For BlackBerry 10 devices: If you are using a BlackBerry 10 device, you can activate your device on a BES 10 server using any data plan.

For BlackBerry 7 device and before: Before we assist you with activating your Blackberry on the Blackberry Exchange Server, we must first determine if the your current data plan is set up for Enterprise Activation.

The most commonly advertised data plans for email, SMS, BBM, and text are set up for using BIS or Blackberry Internet Service ( used for personal email accounts like hotmail / gmail / yahoo etc. ),  NOT for using BES ( Blackberry Enterprise Server ).
 
We can test if your current data plan is provisioned correctly for BES, to do so we will need the ESN or IMEI and the PIN number. Use the steps provided to access this information.

1. Depending on what Theme you have chosen for your device ( how the icons are set up on the home screen ), you may need to go to the Applications icon and press the track ball or the scroll wheel to select.

2. Scroll to the Options icon ( the wrench icon ) and press the track ball or the scroll wheel to select.

3. Scroll sown the list to the "Status" option and press the track ball or the scroll wheel to select.

4. The required Information is located on this screen. Depending on your Carriers network, CDMA, or GSM, your device will have either an ESN or an IMEI number.

If your device has an ESN number then write down both the (dec) and (hex) numbers provided along with the PIN number.

Once you have this information, contact customer support. We will then do the test to determine if your device is provisioned correctly and assist you with the additional steps for Enterprise activations. For further information on Enterprise Activations click here: How do I activate my Blackberry on a BES?

If the test determines that your current data plan does not allow for Enterprise activations, these are questions you must ask your Carrier:

• Does your Carrier have data plans that will allow them activate the device on a BES or Blackberry Enterprise Server?

• Can my device be provisioned for use with a BES?

• If so what are the costs involved?

NOTE - A brief discussion with the Carrier will be required regarding email use, estimated amount of email, attachments type and size, and other data requirements you may have. All of these have to be taken into consideration when choosing the BES enabled data plan best suited to your needs. Some carriers will charge by the MB or KB for overages in data use for BES enabled data plans and as such can be very expensive when your monthly quota is exceeded - best to overestimate usage, or inquire about flex plans which meter your usage and bump you up to the next plan bracket if your data consumption is exceeded and vice versa for months of low usage.

Contact customer support for assistance relaying these questions to your Carrier.

Please note that you can get most of the functionality of a BlackBerry Enterprise Server with BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express. Howerver, BlackBerry will only be supporting BESExpress until 2015, and it is only available to BlackBerry 7 and earlier devices. There is no BESExpress for BlackBerry 10 devices.

On most models of blackberry, the presence of a data signal can be confirmed by observing the network connection shown in upper case. If the letters 3G /  1X / EDGE / GPRS / EVDO / etc. are in upper case, a data signal is present.  If they are shown in lower case (3g / 1x / edge / gprs / evdo) then a data signal can not be detected. There may be limited service in your area, or you may have too weak of a signal.

Determining if you have a data plan enabled on your cellular device can be more complicated. With many devices supporting connection to Wi-Fi, you might have to check with your cellular provider to confirm if the proper service is available. When you change cellular devices (iPhone, Android, HTC, BlackBerry)  you MAY have to inform your cellular provider so they can change the data plan options available on your device.

Some devices like BlackBerry can have certain optional features, like BlackBerry Enterprise Server or BES support, which may need to be specifically enabled. Note that BES Express only requires internet browsing service (often less expensive).

Answer: Call us! We can lock your Blackberry remotely (assuming it is within radio coverage) and set a message on it's screen with the contact information you provide. We recommend setting up your lost message in advance of losing it of course, but after the loss is still better than never. If someone tries to access your Blackberry, entering an incorrect password 3 times will cause your unit to be erased . This only clears the device - not the data. Your information is protected and accessible as soon as you activate another device.

We can also skip the locking step and simply wipe the Blackberry.

After contacting us, contact your cell carrier.

Your carrier will assign a new SIM to your account or deactivate the old BlackBerry. We can not do these things; however, if you had a locking password set it will still have the effect noted above.

Answer:

1. Wipe the old Blackberry. You won't want to send anyone a copy of your old information (Email, Contacts, Calendars, Tasks and Memos). For information, read how to wipe your old Blackberry.

If it hasn't been recycled or lost, remember the old BlackBerry has value as a spare in case of a lost or failing device.

2. Sign in to Outlook Web Access (OWA) and turn off junk mail. For more information, read How to Log into OWA and how to turn off the junk mail filter.

3. Use the Enterprise Activation applet or the Setup Wizard

4. After activation completes, sign in to OWA and turn ON junk mail.

There are several good reasons, but the central issues are simplicity and security...

Simply put, BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) needs a way to find your wireless devices on a vast number of carrier networks, and their roaming network partners. Also from the carrier network's perspective, they don't want to deal with connections from all the little companies out there that might run a BlackBerry server.

Windows Mobile doesn't have this issue, but it doesn't have PUSH technology either. Windows Mobile could be called "triggered pull" - as a Windows Mobile device is not accessible to the server - the server remains accessible to the device, there are no similar firewalling and routing issues like this.

This does not mean Windows Mobile is better - in our opinion PUSH technology (found on BlackBerry devices and BES) can be a significant benefit to those clients who are able to take advantage of it in their applications.

All email messages sent to and from BlackBerry devices are routed through the BlackBerry Infrastructure. This helps to amortize the cost of multiple redundant connections to carriers across all of the BlackBerry Enterprise Servers around the world. It also helps to simplify wireless for customers and to optimize protocols for wireless environments.

Some customers are not comfortable with the idea of their email messages going through the BlackBerry Infrastructure. It is important to remember that the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution email messages sent through the BlackBerry Infrastructure are encrypted using state-of-the-art and industry-certified Triple DES or AES-256 encryption. The messages are encrypted with the customers’ own encryption keys, which are stored only in the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the BlackBerry device. The operators of the BlackBerry Infrastructure do not have access to the encryption keys and thus cannot view the content of the messages.

As seen at BlackBerry.com http://us.blackberry.com/business/topics/security.html

BlackBerry Enterprise Activation requires that an email sent by RIM be processed through Exchange and received in the Mailbox in the Inbox folder.

Messages that look like they are from network@etpXXXX.etp.na.blackberry.net (where XXXX is some random number) are a key part of this activation process.

Spam filters and antivirus software can block these messages. If you have trouble activating, check your Spam / Junk Mail folders for messages like these. You can temporarily disable Junk Mail filters in Outlook 2003 / OWA (Outlook Web Access) and re-enable this feature after your activation is complete. The setting is under Options in OWA.

BlackBerry's can send and receive a variety of standard message formats in addition to custom formats from various 3rd party applications. Below is a brief summary of standard formats and their key features.

In general, data transmission is suspended while a voice call is in progress. This excludes SMS.