MVS Benefits

What are the top five benefits of the BlackBerry MVS to organizations and their users? Here's Heit's take:

1) Control of Corporate Identity

MVS users never need to give out two phone numbers--one for the office and one for the mobile--and their business cards can bear only a single number, as well, Heit says. He has one ringtone for calls to his personal device number and another for call to his corporate number, which lets him know immediately whether it's a business or personal call. And because caller ID information is retained, he never has to answer a call from a blocked or unknown number only to find out it's a "pesky sales person" or other party he'd rather avoid.

2) Freedom to Work In and Out of the Office With Confidence

Calls to desk phones are forwarded to MVS users' BlackBerrys, so they can come and go as they like from the office and feel confident important calls will securely make it to their mobile phones.

3) Cost Savings

Calls to and from MVS users' BlackBerrys use a data connection to communicate through their BES and to a PBX, so long distance and international wireless charges can be reduced and even avoided. And if IT administrators want some devices to be used only through the PBX and not with a wireless account to avoid wireless charges, they can lock down the phones via BES IT policy, he says.

4) Asset Tracking

MVS users communicate via data connection and the BES, so IT administrators can determine where they are, who they're calling and where the callers on the other end are located, allowing for improved asset tracking and cost-management capabilities.

5) Security and Authentication

Users' BlackBerrys are identified and authenticated via BES anytime they place or receive a call, so unauthorized parties can't listen in on conference calls or other private communications. The conferencing calling arrangements many organizations currently employ, where parties in disparate locations call in to an 800 or 866 number, leave room for intruders because there's nothing stopping anyone who obtained the number and access code from eavesdropping, according to Heit.