BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 is the ideal method of deploying, managing and securing BlackBerry 10 smartphones. It delivers rich enterprise mobility management features, BlackBerry Balance, BlackBerry World for Work, and other capabilities that businesses need to realize their full mobility potential. But, we recognize that some customers or groups of users may have their mobility management and connectivity needs met by using a basic ActiveSync connection on a supported mail server without the use of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. We are pleased to be able to support this connectivity model with BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

We’ve talked quite a bit about ActiveSync in the past here on the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog, so make sure that you’ve also taken a look at our past blog posts:

• How to Connect Your BlackBerry PlayBook to Enterprise Email with ActiveSync
• Hey BlackBerry, what about BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express?
• Does BlackBerry Compromise on Security by Using ActiveSync? The answer is No, and here’s why…

Using ActiveSync to Connect and Manage BlackBerry 10 Smartphones

It’s quite likely that you’re using a Microsoft Exchange server, an IBM Lotus Domino server, or a Novell GroupWise mail server. BlackBerry 10 smartphones (and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets) can connect to any of these mail servers as long as ActiveSync is enabled. If you’re using Microsoft Office 365, we’ve got a great Knowledge Base article (KB33522) that walks you through the process. You’ll need to make sure that your mail server is enabled for ActiveSync, grab your BlackBerry 10 smartphone, and add a new account.

To review what versions of ActiveSync are support on BlackBerry 10 smartphones and the specific policies supported, see our BlackBerry Knowledge Base article. You can also learn more about BlackBerry 10 and ActiveSync support for IBM Domino and Traveler environments. Lastly, we’ve got all of the details on BlackBerry 10 ActiveSync support for Novell GroupWise environments.

Adding an ActiveSync Enabled Account on Your BlackBerry 10 Smartphone

Adding an ActiveSync enabled email account to your BlackBerry 10 smartphone is simple and straightforward.

1. While viewing the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen
2. Select Settings > Accounts
   • If this is your first account, select the Advanced icon that appears along the bottom toolbar.
   • If you have other accounts already, select Add Account followed by selecting Advanced
3. Select Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync from the Advanced Setup options (for all ActiveSync based accounts regardless of mail platform)
4. Enter in the required information, which includes:
   • Username
   • Email Address
   • Password
   • Server Address
   • Port (443 by default)

Note: optional fields include Description, Domain, toggles for SSL, VPN, and Push, as well as the Sync Timeframe.

1. Tap Next to finish configuring the account, and then tap Done.

That’s it! You should now have a BlackBerry 10 smartphone configured with work email via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. To remove an account, check out the instructions at the bottom of our Inside BlackBerry Help Blog post on email, contacts, calendar, and social networking accounts.

We are pleased to announce that BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion 6 Service Pack 2 is now available with updates for Universal Device Service. With Universal Device Service 6.2, enterprises are provided with additional features to securely manage iOS® and Android™ devices in use by their workforce. In addition to quality and performance enhancements, this update helps administrators protect access to Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®; it adds improvements to ease the deployment in the enterprise and provides management improvements in the administrative console.

New Features in Universal Device Service 6.2

• Gatekeeping for Exchange ActiveSync: provides enterprises with the ability to limit access to Exchange ActiveSync to managed and compliant devices
• Support for Proxy Servers for Outgoing Connections from Universal Device Service: this improvement helps enterprises deploy the Universal Device Service in their existing IT infrastructure
• SCEP Proxy for Certificate Provisioning to Managed Devices: enterprises that want to improve security and user experience using certificate based authentication can now provision certificates to devices from an enterprise CA without the need to expose SCEP to the Internet
• Support for Android devices with Motorola EDM: the Universal Device Service configures the native PIM client on devices that support Motorola Enterprise Device Management
• More Flexible Assignment of Automated Compliance Actions: administrators now have more flexibility in assigning measures to be taken by the system for jailbreaking and app incompliance by users and user groups

Gatekeeping for Exchange ActiveSync

Corporate email is one of the most sensitive repositories of information. As a result, one of the prime concerns enterprise IT administrators have is access to Exchange ActiveSync by devices, which may be out of compliance with the security policies of the organization. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion 6 Service Pack 2 helps IT administrators solve this challenge. Through the integration with Microsoft Exchange servers, Universal Device Service can limit access to Exchange ActiveSync to only those devices that are managed by the Universal Device Service. In the Universal Device Service console, administrators are provided with detailed information about devices that have been granted access or have been blocked from accessing Exchange ActiveSync.

In addition, the Universal Device Service also checks the compliance of managed devices and can use this information to block incompliant devices. In this way, administrators can ensure that access to Exchange ActiveSync will be blocked when devices are jailbroken, and whether users have installed mandatory applications or updates, or if they have installed unapproved applications. Gatekeeping for Exchange ActiveSync is compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

Cross-Platform Device Management

The Universal Device Service is an element of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, which provides cross-platform management for BlackBerry devices, as well as devices running the iOS and Android operating systems. Using the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Studio, administrators are able to manage all devices through a single console.

Get the Update Today

Head over to the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion website to get the update.

What features are you most looking forward to in Universal Device Service 6.2 update? Share in the comments below.