[sjwwatson]

I've been using a hosted MS Exchange account with ExchangeMyMail for a while. I've been tempted by the option of adding BlackBerry Sync (BES) but didn't fancy paying £30/month for this.

I tried google sync etc via BIS but it was full of bugs & drove me mad.

In the end I called my network provider - TMobile UK. I've called their technical support & BB team a few times, always enjoyed good support. I was delighted to hear that BES cost was £11/month - BIS was £5 so not a huge increase. That was on a personal - not business -account. Combined with $20/month (about £10) for EMM exchange server & BB service, £21/month was well within my budget. I still get BIS so can access 10 email accounts Plus my exchange account. Both EMM & T-Mobile on 1 month recurring contract so can opt out easily if I want.

T-Mobile technical support was excellent. Got through to basic tech support quickly & they got the BES added to my account within minutes. 2 hours later I got a call from the BlackBerry team who sent me the new service books & offered to help me set up my blackberry with the exchange account.

I wanted to share this with others who might have personal mobile contracts & a hosted exchange mailbox but are put off upgrading to BES because of a)cost and b) expected hassles from provider. T-Mobile UK honestly couldn't have done a better job & at far less cost than I expected.

I've no commercial link with either TM or EMM - I work for the UK National Health Service! I just wanted to share this with others who are thinking of taking the plunge with BES. I'm extremely pleased with the TMUK/EMM combo - both in terms of cost & service.

[djm2]

Welcome to the forums, and glad to hear that it is working for you.

[classact]

Originally Posted by sjwwatson

I've been using a hosted MS Exchange account with ExchangeMyMail for a while. I've been tempted by the option of adding BlackBerry Sync (BES) but didn't fancy paying £30/month for this.

I tried google sync etc via BIS but it was full of bugs & drove me mad.

In the end I called my network provider - TMobile UK. I've called their technical support & BB team a few times, always enjoyed good support. I was delighted to hear that BES cost was £11/month - BIS was £5 so not a huge increase. That was on a personal - not business -account. Combined with $20/month (about £10) for EMM exchange server & BB service, £21/month was well within my budget. I still get BIS so can access 10 email accounts Plus my exchange account. Both EMM & T-Mobile on 1 month recurring contract so can opt out easily if I want.

T-Mobile technical support was excellent. Got through to basic tech support quickly & they got the BES added to my account within minutes. 2 hours later I got a call from the BlackBerry team who sent me the new service books & offered to help me set up my blackberry with the exchange account.

I wanted to share this with others who might have personal mobile contracts & a hosted exchange mailbox but are put off upgrading to BES because of a)cost and b) expected hassles from provider. T-Mobile UK honestly couldn't have done a better job & at far less cost than I expected.

I've no commercial link with either TM or EMM - I work for the UK National Health Service! I just wanted to share this with others who are thinking of taking the plunge with BES. I'm extremely pleased with the TMUK/EMM combo - both in terms of cost & service.

If you search for my username on this forum you'll find recent posts advocating T-Mobile UK for affordable BES. I've got BES activated on devices at both Orange and T-Mobile UK and always advise friends wanting an affordable, non-corporate BES solution to use T-Mobile UK. This past weekend a friend of mine, who will be buying the forthcoming "Bold", borrowed my old 8700 and added BES to his T-Mobile account to try it out. Ordinary customer service said he couldn't have it on a personal account so I told him to call Business Support on their 0845 number and they sorted it immediately. He's had a couple of technical issues but we're currently ironing them out.

I asked him to check with them to see if he *needed* to have the WnW bundle if he paid for BES. He said they told him he does or BES costs more. He's on Flext 40 with WnW and they had to muck about with his account to ensure he got BlackBerry solution at the cheaper price.

I'm glad you like it. Orange UK charge £35 + VAT for each BES unless you manage to get them to activate it for free and only pay £5.11 for BIS (18 month contracts). Vodafone also charge about the same. Does anyone know how much o2 UK charge for BES and whether anyone with just o2 UK BIS has got BES turned on for free?

[sjwwatson]

Thanks. I also had to have WnW option for cheaper deal but wanted that anyway. Should have made that clear.

HOWEVER - things just got better. My previous T-mobile Flext contract just came up for renewal. I don't want a new handset so asked for a loyalty bonus. They offered me this:-

Flext 30 (700 mins/texts per month)
BES & BIS provisioning
Walk 'n' web

£30 per month INCLUDING VAT all in.

Not too bad. 18 months contract.

I can't remember the last time I publically endorsed anything but I agree that T-Mobile is way to go for personal BES. EMM hosted exchange still works flawlessly too.

Originally Posted by classact

If you search for my username on this forum you'll find recent posts advocating T-Mobile UK for affordable BES. I've got BES activated on devices at both Orange and T-Mobile UK and always advise friends wanting an affordable, non-corporate BES solution to use T-Mobile UK. This past weekend a friend of mine, who will be buying the forthcoming "Bold", borrowed my old 8700 and added BES to his T-Mobile account to try it out. Ordinary customer service said he couldn't have it on a personal account so I told him to call Business Support on their 0845 number and they sorted it immediately. He's had a couple of technical issues but we're currently ironing them out.

I asked him to check with them to see if he *needed* to have the WnW bundle if he paid for BES. He said they told him he does or BES costs more. He's on Flext 40 with WnW and they had to muck about with his account to ensure he got BlackBerry solution at the cheaper price.

I'm glad you like it. Orange UK charge £35 + VAT for each BES unless you manage to get them to activate it for free and only pay £5.11 for BIS (18 month contracts). Vodafone also charge about the same. Does anyone know how much o2 UK charge for BES and whether anyone with just o2 UK BIS has got BES turned on for free?