Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server now available

In May, we announced our plans to integrate Google Apps with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, a popular feature request from many of our enterprise customers. Today, our team is excited to let you know that this integration is complete. Now, customers of Google Apps Premier and Education Editions can give their users access to Google Apps email, calendar, and contacts from the built-in BlackBerry applications that many users are already accustomed to. The tight integration between our connector and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server lets administrators manage BlackBerry access using the tools and policies they're already familiar with.

Since our announcement in May, the Google Apps team has worked hard to prepare this feature for public release, testing it extensively with select companies and universities, including Sanmina-SCI. "With Apps Connector, our BlackBerry mobile users get to use native applications that they are already familiar with and we get to manage them using familiar tools. It's great to combine the benefits of Google Apps like 25GB storage per user and ubiquitous accessibility with the push mail capabilities of BlackBerry," said Manesh Patel, CIO of Sanmina-SCI.

Features include:

• Messages sent to your Gmail inbox are pushed to your BlackBerry within 60 seconds.
  
• Emails read/deleted on your BlackBerry are marked as read/deleted in Gmail, and vice-versa.
  
• Emails archived/starred on your BlackBerry are archived/starred in Gmail, and vice-versa.
  
• BlackBerry folders are synchronized with labels in Gmail.
  
• You can search for contact information of coworkers from the global address list on your BlackBerry.
  
• Contacts in Gmail are automatically synchronized with your BlackBerry address book.
  
• You can view your Google Calendar schedule with the native BlackBerry application, with one-way synchronization from Google Calendar to your BlackBerry device. Two-way calendar sync with the ability to accept, decline and schedule meetings from your BlackBerry device is not available with this release but we are working on it.
  
• Administrators can use the management and security tools that are part of BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
  

Google Apps Premier and Education Edition customers worldwide can get started with this feature at no charge by downloading Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. If you have any questions, please visit the Help Page. Both of these links are also available through the Google Apps control panel.

Learn about all of the mobile options available to Google Apps users at www.google.com/apps/mobile.

Posted by Anthony Lee, Google Apps Engineer

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