Help needed - Optus BES or BIS plan?

meojay · #1 (**permalink**) 07-11-2008, 08:20 PM

Hi all,

Please bear with me here - I am new to the BB world and am having trouble getting consistent explanations and advice from Optus sales/support. I am an optus customer who is about to buy a Blackberry. While I will be buying it and connecting it to a plan personally, it will be in part used for work (I will be getting reimbursed for part of the plan). My company is a large firm running a BES and IT have given me a list of BB models they will support and told me to make sure I am on a BES plan. If I tick these two boxes, they will take the BB and set me up. Sounds simple.....

But, I am getting conflicting and confusing advice from Optus on how to do this. Initially, I rang sales who assured me over the phone that I simply need to get a curve (one of the supported models) on a $79 plan which gives unlimited internet (through the Blackberry browser, right?) and that will allow me to tap into my Firm's BES no problems. He said it doesn't matter what plan (BIS/BES) I am on as they are both the same in terms of how the information gets to my phone and out again.

Armed with this "knowledge", I went into a store and explained what I wanted. This time I was told it was not possible. Apparently I would need to keep my usual voice plan and then buy a BES bold-on for $50 per month. However, I could not do this as I do not have and ABN. Totally confused, I left and actually went to another optus store and asked to same question hoping to clarify what was going on. This time, the guy assured my that the $79 blackberry plan would be fine, I did not need and ABN and I would be able to access the Firm's BES.

I am not totally confused. Can someone please help me to understand if it is possible to get and optus BB PERSONAL plan of some sort that will allow me to get hooked into the firm BES using the included unlimeted browser access?

Many thanks.

GaryCutri · #2 (**permalink**) 08-11-2008, 01:12 AM

Hi,

If you go onto a BIS plan you can only wirelessly receive emails and you have to manually sync via cable your contacts, calendar, tasks etc (and your work may not support BIS). If you are on BES everything will wirelessly two-way sync with your mail server and desktop client (e.g. Outlook). When it comes to plans you should ask Optus for the unlimited BlackBerry Enterprise plan which is around $49.95 per month. If you select to activate your device on the work BES it will depend on how they configured the I.T Policy to how the browser works. If the I.T Policy has "WAP Config" and "Allow Other Browser Services" to FALSE all data will travel via the BES and you will not incur any additional data costs.

Thanks,

Gary

meojay · #3 (**permalink**) 08-11-2008, 06:48 AM

OK, many thanks Gary. It is pretty simple I guess, just so hard to get a straight answer! I will call optus again and see if I can now get around the idea that I can not go on a BES unlimited plan without and ABN! There must be a way.....

Thanks again - this forum is impressive!

GaryCutri · #4 (**permalink**) 09-11-2008, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meojay

OK, many thanks Gary. It is pretty simple I guess, just so hard to get a straight answer! I will call optus again and see if I can now get around the idea that I can not go on a BES unlimited plan without and ABN! There must be a way.....

Thanks again - this forum is impressive!

Let us know how you go with Optus.

apmedia · #5 (**permalink**) 09-11-2008, 06:23 AM

The problem i've found with Optus (and other networks) is that the majority of their sales staff lack adequate training and knowledge of the Blackberry product.

I was trying to decide between Optus and Telstra for a couple of months (i'm a first time BB user) and found it nigh impossible to get someone to answer my questions with any surety.

Eventually I went with Optus mainly due to price and not having to pay out my existing contract, but was sold a phone (BB Bold) over the phone being assured that the data plan would be sufficient and negate the need for a bolt on, and on a plan which I later found isn't eligible for a bolt on.

Thankfully I found the guys in Optus BB Support extremely helpful, based in Australia (which always helps) and we're able to swap me onto a different timeless plan (which was cheaper and which had I purchased in store would have meant handset repayments which were waived for me, and would have meant a $400 early upgrade charge) and now it's all running smoothly.

If you really want your questions answered, it might be worth giving the Optus BB customer care guys a call on 1300 307 937.

Good luck with it.
AP

Gregmyers · #6 (**permalink**) 10-11-2008, 12:04 AM

Thanks for the input and can confirm the same sort of service from Optus in the past... Very helpful and willing to go to lengths to satisfy customers.

meojay · #7 (**permalink**) 19-11-2008, 08:24 PM

OK, have finally resolved this, but not impressed with Optus service or pricing. To get the BB to work through my firm BES, I had to buy a BES bolt on for $49.95 p/m contracted for 24 months. This is bolted on to my voice plan which is now a business 29.95 monthly plan. So in total, I am spending $79.90 in plan. Despite this, I still had to pay for the curve handset. Frustrating when you consider that for the same price on the normal BIS BB plan, I would get the handset for free.....
Anyway, all sorted in the end but I would echo above comments about Optus sales staff. Lack of knowledge was disturbing. Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated.

meojay · #8 (**permalink**) 22-11-2008, 02:40 PM

IT could not sync my device on Friday. Rang Optus and got the usual nightmare of trying to get a straight answer. All the customer service team in manilla could tell me was that my bolt on was a BES and that it was fine. Eventually convinced them to put me through to tech guys who confirmed that the sales guy had charged me for a BES bolt on, but actually set me up with a BIS one. Apparently fixed now, but will know for certain on Monday. Strongly suggest Optus put a bit of time into training their staff in the BB product.

Gregmyers · #9 (**permalink**) 22-11-2008, 04:09 PM

If you haven't already, try the Optus Tech support number: 1300 307 937 and let me know how it goes.

meojay · #10 (**permalink**) 29-11-2008, 07:00 PM

Thanks for the number. I realise that someone mentioned it earlier in the thread, but I didn't have it on me at the time. Issue is now resolved fully. Synced up and VERY happy with the result. I get 20-30 emails from our London and NY offices overnight. The BB means that by the time I get off the train, they are all filed or added to my task list for the day. Gold.
I got my first bill on Friday and was a bit put out to see some data charges. They are very small and related to the first few days when I was on the wrong set-up at the optus end. I will be calling them on princpal, but am going to leave it a week or two as I am all optus-ed out for now!

Thanks everyone for the support. This is a great forum. I have been through a lot of the topics and learnt some useful things....NAV4 is a great application for starters!

All the best.