[KingNAMS]

I am a long time blackberry user but only on a BES. I recently left the company that I worked for which provided my phone and started my own business. Right now I am the only employee with no intentions of adding more employees any time soon.

Since I have been used bb with BES for years, I am addicted (of course) and would like to find the closest solution as possible for my small business. My email/calendar/website/etc. is currently running off of Microsoft Small Business Live. I am not opposed to changing services. I have been looking into Google Apps but I would be open to any suggestions. Here are my requirements:

Email in the native BB messages application
Email sync with deleted on bb = deleted in mailbox and read/unread status sync
Calendar 2-way sync
Contacts 2-way sync

I am looking for the cheapest solution possible. Those 4 items being done OTA would be ideal but from what I gather the last 3 are going to require a hosted exchange/BES solution and I'd rather not spend that much. If there is another way, let me know! If not, then what suggestions does everyone have for doing this the old fashion way with Outlook, whatever mail solution, and desktop manager?

As I mentioned I've been looking into Google Apps but I'm not sure I follow what the differences are between google apps and a regular gmail account and what roll Google Sync plays in all this.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Dubdub]

I use BIS for email for my 2 companies. ISP allows POP access. I use Thunderbird for my Mac and PC email clients, and have Outlook in a netbook. The only way that you will get true email sync is BES or hosted BES, IMAP access or use gmail or Yahoo. Neither of the latter two provides a very professional appearance, IMHO. I have no real issues deleting mail from one device or the other. If you were receive a lot of email, then I can see where it could be a bother though.

I use Google Calendar sync for keeping the calendar in sync on my BB, an iPhone, two Macs, and 2 PCs. Outlook calendar on one PC, Lightning integrated with Thunderbird on the others and the Macs. Contacts tend to remain somewhat static, but I do sync them occasionally using the USB cable. Best of all its free!

[fratts]

I have a gmail account and able to sync both my contacts and calander with no issues using google sync. The only downfall is that it doesnt truely utilized the push technology as it only syncs at regular time intervals. However, it does work.

There is also, the Enhanced Google plugin for gmail, I havent played too much with it but apparently adds alot of features to the gmail account.

[KingNAMS]

So what you are both saying is that if I swapped my business's email solution over to gmail (and possible google apps) then I can use BIS for the email part, and Google Sync installed on the blackberry and on my PC to keep the contacts and calendar synchronized between google, outlook, and my bb. I have not bought my blackberry yet but as soon as I do i'll post again and let everyone know what results I see.

Thanks!

[Dubdub]

You don't need to switch your business mail to gmail. Sending a business email using a gmail account is very unprofessional IMHO. You also don't need to migrate to Google apps, other than contacts and calendar.

If you would like to chat about it, send me a PM with your phone number and iwill try to call you Monday - as long as you are in the US, that is.

[mattmrdck]

I have not found definitive answers so far to these questions:

1) At this point, can the native BB apps (messages, contacts, calendar) sync OTA fluidly/flawlessly/as needed with Google alternatives (GMAIL, GMAIL contacts and Google Calendar) using a business domain (myname@mybiz.com) hosted by Google?

2) OR wanting to use desktop PIM clients than MS OUTLOOK [Thunderbird et al, Chaos Intellect, other suggestions[??]), can the native BB apps be successfully synched using Blackberry Desktop Manager (USB cabled or maybe Bluetooth) on a PC (and Mac, though I am not a user)?

I am very interested in NOT using MS OUTLOOK any longer and am concerned that Google Calendar is not robust enough for my needs.

I have read elsewhere where the ongoing evolution of Android/Google App synchronicity and RIM's strict preference for Exchange/MS OUTLOOK may soon be deal-breaking for users of Blackberry(s) who are drawn to non-MS email + PIM client options.

Any insight is very much appreciated. Hope I haven't gotten too off the original thread with my query.

[Dubdub]

Email does not sync if you use BIS, so it really doesn't matter what PC eail client you use. There are some ISPs, Yahoo for one will somewhat. BIS 3.0 will add some email sync functionality for gmail, but not real sure exactly what. I don't use either so I cannot say.

I use T-Bird and Lightning on my Macs and PCs for email and calendar. I use Google Calendar sync to sync the calendars on 2 Macs one Windows XP laptop, 2 WP desktops, an iPhone and my BB 9000. Sync contacts on outlook once every couple months, but they are fairly static.

What are your calendar needs? And why are you so enamored with getting off Outlook? It works. It isn't broken and it doesn't need fixing. Of all the Microsoft apps, I think Outlook is probably the best of the lot. And it works well with most PDAs, including the BB. So why don't I use it? I have 5 email addresses that I use and need to keep them separate and need to be sure I use the correct address when sending. Outlook can't do that easily, T-Bird can.

As for non-Outlook users, there are many, however, as long as Microsoft remains on the corporate and government desktops, you won't see RIM change or lose business. Android/Google is nice for consumers, but it is not yet business class nor is it as secure as the BB. Rumors of the BB's demise are far overstated IMHO.

[JayC33]

I, like the OP, am also interested in inexpensive solutions to get the most out of my BB for my small upstart business, owever I am very anxious to move away from gmail based solutions as the recent Buzz feature exposed my contacts without any opt in from me (I usually check my gmail via my berry) If any one has any ideas I would be very interested. If possible I would like to avoid or at least put off the approx $200/ yr for a hosted solution. Thanks in advance.

Jay

[rambo47]

Stay tuned for Tuesday's Big Announcement from RIM. Details are scant at this point, but the potential for BESX to be a game-changer is high.

As of right now, I would consider hosted BES the best solution, and GMail/Google Apps as the most tenable work-around.

ExchangeMyMail is an additional $18 per month, pretty reasonable for all the BES features it provides.

Link2Exchange has a $10/month solution for BlackBerrys. This is a steal, imho. Especially with a free trial period.

[tsac]

Maybe one of the commercial providers that offer BES service would be better.

[tsac]

The BESX sounds interesting. It looks like BESX = Market share to RIM. It just might pull a lot more customers who up to now did not consider using the BB.