How It Works (Push Me, Pull You) | Blackberry Pearl Pocket Guide

The email system RIM uses is the BlackBerry Email Internet Service. It allows you to set up your email accounts in such a way that your email shows up on your BlackBerry within seconds of its arrival at your email server.

This type of email service is different from what you're used to. Your regular Microsoft Outlook or other email client on your computer is what's called a "pull" email service, in that it pulls the email down from your server whenever you tell the computer to check your email accounts. Although you can set most email programs to check email accounts as frequently as every minute, the premise is still the same: The program has to go out and pull the email to your computer so you can read it.

If you have a device that you have to tell to check for email, that adds an inconvenient step to the process and degrades the perceived value of an always-on portable device like the BlackBerry. To get around this problem, RIM came up with a highly effective way to manage the situation: a "push" email system. This system pushes every email out to the portable device the moment it arrives on the email server, rather than waiting for the user to tell the device to go get the email. This system is used primarily in the BlackBerry and other always-on devices that need to check email frequently. A tone or a flashing light on the mobile device alerts the user to the email's presence .

BlackBerry Enterprise Server

BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software sits behind an organization's firewall and manages email for that organization's BlackBerry users. If you work for a company that uses BES, the system administrator probably can set up your company emails for you. Or you can do the setup at your service provider's Web site: T-Mobile in the United States (www.t-mobile.com) or Rogers in Canada (www.rogers.com).

Generally speaking, setting up a BES account involves knowing your corporate email address and password. With these two pieces of information, you may be able to get your BlackBerry Pearl business email accounts up and running in a few minutes.