Blackberry Service Interruption 2007.04.17 17:15PST TO 2007.04.18 01:23PST (UPDATED 2007.05.10!)

Last evening RIM experienced a service interruption that affected all users in the Western Hemisphere... (UPDATED: We have a work around should this ever happen again)

Last evening RIM experienced a service interruption that affected all users in the Western Hemisphere. Many users may have noticed that email appeared either intermittent or unavailable. Synchronization was also offline during this outage. SMS and PIN to PIN messages WERE functional throughout the outage, as were Blackberry Messenger messages.

All users are encouraged to contact their hosting provider with any concerns.

All known MISSION CRITICAL users were informed as soon as the outage commenced. If you wish to be added to that list, please contact your customer service rep (us), not your cell carrier.

Please note that PIN messages and BB Messenger messages are not synchronized with your Outlook, and if you switch to using this messages format you have no message archive on the PC - it does provide a redundant path for messaging though in the event of a service interruption such as this.

However, due to the load this placed on carrier networks both during and after the outage as normal services resumed, you may have had intermittent data service which would have appeared to be the fault of the cellular provider. It should not recur so there is no need to contact your cell provider.

Note that this was not a hosting outage.

Thank you!

UPDATE 2007.05.10: After reviewing the explanation and incident reports we have determined a sutiable work around should an extended outage ever again affect the North American infrastructure that would allow us to restore operations during the outage. Our systems are ready to implement this procedure if it ever becomes nessecary.