[jthork]

I'm trying to convince my sysadmin to add an Exchange server so that I can sync my email and calendar wirelessly. (He's concerned about security of Exchange.)

In the meantime, I've signed up for mailstreet.com (even though I already have Internet, IM, etc. provided thru Verizon). Is this the right tack or is there some other less expensive way to get the wireless sync?

Help is appreciated.

[corey@12mile]

Concerned about the security of Exchange? You kidding right? What do you use now... I bet usernames and passwords are transmitted plain text... there's some security for ya...

Here's the thing to keep in mind... exchange = expensive, BES = expensive. For a company to install and Exchange server and a BES server for 1 user is unheard of, unless you are way up the ladder...

And lastly, is it wireless mail/cal/etc you are after or games and chit chatting? It really comes down to the ol' If ya wanna play, you gotta pay...

cd.

[jthork]

We have our sales team using BBs and they are having to use the web client redirect which does not wirelessly sync between Outlook and BB nor allow us to share calendars, etc. Chit-chatting, web, etc. is available already with Verizon.

The reason for the post was to see if there's an alternative to Exchange or after-market BES service for the wireless sync. Or maybe a better BES provider than mailstreet.com? Anyone have comments relating to this question?

BTW, we have sendmail (little to no Microsoft in the back office), 100 employees and I have a little pull in the company. Thanks for the reply.

[corey@12mile]

There are numerous hosted BES providers out there, look in Mark R's FAQ... There is most likely some discussion about some of these providers in numerous threads as well. Have a look around... Mebbe search for "hosted bes". I'm sure you'll find lots.

Sendmail is definately a bit more insecure than exchange. With exchange & BES, email from user to blackberry, user to user, blackberry to user, blackberry to blackberry is all encrypted and all stays inside your house... with BWC and sendmail, there is no encryption and you mail is shot around the world plaintext... lovely eh...

cd.

[corey@12mile]

Oh... keep in mind as well, even though you can share calendars using exchange/outlook, you can't view shared calendars on the blackberry.

cd.