BlackBerry Tip: Separating BIS & BES E-Mail in OS 5.0

09.04.2010
Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry OS is renowned for e-mail management. But RIM-smartphone owners who've used both mail, or Web mail like Gmail, Hotmail, etc., and corporate mail, know that the BlackBerry OS didn't really provide any simple ways to create separate BIS and BES inboxes--until recently, that is.

Current builds of RIM's do have separate inboxes for BES and BIS mail--assuming the option is enabled by a BES administrator--in addition to the main "Messages" inbox, which by default collects all e-mail sent to your device, regardless of which account it was sent to.

If you're running a recent OS 5.0 build, separating your BIS and BES mail could be quite simple. And even if you're not running the latest BlackBerry 5.0 OS, I've got a trick for you that'll also create separate BIS and BES mailboxes.

I recently installed a leaked version of BlackBerry OS 5.0 (5.0.0.586) on my , and I was extremely pleased to see that a new icon for my BES mail appeared on its own. I've since upgraded again to OS 5.0.0.593, and this build also has the BES-specific icon, but previous builds, including the official T-Mobile OS (5.0.0.330), did not seem to have this corporate mail icon. (I'm told that to separate BIS/BES mail, as well, regardless of your OS version. So it might be a good idea to check in with IT, if you don't see separate icons on your BES-enabled BlackBerry.)

To find out if you already have separate inboxes for your e-mail accounts, first ensure that your device is connected to your organization's BES. Then go to your main BlackBerry "home screen" by clicking your BlackBerry Menu key--directly to the left of your trackball/trackpad. On the home screen, click Menu again and ensure the "Show All" option is checked. This will make sure that no e-mail inboxes are hidden.