[bechard]

Does anyone know if there is a max length of time a BB can be off and not talk to a BES? Just wondering if one is off for 2-3 weeks will it need any TLC? Reason I ask is we have a couple users that leave theirs off for extended periods of time (I know I know... it makes no sense to have one thats off for 9-10 days and I've sent their managers an email). Just wondering if "after 10 days your BB will no longer work" would at least have them keep it on.

Its frustration to see eventID 20000 messages like this:
{****@****.com, PIN=******, UserId=5}WorkerThreadPool::CheckSentQueueForTimeou ts - After 4 hours the device has not acknowledged receipt of the REQUEST_KEY_GENERATION command, requeuing entry id 99

and find out the BB has been off for so long.

[bertiebassett]

I would just remove em from the BES plain and simple.. if they can have it off for 2-3 weeks then the just don't need one. Reallocate/reassign the device to someone in the org who's need is more pressing...

Ok I guess if they're CxO then you might want to think twice about this careeer limiting move...

[rsk]

Don't know if there is a max but we only wait for 30 days of inactivity (no device contact) before removing users from the BES.

Whatever you decide get it published as company policy then start deleting

[juwaack68]

If I see a user is inactive for a month, I will first check the GAL to see if they are still there. Oftentimes they have left the company and nobody bothered to tell me.

If they are still around, I will send them an email and ask why they are not using their device. If I don't hear from them, then I delete them from the BES.

Funny story.....had a newer user (got a device about 4 months ago) who hadn't used his device in a while so I sent him an email asking if something was wrong with is device or what. He said something was wrong with it and it wasn't working (I set it up for him so it was working when I gave it to him).

He brought it to me today to 'troubleshoot'. First thing I did was turn on the wireless..... I'm a friggin miracle worker. It 'works' now.

[bechard]

Originally Posted by juwaack68

If I see a user is inactive for a month, I will first check the GAL to see if they are still there. Oftentimes they have left the company and nobody bothered to tell me.

If they are still around, I will send them an email and ask why they are not using their device. If I don't hear from them, then I delete them from the BES.

Funny story.....had a newer user (got a device about 4 months ago) who hadn't used his device in a while so I sent him an email asking if something was wrong with is device or what. He said something was wrong with it and it wasn't working (I set it up for him so it was working when I gave it to him).

He brought it to me today to 'troubleshoot'. First thing I did was turn on the wireless..... I'm a friggin miracle worker. It 'works' now.

Haha thats funny as one of the users I was talking about had the same issue, after I asked why it was off for so long he said the battery died so I asked him to charge it and then he said it wouldn't receive emails. In the end the wireless was also off.

We're a small enough shop with about 20 BB users so I know if someone is no longer with the company. My personally opinion is that if you don't have it on for over a week and you aren't out of the country (with no service) or on vacation then you probably don't need a blackberry. Maybe we could have a loaner one and set it up for those that don't need it often.

In the end an email did get sent out asking the users to keep the BB on unless there was a valid reason to turn it off. Simply turn off the ringer/buzzer/etc at night if thats the issue. I'm sure now they will keep it on and it'll show up in BES but just because its on doesn't mean its used....not sure how to check that....

[scott_perry]

if you really want to check to see if someone is using the device (at least to send/reply to emails), you can do this.

1. Give the user a static mailbox agent so their logs are seperated from everyone elses
2. You can then create a script that checks the logs for all of the times that the device sends a message. My log has "Receiving message from device" for each time a message was sent from the device.

Hope that helps you.

[Frank Castle]

I run audits for usage monthly and I'm sure you've heard this one:

"I havn't travelled lately, so I havn't had a reason to use it."

I should post some of the responses I get from users on why they havn't used the device in 30, 60, 100+ days. Some are pretty funny. All time classic was a guy "forget" to report that he left it in a restroom 3 months ago. Another dropped it in the toilet and was hoping it would dry off and "resume working".

I think with BES 3.6 the service books at some point needed to be updated but with 4.1 everything is fully wireless so I havn't had a need to re-activate anyone.

[bechard]

Originally Posted by scott_perry

if you really want to check to see if someone is using the device (at least to send/reply to emails), you can do this.

1. Give the user a static mailbox agent so their logs are seperated from everyone elses
2. You can then create a script that checks the logs for all of the times that the device sends a message. My log has "Receiving message from device" for each time a message was sent from the device.

Hope that helps you.

Thanks! Hope I don't have to go that far though but at least I know its possible. I guess my concern was with it off then you can't even call the person. Its not like they are on call but still.....

[bechard]

Originally Posted by jletendre

I run audits for usage monthly and I'm sure you've heard this one:

"I havn't travelled lately, so I havn't had a reason to use it."

I should post some of the responses I get from users on why they havn't used the device in 30, 60, 100+ days. Some are pretty funny. All time classic was a guy "forget" to report that he left it in a restroom 3 months ago. Another dropped it in the toilet and was hoping it would dry off and "resume working".

I think with BES 3.6 the service books at some point needed to be updated but with 4.1 everything is fully wireless so I havn't had a need to re-activate anyone.

yup, almost word for word.... 100+ days!?! Wow thats nuts. Right now I'm only seeing one user and its been 4 days (with4 days ago being the time I asked them to turn it on so I could make sure its working).

Thats true, if its lost it should be reported right away.

[Frank Castle]

If anyone would like the formula I use it's below:

=+C2*40/30

Basically calculates every 30 days of no use at $40 (data plan)

Just make sure your inactive column is row C and the Cost column is D. Hope that makes sense.

The CIO took notice of this when our cost from non usage one year reached $60,000. Once you have 500+ users and their split around the country this is a great way to keep track of your wireless expenses.

[RadHaz75]

i run cleanups monthly too and remove anyone that hasn't contacted our server in more than 30 days. for repeat offenders i get hr involved since it's a waste of company money/asset. you can also purge the user's pending data packets as well. i get some users who somehow get over 1000 messages in just a couple of days.

[mattlane]

some of our users have not connected in over a year. Hmnnnn do they really need one. Apparently they do.