BlackBerry hops aboard early FMC train

Wireless in the Enterprise This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia Make the most of your mobile gear Download our Free Executive Guide and learn how Network IT professionals are getting the most out of their mobile devices and improving mobile security. You'll also get the scoop on upcoming mobile tools and technologies and how they may impact your enterprise. Network World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 05/16/07 BlackBerry hops aboard early FMC train By Joanie Wexler Research in Motion has outfitted its widely heralded BlackBerry messaging device with some basic fixed-mobile convergence capabilities. The company last week introduced the BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS), which allows enterprises to integrate cellular-enabled BlackBerry models with user desk phones and corporate PBXs. Users can manage calls and access corporate directories through their familiar BlackBerry interface and menus. Employees get a single business phone number to call, but users can have multiple wired and wireless phones ring simultaneously to avoid voicemail pileups and telephone tag. Enabling one number to concurrently connect to multiple devices is sometimes called “twinning.” Make the most of your Mobile Gear Download our Free Executive Guide and learn how Network IT professionals are getting the most out of their mobile devices and improving mobile security. You'll also get the scoop on upcoming mobile tools and technologies and how they may impact your enterprise. Click Here to download today! Twinning is a simple first step toward FMC, which will eventually unite various mobile and fixed networks with seamless inter-network voice handoffs, presence functions indicating user availability, unified messaging and other collaborative communications that span network borders. As yet, though, no BlackBerry devices support both cellular and Wi-Fi communications. Rather, there is an 802.11b Wi-Fi-only enabled device (the 7270), as well as a number of GSM or CDMA cellular-enabled devices. Also, “there is no presence or unified messaging supported at this time” in the BlackBerry MVS, said David Heit, RIM director of enterprise product management. “But you might expect to see presence, now available for instant messaging [on the BlackBerry], evolve to include a voice element.” According to Heit, user requirements to blend BlackBerry with the corporate PBX are the following: * You must be running the RIM BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) minimum software Version 4.1.2. * You must be running Ascendent Systems’ voice mobility server. RIM acquired Ascendent, which has long offered twinning services to many phones, last year. * You must install a PBX connector piece of software onto the Ascendent voice server. In a similar vein, Cisco in March launched its Unified Mobile Communicator, which provides employees with cellular access to their enterprise PBXs, directories, unified messaging, and conferencing services from a diverse set of mobile and smart phones. Unified Mobile Communicator uses technology gained when Cisco acquired Orative last fall. It supports BlackBerry cellular-enabled phones as well as mobile phones running the Symbian, Windows Mobile and BREW operating systems.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com. This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia Make the most of your mobile gear Download our Free Executive Guide and learn how Network IT professionals are getting the most out of their mobile devices and improving mobile security. You'll also get the scoop on upcoming mobile tools and technologies and how they may impact your enterprise. ARCHIVE Archive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007