An enterprising solution

If you’re reading this article it’s probably safe to assume you are one of the 21 million BlackBerry smartphone users to be found worldwide to date. What’s more you might also be responsible for the deployment of BlackBerry to users within your own organisation. Whichever, you’ll no doubt be interested to hear just how RIM aim to improve productivity for users of current BlackBerry models, namely the Pearl Flip 8220, Bold 9000 and Curve 8900 and build on what their software already offers.

Enter a widely tested BES 5.0, released to meet the demands of businesses using MS Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and in November this year, Novell Groupwise users. As Paul Lees, Technical Manager at Total says: ‘This release boasts important new features for users, as well as advanced security and administrator tools to simplify the management of the BlackBerry solution.’

In a nutshell the main benefits for end users are:

		Secure remote access to public shared files, enabling you to retrieve, view, edit and email documents.
		Invite attendees to a meeting via Microsoft Outlook and also include a document in the meeting request.
		Create, move, browse, rename and delete email folders directly from your device, as well as view and attach files from folders to emails sent from your smartphone.
		Flag emails in Microsoft Outlook.
		Easily manage personal and public distribution lists.
		Delegate invitations in IBM Lotus Domino to others with Calendar Meeting Delegation.

 
For IT Administrators the most pertinent features include:

		Built-in automated failover to a specified standby server should problems occur or for maintenance purposes, without affecting service.
		An upgrade tool, ‘BlackBerry Enterprise Transporter Tool’ to streamline the transfer of multiple user accounts from one BES domain to another, without disrupting end users or requiring any action on their part.
		New web-based user interface administration to configure BES from an Internet Explorer web browser, potentially enabling changes to be made from anywhere, as well as allowing others to make changes specified by a main IT Administrator.
		A simplified IT policy, which is easier to find and offers greater control on allowing/disallowing user features.
		Advanced reporting tools, in full colour, including up to 56 weeks of trending, chart analysis and server statistics, as well as the ability to perform system health checks to identify potential issues.

 
To find out more about the release and how we as a BlackBerry Alliance Partner can help you to upgrade, please call us on 0845 070 5450 or email sales@total-ltd.co.uk.