What happens when you accept an Outlook meeting invitation via BIS?

[arodma]

Hi - Totally new to Blackberry. Don't even own one yet. I need to confirm whether BB will do something before I buy.

I am a contractor and do not connect via corporate email. My email account is with Verizon (e.g. BIS). I use Outlook on my laptop.

My business colleagues use corporate email (Outlook + Exchange via BES)

If they send me a meeting invitation, will it show up in my Blackberry calendar?

Can I Accept / Suggest Alternative Time / Reject?

Can I send a meeting invite from my BB to my corporate colleagues?

This is make it or break it for me.

Thanks

[StreetDocRN]

Hi,

If your colleagues schedule a meeting in Outlook and send it to your email address associated with your Blackberry device, you will receive an email about the meeting of which you can accept, modify, or decline the meeting.  If you accept the invite for the meeting (which can be a recurring meeting) then the meeting is scheduled into your Blackberry.  Remember, what ever you do on your Blackberry (accept, modify, or decline) for an invite, be sure you do the same on your computer in Outlook so there won't be any conflicts.  I hope this helps.

Doc

[arodma]

Thanks, Doc.

You said: Remember, what ever you do on your Blackberry (accept, modify, or decline) for an invite, be sure you do the same on your computer in Outlook so there won't be any conflicts.

A follow-up question:  Is this handled by synching, or do I do this manually?

A

[StreetDocRN]

I really don't think it matters.  You can do this either way, manually or syncing.  For more on meetings, go to Microsoft to this site http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP012303841033.aspx?pid=CH102499821033

Hope I helped a little.

Doc

[arodma]

Thanks, Doc -

This all started when a Verizon sales rep in one of their retail stores told me that the BB calendar would not automatically update when I accept an Outlook meeting invitation. (She said this only worked if I was connected through a BES). She went on to say that although I would recieve the invite, I would have to manually enter the meeting invitation into my BB calendar. Since this sounds wrong to me, I'm doing my homework to prove her wrong. Short of buying one and seeing for myself, I'm trying to find out the right answer.

I turned first to crackberry.com, where I found a discussion that might confirm her assertion. The poster said that the ability to generate meeting invites from a BB (connected through a BIS) is subject to the service provider's configuration. According to the poster, googlemail allows you to issue a meeting invite from BB, but AT&T does not. Again, this seems odd, and now I have two datapoints I don't trust.

I'd hate to buy a Blackberry on the Verizon network only to find that the sales rep and the crackberry poster were correct and that Verizon's implementation of the BIS restricts the way meeting invites work. Say it ain't so, Doc!

Thanks for your replies (and your patience!) 

A