It seems that far more people know about BlackBerry handheld communicators and their number one feature, “push email”, than have any idea how they function. I’m using the term push email to mean that the BlackBerry handheld beeps or vibrates immediately when a new email message hits the user’s Inbox. Note that I didn’t say that these notifications happened automatically.
To make push email work, BlackBerrys depend on a layer of middleware that’s often not present in other mobile email solutions. The middleware is one of the following server or desktop-based applications:
- BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES): Corporate email users that use Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes on their desks generally have a BlackBerry Enterprise Server somewhere on the backend keeping their BlackBerry in sync with their desktop email account and calendar. This is an expensive piece of server software licensed to corporations, so it’s managed and supported on a 24×7 basis by the Information Technology department. As a result, very few small businesses or individual users have access to a BES.
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BlackBerry Web Client (BWC): The service that’s generally provided by mobile phone carriers to individual and small business customers. This performs a similar function to a BES, but it’s far less integrated.
The BlackBerry Web Client uses a carrier-provided mailbox (username@carrier.blackberry.net) to store messages that are copied from the user’s main mailbox. The BWC accesses the user’s main mailbox through either the IMAP or POP3 protocol.
The drawback to this approach is that most carriers put a hard limit on the size of the mailbox they provide, so users have to manage email on their BlackBerry devices to stay within that limit. In effect, the user is acting as his or her own IT department, managing the email within a fixed-capacity mailbox.
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BlackBerry Desktop Redirector (BDR): For Microsoft Exchange users whose companies have not subscribed to BES. This requires that the desktop PC run the Exchange client 24 hours-a-day. When it’s properly configured, incoming messages get forwarded to the user’s BlackBerry. Again, making it work is up to the end user unless he has an IT staff.
The impression that most non-BlackBerry users have of the experience of using a BlackBerry is that all users have access to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. In truth, only BlackBerry users at the largest corporations, institutions, and government entities have this level of features.
Users who work for smaller organizations or work independently who want BlackBerry-like capabilities have several choices:
- They can buy a BlackBerry handheld and use one of the BlackBerry middleware tools that is less reliable and capable than the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
- They try to find a service provider who will sell them a BlackBerry handheld and resell a slot on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server to them. This option is probably going to cost more on a monthly basis than using a mobile carrier’s basic BlackBerry service.
- They can buy a handheld like the palmOne Treo 650 which can be configured to use email client software that makes an IMAP-based email account perform in push email fashion.
When I had to make the decision, I bought the palmOne Treo 650 with service from Cingular Wireless and installed Chatter Email as my email client application. I think it works better than a BlackBerry 7230 that uses the BlackBerry Web Client. I tried that BlackBerry configuration last year, it was OK, but I ended up doing more mailbox management than I wanted to.