If You Aren’t On BES, Do You Really Need OTA BlackBerry Synch?

OK RIMarkable readers. I think that I am missing the point on something and I need you to set me straight.

BlackBerry Forums member Cory Scheuer wrote a pretty good review of ThinkPost’s new BlackBerry Sync, an over-the-air BlackBerry synchronization service that will allow BlackBerry BIS users to sync contacts, calendar, and notes between their BlackBerry and Outlook without having to do so through BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

I am not going to rehash the entire review which you can read for yourself here, however, it sounds like ThinkPost does exactly what it says it does. My question, however, is why is OTA sync such a big deal for BlackBerry users that aren’t on BES?

I admit that I have always been a BES user, so, I am sure that I am missing the point of this type of solution, however, if you aren’t on a corporate messaging system where others can add contacts to a global address list, see your free/busy availability, and request appointments against your calendar in real time, why would you need to synch those things before you get back to your computer and do it through BlackBerry Desktop Manager?

The point of OTA sync without BES is… that you want to sync OTA without BES AND without Desktop Manager! 🙂

WHY would you want to sync OTA if you’re not using the multi-user features of Exchange? Lots of reasons – laziness (maybe you’re too lazy to plug in the cable every so often), software issues (maybe you can’t / don’t want to install DM for some reason), immediate “backup” of your appointments to the PC if you lose your BB, etc.

It’s a specific solution for a person with a specific problem or problems.

And for the record, I think “youranidiot” above was trying to point us in this direction, and didn’t misunderstand the post as “Norman R.” seems to think.

For $2/month this would probably be worth it. When I am at my laptop it is easier to enter and edit info in Outlook. If I can avoid having to plug my BB into my computer everytime I change something and run a synch manually, it would be worth it. Don’t think a hosted BES solution for $10/month is worth it for the reasons you listed, but for $2 I may just give this a go. Especially since it’s a no contract service.

For me the answer is simple. What are all the reasons you use BES? Now think of users who’s email is hosted by a email server that is not supported by BES (like mine) or a small business or individual who doesn’t have the resources for MS Exchange and BES. If the features of BES are valuable, why wouldn’t they be just as valuable for users with out access to it.

Vincent Liou? The same Vincent Liou who allegedly ran various email hostings from his home broadband connection in Canada? The same guy who got himself banned from Emaildiscussions.com? Good luck, guys.

Well most small companies won’t install BES from what I have seen. I work at one. Also, I pay enough to Verizon for Unlimited BIS… I would have to pay more for BES service. So, since I am on BIS I want Google, Outlook, with Contacts and Calendar to all be in one Sync that rules them all. Cradling is so PDA and 1990’s. I have EVDO everywhere I go… So why should I have to plug in a cable for Outlook? And does that get me Google Sync? Nope… I can get close using Funambol and Google Sync… But these are hacks… It should be all built in. Just point my BIS to Google and Exchange and it all should magically sync it all!

The advantages to having OTA syncing that updates both the BB and your PC seems obvious to me, if you really what the BB to work as a PIM!
I’ve tried to a get a straight answer on this issue for more than a year.
Microsoft has been completely unhelpful on this, tossing me back and forth between development teams, none of which want to address the question. As a journalist, I even asked Microsoft’s PR folks to look into it — nearly two weeks ago now, no answer after the initial confirmation of the request.
RIM, also has been non-responsive to customer support inquiries.
Ditto with Google, which will not respond to questions about when or if they plan to do full sync OTa for tasks, notes, etc., in addition to their cludgy Calendar and email syncing.
So, I finally gave up and looked for other, commercial options for a non-BES user.
I think I’ve found it in Thinkpost.net. $5 a month, and everything works well. Outlook syncs to their site, which syncs automatically to my Blackberry; Blackberry syncs to the site and then it syncs to Outlook. No need to leave the desktop PC and Outlook open.
It just works, and the interface is clean and fast. So far, I like what I’ve seen.
Here’s the URL: http://thinkpost.net/
Neither MS nor RIM, or apparently Google, really give a $#@% about us, so if it’s worth a few bucks, this could be the answer.

I’m a freelancer, therefore I don’t have a BES setup. I work from my laptop and use my BB as my main business phone. I want my contacts, calendar, and tasks to be the same on both by laptop and my BB since I never know who I’ll need to contact from where–and I don’t want to set up each appointment and task twice. Like a few others have stated, why even have a BB if it doesn’t automatically update? I could just as well use a tracfone if I wanted to manually update my data. And I would save around $75 each month. That said, I’m sure if I want to add even more to my BB bill each month by going the ThinkPost route. At least it’s an option for non-BESers though.

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