. do a seach for bes alternatives. they are around 10 dollars a month. it is BES unrestricted.

The problem with the alternatives - is that:

(a) I have to pay an additional $10 to the provider
(b) I'm back to paying Cingular $45/mo for BES service

I have access to BES now - I just am looking for an alternative to it - and wondering what I give up.

So if you get a meeting invitation in email - what happens when you accept/decline etc?

why not get BES service from someone else for 10$ a month?
Cingular is not cheap.

Yes, and you don't need to run the connector. I get near instantaneous mail from my corporate account, by getting my IT shop to set up a forwarding rule on the Outlook server, so that everything that comes in there is instantly forwarded to my email account.

No, that's ONLY available with BES. You'll have to sync those all from your PC using either USB or Bluetooth.