Horror Story of the Week: BlackBerry Enterprise Server Activation Problems

September 19, 2011 By 1 Comment

3 Simple BES Tips for a Smooth Activation

There are a great many benefits to using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server in your company, including helping to improve IT productivity, the ability to sync and manage your corporate email, and the advanced security that it offers.

 

If you are the IT designate managing the cellular device fleet for your company, you may have had to handle a BES email activation a time or two, and chances are they have gone smoothly.

 

But what happens if it doesn’t go so smoothly? Heaven forbid you find yourself in this situation:

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Filed Under: Blackberry Management, Cellular Customer Service, Cellular Phones, Mobile Device, Mobile Device Management, Smart Phones Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to avoid Cancellation fees with Conversion Credits

August 26, 2011 By 1 Comment

Avoiding Cancellation Fees with Negotiated Conversion Credits

In business today there is a lot of push from the mobile carriers/providers to get your business. In some cases there are great cost reductions to be had by moving from your current service provider to a new Mobile carrier. However – you may be reluctant to change, due to still having 2 years left on your current service agreement, that will carry a hefty cancellation fee and in the end eat up your savings moving to the new provider. Therefore, not making it a wise mobile expense management decision.

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Filed Under: Cellular Customer Service, Cellular Expense Management, Communications Management, Cost Reduction, Mobile Expense Management, Telecom Expense Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Activating a SmartPhone with NO Data Plan

August 10, 2011 By 1 Comment

Want a Smart Phone but do not want to subscribe to Data plan??

I was faced with a problem the other day with one of our clients – they wanted to get a Blackberry for a user – however – this user did not require a data plan. They wanted him to have a blackberry to keep all company hardware uniform for internal reasons –  however  - they were discouraged at the price of the hardware due to not having a data plan!

Example Rogers BB 9800 $99.99 on a 3 yr term with data – with no data plan the unit will be $424.99 on a 3 yr term  –  In order to oblige the client with desired pricing – and follow the system guidelines set out by the carrier –  we utilized the following solution!

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Filed Under: Blackberry Management, Cellular Expense Management, Mobile Device Management, Mobile Expense Management, Smart Phones Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Horror Story of the Week: How Not to Do a Hardware Upgrade

August 8, 2011 By 4 Comments

Hardware Upgrade Mishap: Imagine yourself in this situation: 

 

You are faced with the task of getting a new employee a new phone and number. In order to keep costs down, you decide to recycle one of the old unused numbers on your account.  You Find a number on your bill that is showing no usage and has the user name of employee who is no longer with the company.  A quick call to the carrier customer service confirms that there has been no usage, so you go ahead with the upgrade and switch to a new SIM card. 

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Filed Under: Cellular Customer Service, Cellular Expense Management, Cost Reduction, Mobile Device Management, Mobile Expense Management Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Text messaging – Are you covered?

January 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Rogers is Increasing the Price to TEXT in March 2011!!

Rogers has begun to notify their customers of their latest price increase, and many are speculating that the other carriers are likely to follow suit in the very near future.  Just a nickle some say… but we all know how fast those nickles can add up… 

 

Effective March 16, 2011 the cost of sending a pay-per-use text message on Rogers will increase from $0.15 to $0.20  for each sent and received message.

 

The new rate will not affect you if you have a text plan and do not send more text’s than are allotted in your plan, however, [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cellular Customer Service, Cellular Expense Management Tagged With: , , , ,

10 Simple Steps to Blackberry Email Set Up to BIS Server

October 29, 2010 By 2 Comments


Blackberry Email Setup to BIS Server

Have you been given the frustrating task to set up blackberry email to a BIS Server or create a blackberry login? Have you been told by the carrier, that what was once available through their website, a channel to complete the setup, was no longer offered as Blackberry was no longer permitting the carrier to provide this. Whether we believe this or not, it certainly has caused allot of challenges for users.  The alternative for this, is setting up via the Blackberry itself, which can be challenging all on its own. So we cornered our ClientCare Team to give us the steps to make it happen in an easy step by step process. Below are 10 simple steps that as of this posting have seemed to do it for most users. Hope this helps.

 
How to set up email on Blackberry and create a Web Login from your Blackberry phone:

1. Push the Blackberry key to bring up the menu and go to Set up. Then Email Set up/ Email Accounts. It will connect to the service.
2. Read and agree to the Blackberry Service Agreement.
3. When it brings up the email options ( Yahoo, Gmail, etc. ) go to Other
4. Enter the Email and Password of your email account
      >You may get a message “ Invalid email address or Password. Verify your email address and password. If the error persists please contact…..” Hit  OK and it should bring up a link “ I will provide email settings”
5. Make sure the POP/IMAP option is hilighted, confirm the email address and password. Enter you email server ( get this from your IT Manager or email provider ) and the username for the server  then hit continue
6. The next screen should be a confirmation screen, saying that the set up is complete. You should start receiving emails on the phone.

 

not quite done though….
 
7. Return to the setup screen and got back in to the email setup up. You should see the email that you just set up. Hit the Blackberry key to bring up the full menu, then select “Create User name” . You will get a screen advising you that this is a permanent change and the steps required. Hit Continue.
8. This will bring up the login screen. Enter a user name and password
9. You will have to validate the email account by putting the email password in again. Once done you should get a screen saying that the password was successfully validated.
10. The email is now successfully set up and you can exit out of the set up screen. Take a break you’ve earned it!
 

Now for fun – watch the video – which has a mind blowing statistic at the end. We think you’ll like it. Enjoy and don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for weekly Tip of the Week Updates!

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Cellular Customer Service, Cellular Phones, Smart Phones, Tip of the Week Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Are You Getting the Best Internet Speed on Your Smartphone?

March 24, 2010 By 1 Comment
smartphone speed mobile management

Not all signal bars are created equal

Many people think their mobile device determines how fast their wireless Internet’s going to be. Phone manufacturers emphasize this by highlighting new hardware and software, such as the iPhone 3GS (according to Steve Jobs, the “S” stands for “Speed”). But your smartphone is only part of the equation when it comes to speedy web page loads and data transmission. If your company’s mobile management plan relies on high speed data transfer you need to consider what your phone will be able to do.

Your carrier’s network is the ultimate limit on data transfer speeds. A fast phone will still slow down on an older network.

How do networks and phones interact to determine your data transfer speed? We field questions about this every day. Let’s answer a few for you now.

Would the data on my Blackberry be slower than on an iPhone or Android phone?

Older Blackberries and phones are limited to slower networks, so if you’re on the second or third year of a contract you might be stuck with legacy technology such as the EDGE network. Newer Blackberries along with iPhones and Android handsets can use faster 3G networks such as Bell and Telus’ HSDPA, but there’s a catch: You need to be in range on the newer network.

In many areas you’ll be stuck with EDGE or other slower protocols, ultimately defaulting to basic GSM with no data access at all. New phones will still work, but at a reduced speed. Make sure you know your area’s coverage before you count on high transfer speeds.

What about Wi-Fi?

Some smartphones (including the iPhone – check the model of any phone you plan to get) can also connect to nearby Wi-Fi hot spots. Some carriers (such as Bell in Canada) operate Wi-Fi in busy areas. Otherwise, you can make use of Starbucks, home Wi-Fi, work Wi-Fi and other options. The great thing about Wi-Fi is that it doesn’t count as data transfer through your phone for billing purposes and it’s fast. The disadvantage is that older phones can’t connect through Wi-Fi, and it may not be available in all areas.

How can I tell what degree of coverage I have in my area?

First thing’s first: Ask carriers about their coverage in areas you plan on using your phone before you sign a contract! Once you have your phone out and about, the display will show what type of connection is available. This will normally display as follows:

3G: Indicates a 3G connection is available. This will only appear on 3G capable handsets.

EDGE: Indicates a slower EDGE (2G) connection is available.

edge (“lowercase edge”): Indicates only a GSM connection is available, with no data transfer.

Wi-Fi Symbol: The Wi-Fi symbol appears in Wi-Fi capable phones in range of a nearby network. You will be prompted to enter login information for any unfamiliar network. You can sometimes set up familiar networks (home, work) to connect automatically.

We hope this clears up some confusion and helps you find plans with the best data transfer speeds.

Filed Under: Cellular Customer Service, Cellular Phones, Smart Phones Tagged With: , ,

Remote Call Forwarding for Business

October 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Remote call forwarding is a convenient feature offered by virtually every major carrier in Canada and the US. It does exactly what it sounds like it does: relays your call from one number to another.  Prices change from carrier to carrier but in general, it’s an economical choice within a bigger telecom cost audit strategy.

Our clients use remote call forwarding for a number of reasons. Let’s take a look at some of these to show you the possibilities:

“I am moving my office and can’t keep the same phone number.”

This is a common concern for our clients when they’re strongly associated with a given phone number due to extensive marketing or long time tradition. Use remote call forwarding to keep your original number as the destination for callers, but pick up from your new number.

“I do business in multiple regions, but I can only be in one place at a time.”

Some of our clients have multiple mailing addresses and contact points but prefer to receive their calls in one location, saving on operations costs and keeping customer relations under one roof. Remote call forwarding can consolidate your calls across multiple numbers to reach a single response point.

“How?”

To set up call forwarding, call your carrier. If you’re a GILL Technologies client, ClientCare will not only do this for you but handle any other requests. You never have to wait on hold with a carrier. Contact us to get started.

Filed Under: Mobile Device Management Tagged With: , , , ,