BIS with OWA functionality
 

Hi there

I am in the middle of discussions with Management as to whether OWA via BIS will provide what we need over a BES solution that we promised. All smartphones are personally owned.

I believe that currently these owners either have BIS via IMAP\POP or are plugged into another BES system (Still personally owned devices).

I have scoured and I just cannot find anything that outlines what features you get with OWA via BIS. Few questions if I may

1.) Apparently OWA via BIS is more featured than IMAP\POP connections which I hope to mean it allows wireless Calendar and Contacts Sync. is that correct?
2)Is Microsoft ISA supported\working for OWA BIS connections yet (Offcial documentaton dated Feb this year said "no", RIM OWA BIS troubleshooting docuemtnation says "no"

Effectively thre latter question will determine if OWA via BIS is a starter but I'd still be interested in an answer to question 1 and \or any documentation that explains what OWA via BIS provides in terms of features. I appreciate it doesn't offer PIM sync but if it doesn't sync calendars\contacts how is it any better than IMAP\POP?

Thanks all for any answers you might have
Tom

1. No, email only.
2. No, it is not.

OWA integration with BIS is "better" than POP/IMAP in that is offers tighter integration and more wireless reconciliation features from handheld to mailbox. While not officially documented, you may also notice faster push with OWA integration over POP/IMAP.
KB05133 - Email reconciliation features for the BlackBerry Internet Service - Port3101.org : Your BES Connection

Thanks Penguin. That seals it really. BES it'll be for all those Personal Smartphones. Ho hum