[dittoj]

We recently started adding Nextel BlackBerrys to our environment.
All of our new Nextel Users have existing Nextel phones. These users cannot be without service on their Nextel phones during the transition to BB.

We have been activating the BBs on the BES prior to distributing them to the users. When the user receives the BB, they contact Nextel to have their existing number transferred to the BB.

Nextel is instructing the users to do a Master Reset on the BB. Does anyone know what the Master Reset actually does and if it is necessary when changing the phone number. (the users are not swapping SIM chips)

This Master Reset seems to be deleting the service books. The users lose the ability to send out emails, until I resend the service books. A few users have also lost their folder redirection setting after the Master Reset.

thanks in advance

[Kablooey]

A master radio reset will reapply all network functionality associated with the SIM card. So if you put a SIM from a phone into a BlackBerry, and Nextel provisions the SIM with data access, the master radio reset will restore the SIM to its factory defaults and when it makes its next connection with the network, it will pull down the new services and routing information.

Since the encryption or service of the BlackBerry should be unaffected by this, there should be no reason to resend the service books after the reset.

One thing I have seen many, many, MANY times with Nextel, is that if the customer support person is poor (it seems 98% are), they will not provision the device correctly and there will be a lag between the time the Data service is provisioned and the time it starts working. Because what they are actually doing is taking the account that was associated with the cell phone, associating it with the SIM in the BlackBerry, and then adding the data service to the existing voice service. Often there is a gap 30-90 minutes before the data starts working again. The device will show NXTL during this time period, but you can test the data service by sending a P2P message to the BlackBerry. Normally you will get a "service refused" or some other type of service error which means that Nextel has not fully sompleted the transfer between them and RIM for the device/account.

If you can get a P2P through to the device, it should automatically pick up the connection to the server without resending the service books.

[dittoj]

Thanks, that is good info.
One of the users mentioned that the Nextel rep instructed him to manually delete the service books.
I think the real issue is that the service books are not automatically being re-applied. I noticed that in the BES properties, I have "Automatically resend IT Policy" set to "0" (disabled). Is this preventing the BES from sending out new Service Books after they have been deleted? This may also explain why you are seeing a 30 to 90 minute delay. Possibly you are sending Service Books out every 90 minutes.