So RIM came in today and talked to us about bes 5.0 for about three hours. I am going to say, it is getting really exciting, the current package is looking like it is the gold package they are going to go with.

More to come

Love this guy

http://unified-communications.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-configure-your-bes-server-to.html?showComment=1233953220000#c4217927056315361416

Going through plenty of BES logs lately, I have noticed a pattern that I am going to try to explain briefly. It seems that people don’t understand why it is a bad idea that a large percentage of your messages are being delivered via rescan, and not by notification. I am going to try to explain this in more detail.

• Notification– This is when the BES See’s that a new message has gone into your mailbox, it then sends the message to your handheld through the rim infrastructure and you get it on your handheld.
• ReScan– This is when BES does a rescan of the users mailbox every 15 minutes or so, and then notices that a message has not been marked sent to the handheld, and then is sent to the handheld.

Now obviously, the notification should be the one that always happens, but with the exchange environment getting overloaded, sometimes things need to get picked up with the rescan. Now the problem we get into, is when companies start to depend on the rescan. Then you start seeing things like mail clumping and latency issues. There is a BRK that you can run that can assist you with this information is messageflow. The general accepted rule is that your rescan % should not be more then, at the very worst of 20%, I would even say 15%. So no more then 20% of the total messages sent to your BlackBerry should be delivered via rescan

I’m so happy that in BES 5.0 they are totally changing how they do software config’s. I have such a huge problem with how confusing and inconsistent software config’s are. Let me give you an example. Earlier, in one of the test enviroments we have at my office, one of the developers created a software config. Now he assumed that all you have to do is add the files to the directory and then load that directory through the BES.

How silly of him…

First you have to index the files, then you have to make sure you don’t have duplicate names of the directory’s. And then finally you have to make sure that none of the files in the directorys have the same name, or the new software config will not show up.

BES 5.0 april 1st?

Alright I am going to try to keep this brief as I have been cursing and ranting about sql server express 2005, and most people who I talk to are just tired of me talking about it. This version of SQL was designed for local use. And be default, will not allow incoming tcp/ip connections. You have to make a bunch of changes on the sql server to make it talk on port 1433 ( or whatever port you are using) So after downloading this, and trying to get it work for a few hours. I said screw it and downloaded the standard version. Beware though, if you are installing BES and looking for a version of SQL. Stay away from sql Express 2005. It is going to cause you many headaches. Props to this guy for a great guide

http://nerds-central.blogspot.com/2008/03/developing-sql-2005-applications-on-sql.html

I’m not sure who wrote this, but a co-worker Kyle emailed me this back a few months ago and I found it really useful, some of these I didn’t know

Advanced Enterprise Activation Settings

ALT-CNFG In Options -> Advanced Options -> Enterprise Activation Settings for Enterprise Activation

Address Book

ALT-VALD In address book list Validate the data structure and look for inconsistencies

ALT-RBLD In address book list Force a data structure rebuild

Browser

ALT-RBVS Any HTML/WML webpage View web page source code

Calendar

ALT+VIEW Inside any Calendar item Show extra info for a Calendar event

(for these, just type the letters on the appropriate screen)

SYNC Calendar app>Options Enable Calendar slow sync

RSET Calendar app>Options Will prompt for a reload of the calendar from the BES

RCFG Calendar app>Options Request BES configuration

SCFG Calendar app>Options Send device configuration

DCFG Calendar app>Options Get CICAL configuration

SUPD Calendar app>Options Enable detailed Cal. report for backup

SUPS Calendar app>Options Disable detailed Cal. report for backup

SUPN Calendar app>Options Disable Cal. report database

LUID Calendar app>Options Enable view by UID

SRSL Calendar app>Options Show Reminder status log

Messaging

ALT + VIEW For messages, displays the RefId and FolderId for that particular message. For PIM items, displays only the RefId.

Search Application

ALT-ADVM Search Application – Enabled Advanced Global Search

MMS

MMSC Options > MMS – Show MMS hidden options

Home Screen

ALT-JKVV Home Screen – Display cause of PDP reject

ALT + CAP + H Home Screen – Displays the Help Me screen

ALT + NMLL Home Screen – Switches the signal strength from bars to a numeric value

ALT + LGLG Home Screen – Displays the Java™ event log.

WLAN

ALT-SMON WLAN Wizard Screen – Enable Simulated Wizard mode

ALT-SMOF WLAN Wizard Screen – Disable Simulated Wizard mode

Theme

ALT-THMN Any menu – Change to no theme (B&W)

ALT-THMD Any menu – Change to default theme

Date/Time

LOLO Options -> Date/Time – Show Network time values

SIM Card

MEPD Options > Advanced Options > SIM card – Display MEP info

MEP1 Options > Advanced options>SIM card – Disable SIM personalization

MEP2 Options > Advanced options>SIM card – Disable Network personalization

MEP3 Options > Advanced options>SIM card – Disable Network subset personalization

MEP4 Options > Advanced options>SIM card – Disable Service provider personalization

MEP5 Options > Advanced options>SIM card – Disable Corporate personalization

Other Useful Commands
*#06# Home Screen – Displays your device’s international mobile equipment identity (IMEI – your serial number) on-screen
ALT-CAP-DEL Any menu – Soft Reset (“battery pull”)

I’ve read a lot of posts of people not getting email from BES, so I figured I’d throw together some of the common things I do when I user tells me they can’t get email on the device, I hope it helps, feel free to respond with anything and I will add it

Common reasons why users will stop getting email on BES.

If you have a user who has stopped receiving email, and they are activated on a blackberry enterprise server, these are some of the common trouble shooting steps that might help.

Is the blackberry able to send email?

*If it is not, open that email message and scroll to the very top and take that error message, it could say one of many things, some of the more common messages are:

“Service blocked” this will indicate that on the carriers side, the user has had something change on his data side and needs to speak to the carrier to get it resolved. Another great way to check, is have the user navigate to Options/advanced options/enterprise activation, if this is gone, it means that for some reason he was removed from the Blackberry enterprise data plan by his carrier.

http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB02169&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_SUPPORTISSUE_1_1&dialogID=8422102&stateId=0%200%208420543

“Desktop email program was unable to submit message” This is a issue with your BES, the first thing I would check to see if the Blackberry router is running, and possibly restarting it if it is. This could also indicate though the use is having permissions issues, or has a full mailbox.

http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB04422&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_SUPPORTISSUE_1_1&dialogID=8422083&stateId=0%200%208420538

“Unlisted message error” This is also a BES issue and can be one of a few different things, it usually means for some reason or another, the blackberry device is unable to access the email client. It could be a service book, could be a permissions issue.

http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB04157&sliceId=SAL_Public&dialogID=31876869&stateId=1%200%2031878629

*If it is able to send email,

The first thing I usually check, is the date and time set correctly? Very common issue, your blackberry can not receive email if your date and time are set correctly.

Have you tried to pull the battery from the device? This is a very common fix; a reset will fix this problem a lot of the times.

Make sure the user is actually set up to get his mail from desktop secure, open up one his received and sent messages and make sure they come from desktop secure, I’ve seen a lot of users who have an enterprise data plan, but use the setup wizard and don’t actually use the BES but set up there web mail for example to get mail.

Do they have any filters set up? It is very common for users to attempt to set up filters on the devices, and accidentally set it up so they don’t get any emails at all.

Are they over any assigned mail quota rules? In some environments, if you are over your mail quota, your blackberry will not be able to receive email on the device. Sometimes you will even get a send message informing you that you are over quota, but I’ve seen people not get this message also.

Have you gotten any email in your email client? If the mail server is down, the blackberry is unable to receive messages.

*After trying most of these basic steps and the user is unable to get email still, I usually try the following steps.

If you have access to the BES, check to see when the most recent contact time is, if it is not anytime recent, are their multiple users this is affecting?

Does the user have any pending messages? If it does, it means that the device is attempting to send the messages to the device but is unable to for some reason.

Check filters again from the BES side this time, make sure that even on the BES the user does not have any filters set up, and that if they do, they are set up correctly, also check the “if none of these filters apply box, send message to handheld” box to make sure it is set to true, but I would most likely just remove the filter at this point.

If you open PIM sync, is wireless reconcile enabled?

Has the user been moved to a different mail store/server? A lot of the time, you will have to do a reload user to his BES account

On the users device, have them navigate to Settings/options/advanced options/service book and delete the following three service books.

sync

cmime

cical

Wait 10 seconds and confirmed he deleted them, then re send those from the BES manager, have the user watch the enterprise activation screen, and when it says complete, see if the user is able to get mail now. This can take a few minutes to pull down.

If there contact time is good, when is the last time the user received and email according to the BES?

Has anything changed on his email side that is of importance? I have had it happen to me so many times, you do all this troubleshooting, and then the user says, “Oh and by the way, my mail server is down, is that going to cause a problem?”

Some quick server stuff you can check

Are all the necessary blackberry services running?

There are a lot of these, but there are two that are quick checks

*blackberry dispatcher

*blackberry router
*blackberry synchronization service

Great list here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry_Enterprise_Server

Did your mail servers or domain environment recently have changes done? Allot of the time, this requires either a BES reboot, or some services restarted, just something to keep in mind.

Do allot of users have a high amount of pending messages? This could indicate your BES is having latency issues, and you might want to investigate this further.

Article on pending messages

http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB13516&sliceId=2&docTypeID=DT_SUPPORTISSUE_1_1&dialogID=8428129&stateId=0%200%208424364

If all this fails, you might have to have the blackberry user back up the data on his device, remove his account from the server, waiting for it to leaving pending delete and then readd his account (Check your mail environment for more specific instructions, for example, domino you might have to go in and manually remove the state database)

Once again this is stuff that you can check just by having access to the BES manager, this is by no means a server troubleshooting guide, just some stuff I do on an everyday basis, I hope its help to someone.

Well, I never thought I would write this, but there is no coming back for BlackBerry at this point.  I got a sneak peak of a BlackBerry storm, and this is single handily the biggest piece of crap device I’ve ever seen.  This is obviously a rushed device to try to compete with Apple.  Great job RIM, you release a me too product that is quite literally the least useable device of all time.

Your time here is limited, I doubt you will be making devices in 5 years.  I can see you adopting some bastardized version of Android in the future, but this clearly shows you have no interest in the future.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: A Glimpse into the Future of Email and Collaboration

Microsoft has just released its latest version of the popular email and collaboration software, Exchange Server 2007. This new iteration brings a host of innovative features aimed at improving performance, security, and manageability. In this summary, we will highlight some of the key features and improvements that make Exchange Server 2007 an essential upgrade for organizations looking to optimize their communication and collaboration efforts.

Innovative Features of Exchange Server 2007:

1. 64-bit architecture: Exchange Server 2007 is designed to run exclusively on 64-bit hardware, providing significant performance improvements and the ability to manage larger mailboxes and support more users.
2. Unified Messaging: One of the most groundbreaking features in Exchange Server 2007 is the introduction of Unified Messaging. This feature integrates voice mail, email, and fax into a single inbox, allowing users to manage all their communications from one place.
3. Enhanced Outlook Web Access (OWA): The web-based email client, Outlook Web Access, has been completely revamped in Exchange Server 2007, offering a more user-friendly interface, improved search capabilities, and support for a wider range of web browsers.
4. Clustered Continuous Replication (CCR): This new high availability feature helps to ensure the continuous operation of Exchange Server by replicating mailbox databases between two servers in real-time, providing automatic failover in case of a server failure.
5. Enhanced security features: Exchange Server 2007 introduces several new security features, including built-in protection against spam and phishing emails with the Edge Transport server role, as well as improved encryption and authentication options for more secure email communication.
6. Improved management tools: Exchange Server 2007 introduces the Exchange Management Console, a graphical tool that consolidates the administration of multiple Exchange Server roles into a single interface. Additionally, the new Exchange Management Shell provides powerful scripting capabilities using Windows PowerShell for advanced administration tasks.

Conclusion: Exchange Server 2007 marks a significant step forward in email and collaboration technology, offering a range of innovative features that cater to the growing demands of modern organizations. With its focus on performance, security, and manageability, Exchange Server 2007 is set to redefine the way we communicate and collaborate in the workplace. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of these advancements – consider upgrading to Exchange Server 2007 today!