OSE ZCS and Blackberry calendar, contacts and tasks sync

[dkbk]

Hi

I know this question has been asked before but I couldn't find a clear cut answer from any of the threads about it.

We're currently running ZCS OSE 6.x sucessfully with a mix of Outlook Express through IMAP (for send as attachment support), AJAX client and ZD 1.3. However, we're considering rolling out BlackBerries to our sales force and we'd like to have calendar, contacts and, if possible, tasks syncs without having to use Outlook or Exchange as that really defeats the purpose of running Zimbra. E-mail through BB's can be handled with IMAP SSL without any issues.

There appear to be many different solutions (z-push, funambol, other ?) but none that really seem to work 100% for this usage.

Am I missing something ? Is one solution more advanced/simpler to setup and maintain than the others ? Z-push seems to be the only solution still actively developped is it not ?

If that makes any difference, we're currently looking at acquiring BB Curve 8530.

[fcash]

The best solution is to purchase Zimbra Network Edition, as it includes mobile sync natively via ActiveSync, and support Blackberries via the Blackberry Enterprise Server 4.0 and Zimbra Connector for Blackberry. This is the most seamless setup possible.

[dkbk]

Thanks for the reply.

That obviously would be the intent of the developers to push for that route but that's not an option at this point.

I don't mind having to work on it on the back-end, but I know this is a frequent request for the OSE and there must be working solutions for calendar and contacts sync for blackberries.

I'm just not sure z-push or funambol is it based on my research. What's the more polished/less troublesome option available ?

[jonallport]

Blackberry doesn't do Exchange Server ActiveSync (as provided by Z-Push) without 3rd-party software (e.g. AstraSync) with additional cost.

I have Funambol working well for contact and calendar sync (not mail yet) and this is the preferred non-cost choice for Blackberries, I believe.

Z-push is significantly simpler to set-up and look after, but needs to run separately to Zimbra (but has a low-overhead so could sit happily on an existing web server for instance).

If it's just something Blackberry-like you want then look at Nokia E63, E71, E72, HTC Snap or Samsung Omnia Pro. They all have the same form factor as the BBs but will play nicely with Z-push natively. At the moment I have Z-push syncing with Nokia N95, Nokia 6220, HTC Snap, HTC Wizard, iPhone 3G and more and am looking at getting Funambol to sync mail too for possible BB users.

[dkbk]

Thank you for your valuable input.

I will definitely give a try to Funambol for contact and calendar sync should we finally end up with BB's.

As for the other phones you mentionned, our wireless carrier is extremely limited in its selection of smartphones with physical keyboards. Heck, they just got the Motorola Dext to big fanfare this month and that's a year old tech! With Bell Mobility, the BB is king and its too bad because I'd really like to push for an android based phone as the BB seems like way too much hassle to work with and I'd like our phones to be relevant for as long as possible so I don't have to do this every year.

Android phones seem like they have a bright future ahead of them and seem much more compatible out of the box for my needs but alas, BB's it will most likely end up being as we still have corporate contracts going on (at least, this way, I won't have to support 10 different devices and platforms).

[tslosek]

Originally Posted by jonallport

I have Funambol working well for contact and calendar sync (not mail yet) and this is the preferred non-cost choice for Blackberries, I believe.

Z-push is significantly simpler to set-up and look after, but needs to run separately to Zimbra (but has a low-overhead so could sit happily on an existing web server for instance).

Sorry for reviving an oldish thread but I've been fighting with this for a month or so now.

When you say you have Funambol working well for contact and calendar sync - do you have multiple calendars on Zimbra side? multiple address books? Are you able to see calendars/address books that other users have shared to you that are visible in ZCS? Do you have full write access from your Blackberry to all resources that you can write to in ZCS?

I tried getting Funambol set up against ZCS 6.0.6 OSE and had barely even basic functionality working, lots of trouble and couldn't figure out how to even handle the issue of multiple calendars and address books.

I would love it if I was merely going about it all wrong and it works just fine when it's set up properly.