Connectivity
BlackBerry smartphones can be integrated into an organization's email system through a software package called BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) through version 5, and BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) as of version 10. (There were no versions 6 through 9.). Versions of BES are available for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise and Google Apps. While individual users may be able to use a wireless provider's email services without having to install BES themselves, organizations with multiple users usually run BES on their own network. BlackBerry devices running BlackBerry OS 10 or later can also be managed directly by a Microsoft Exchange Server, using Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) polices, in the same way that an iOS or Android device can. (EAS supports fewer management controls than BES does.) Some third-party companies provide hosted BES solutions. Every BlackBerry has a unique ID called a BlackBerry PIN, which is used to identify the device to the BES. BlackBerry at one time provided a free BES software called BES Express (BESX). [1]
The primary BES feature is to relay email from a corporate mailbox to a BlackBerry phone. The BES monitors the user's mailbox, relaying new messages to the phone via BlackBerry's Network Operations Center (NOC) and user's wireless provider. This feature is known as push email, because all new emails, contacts, task entries, memopad entries, and calendar entries are pushed out to the BlackBerry device immediately (as opposed to the user synchronising the data manually or having the device poll the server at intervals).
BlackBerry also supports polling email, through third-party applications. The messaging system built into the BlackBerry only understands how to receive messages from a BES or the BIS, these services handle the connections to the user's mail providers. Device storage also enables the mobile user to access all data off-line in areas without wireless service. When the user reconnects to wireless service, the BES sends the latest data.
A feature of the newer models of the BlackBerry is their ability to quickly track the user's current location through trilateration without the use of GPS, thus saving battery life and time. Trilateration can be used as a quick, less battery intensive way to provide location-aware applications with the co-ordinates of the user. However, the accuracy of BlackBerry trilateration is less than that of GPS due to a number of factors, including cell tower blockage by large buildings, mountains, or distance.
BES also provides phones with TCP/IP connectivity accessed through a component called MDS (Mobile Data System) Connection Service. [2] This allows custom application development using data streams on BlackBerry devices based on the Sun Microsystems Java ME platform.
In addition, BES provides network security, in the form of Triple DES [3] or, more recently, AES [4] encryption [5] [6] of all data (both email and MDS traffic) that travels between the BlackBerry phone and a BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
Most providers offer flat monthly pricing via special Blackberry tariffs for unlimited data between BlackBerry units and BES. In addition to receiving email, organizations can make intranets or custom internal applications with unmetered traffic.
With more recent versions of the BlackBerry platform, the MDS is no longer a requirement for wireless data access. Starting with OS 3.8 or 4.0, BlackBerry phones can access the Internet (i.e. TCP/IP access) without an MDS – formerly only email and WAP access was possible without a BES/MDS. The BES/MDS is still required for secure email, data access, and applications that require WAP from carriers that do not allow WAP access.
The primary alternative to using BlackBerry Enterprise Server is to use the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). BlackBerry Internet Service is available in 91 countries internationally. BlackBerry Internet Service was developed primarily for the average consumer rather than for the business consumer. The service allows users to access POP3, IMAP, and Outlook Web App (not via Exchange ActiveSync) email accounts without connecting through a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). [7] BlackBerry Internet Service allows up to 10 email accounts to be accessed, including proprietary as well as public email accounts (such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and AOL). BlackBerry Internet Service also supports the push capabilities of various other BlackBerry Applications. Various applications developed by RIM for BlackBerry utilise the push capabilities of BIS, such as the Instant Messaging clients (like Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger). The MMS, PIN, interactive gaming, mapping and trading applications[ which?] require data plans like BIS (not just Wi-Fi) for use. The service is usually provisioned through a mobile phone service provider, though BlackBerry actually runs the service. [7]
At 2011-10-10 10:00 UTC there was an outage in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, affecting millions of BlackBerry users. [8] There was another outage the following day. [9] By October 12, 2011, the Blackberry Internet Service went down in North America. [10] Research In Motion attributed data overload due to switch failures in their two data centres in Waterloo in Canada and Slough in England as the cause of the service disruptions. [10]
- ^ "BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express". Us.blackberry.com.
- ^ "BlackBerry MDS Connection Service". Research In Motion (RIM). Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- ^ "How the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses Triple DES to encrypt data". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ "How the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses AES to encrypt data". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ "Encrypting data that the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and a BlackBerry device send to each other". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ "Algorithms that the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses to encrypt data". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ a b " Email setup and integration". Research In Motion.
- ^ Williams, Christoper (October 10, 2011). "BlackBerry services collapse". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
- ^ Meyer, David (October 12, 2011). "RIM explains BlackBerry downtime as outage spreads". ZDNet UK.
- ^ a b Browning, Jonathan (October 12, 2011). "RIM in 'Race Against Clock' as BlackBerry Disruption Spreads". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
Connectivity
BlackBerry smartphones can be integrated into an organization's email system through a software package called BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) through version 5, and BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) as of version 10. (There were no versions 6 through 9.). Versions of BES are available for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise and Google Apps. While individual users may be able to use a wireless provider's email services without having to install BES themselves, organizations with multiple users usually run BES on their own network. BlackBerry devices running BlackBerry OS 10 or later can also be managed directly by a Microsoft Exchange Server, using Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) polices, in the same way that an iOS or Android device can. (EAS supports fewer management controls than BES does.) Some third-party companies provide hosted BES solutions. Every BlackBerry has a unique ID called a BlackBerry PIN, which is used to identify the device to the BES. BlackBerry at one time provided a free BES software called BES Express (BESX). [1]
The primary BES feature is to relay email from a corporate mailbox to a BlackBerry phone. The BES monitors the user's mailbox, relaying new messages to the phone via BlackBerry's Network Operations Center (NOC) and user's wireless provider. This feature is known as push email, because all new emails, contacts, task entries, memopad entries, and calendar entries are pushed out to the BlackBerry device immediately (as opposed to the user synchronising the data manually or having the device poll the server at intervals).
BlackBerry also supports polling email, through third-party applications. The messaging system built into the BlackBerry only understands how to receive messages from a BES or the BIS, these services handle the connections to the user's mail providers. Device storage also enables the mobile user to access all data off-line in areas without wireless service. When the user reconnects to wireless service, the BES sends the latest data.
A feature of the newer models of the BlackBerry is their ability to quickly track the user's current location through trilateration without the use of GPS, thus saving battery life and time. Trilateration can be used as a quick, less battery intensive way to provide location-aware applications with the co-ordinates of the user. However, the accuracy of BlackBerry trilateration is less than that of GPS due to a number of factors, including cell tower blockage by large buildings, mountains, or distance.
BES also provides phones with TCP/IP connectivity accessed through a component called MDS (Mobile Data System) Connection Service. [2] This allows custom application development using data streams on BlackBerry devices based on the Sun Microsystems Java ME platform.
In addition, BES provides network security, in the form of Triple DES [3] or, more recently, AES [4] encryption [5] [6] of all data (both email and MDS traffic) that travels between the BlackBerry phone and a BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
Most providers offer flat monthly pricing via special Blackberry tariffs for unlimited data between BlackBerry units and BES. In addition to receiving email, organizations can make intranets or custom internal applications with unmetered traffic.
With more recent versions of the BlackBerry platform, the MDS is no longer a requirement for wireless data access. Starting with OS 3.8 or 4.0, BlackBerry phones can access the Internet (i.e. TCP/IP access) without an MDS – formerly only email and WAP access was possible without a BES/MDS. The BES/MDS is still required for secure email, data access, and applications that require WAP from carriers that do not allow WAP access.
The primary alternative to using BlackBerry Enterprise Server is to use the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). BlackBerry Internet Service is available in 91 countries internationally. BlackBerry Internet Service was developed primarily for the average consumer rather than for the business consumer. The service allows users to access POP3, IMAP, and Outlook Web App (not via Exchange ActiveSync) email accounts without connecting through a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). [7] BlackBerry Internet Service allows up to 10 email accounts to be accessed, including proprietary as well as public email accounts (such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and AOL). BlackBerry Internet Service also supports the push capabilities of various other BlackBerry Applications. Various applications developed by RIM for BlackBerry utilise the push capabilities of BIS, such as the Instant Messaging clients (like Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger). The MMS, PIN, interactive gaming, mapping and trading applications[ which?] require data plans like BIS (not just Wi-Fi) for use. The service is usually provisioned through a mobile phone service provider, though BlackBerry actually runs the service. [7]
At 2011-10-10 10:00 UTC there was an outage in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, affecting millions of BlackBerry users. [8] There was another outage the following day. [9] By October 12, 2011, the Blackberry Internet Service went down in North America. [10] Research In Motion attributed data overload due to switch failures in their two data centres in Waterloo in Canada and Slough in England as the cause of the service disruptions. [10]
- ^ "BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express". Us.blackberry.com.
- ^ "BlackBerry MDS Connection Service". Research In Motion (RIM). Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- ^ "How the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses Triple DES to encrypt data". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ "How the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses AES to encrypt data". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ "Encrypting data that the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and a BlackBerry device send to each other". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ "Algorithms that the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses to encrypt data". Docs.blackberry.com.
- ^ a b " Email setup and integration". Research In Motion.
- ^ Williams, Christoper (October 10, 2011). "BlackBerry services collapse". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
- ^ Meyer, David (October 12, 2011). "RIM explains BlackBerry downtime as outage spreads". ZDNet UK.
- ^ a b Browning, Jonathan (October 12, 2011). "RIM in 'Race Against Clock' as BlackBerry Disruption Spreads". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 31, 2012.