Blackberry: Nearly Ripe Wireless E-Mail
May 3, 1999
By Dan Backman
Research In Motion (RIM) isn't the first company to offer wireless e-mail from a pager, but its new Blackberry product adds a twist: Instead of establishing yet another mailbox, Blackberry plugs into your existing Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 (Service Pack 2). Using the included RIM Inter@ctive Pager 950, Blackberry lets you securely send e-mail and synchronize your address book, calendar and task list with your Exchange mailbox.
I tested a desktop version in the production Exchange environment at our Real-World Labs® in San Mateo, Calif. After an initial round of tests, I could see that this 2.5-inch-by-3.5-inch alphanumeric pager is a must-have for any mobile professional. Nationwide wireless access to your local Exchange mailbox (via BellSouth's Intelligent Wireless Network) is a valuable tool for a road warrior in any e-mail-centric organization. The price is attractive, too: $399 for the pager, software and cradle, plus a monthly charge of $39.99 for unlimited messages on BellSouth's network.
Despite Blackberry's obvious advantages, I was still frustrated by its few shortcomings. For instance, the product requires a desktop application for redirecting incoming and outgoing messages to and from the pager. And, it doesn't update calendar items and tasks over the network.
To send mail, Blackberry forms a gateway between the wireless network and your mailbox. It installs two desktop applications on your workstation: a desktop manager synchronization utility and a redirector. The manager synchronizes the pager's address book, calendar and task data with your desktop Outlook/Exchange client when you plug the pager into the included desktop cradle. Only e-mail is available over the wireless connection--all other synchronization occurs through the cradle's serial connection to your computer.
The redirector is a 32-bit Windows application that must remain running at all times. Therefore, be sure to lock your NT screen--or set a screensaver password under Windows95/98--instead of logging out when you leave the office. The redirector scans your Exchange mailbox, filters incoming messages and selectively forwards messages to your pager. Likewise, messages sent from the pager are "redirected" as outgoing messages through Exchange.
In the unit I tested, the link between the paging network and the redirector application existed via Triple-DES-encrypted SMTP messages transmitted over the Internet. Mail was encrypted at the desktop redirector and decrypted only by the pager, so no confidential information traveled over the paging network. This entire process is handled automatically once the desktop applications are installed.
Although this model is technically elegant--all communication is handled via the local Exchange Server--its reliance upon a desktop application is unacceptable in most corporate environments. To address this shortcoming, RIM says it is planning a server-resident version of the redirector application, so users won't have to dedicate their desktops to redirecting mail from the paging network. But this version does not replace the Desktop Manager synchronization application.
At My Fingertips Once on the road, Blackberry's desktop limitations were immediately outweighed by the ability to stay in touch remotely. Whether I was responding to e-mail at a local sushi bar as I waited for my tekka maki, or while waiting to board a plane, I was impressed by the included RIM Inter@ctive Pager 950. With its large LCD screen, which can display bit-mapped icons or up to eight lines of text, its thumb-wheel navigation and its QWERTY keyboard, Blackberry closes the gap between the functionality of a handheld PDA, such as 3Com Corp.'s PalmPilot, and the wireless messaging of a two-way pager.
I missed the ability to synchronize address books, calendar and task information automatically over the air. Although this feature would increase overall messaging traffic, the ability to update calendar events and to-do lists automatically would be advantageous for those who delegate calendar access to their assistants or coworkers.
Send your comments on this article to Dan Backman at dbackman@nwc.com.
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