What is a BlackBerry, and how does it work?

A BlackBerry is a handheld wireless device created by Research in Motion (RIM). BlackBerries read email and calendars from enterprise-class email systems, such as Indiana University's Exchange service, and most models also function as cell phones.



While a BlackBerry is a type of personal digital assistant (PDA), it is not meant to be used in the same way as a Palm Pilot or PocketPC. Those devices are literally miniature computers that in some cases happen to have email capabilities. A BlackBerry is an email/calendar reading device with some PDA abilities, and in some cases cell phone abilities. Also, BlackBerries come with complete alphanumeric keyboards; many PDAs do not.

At IU, BlackBerry service consists of the following:

The BlackBerry device
Email redirection, managed in one of two ways:

The BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), which works directly with the Exchange mail server. UITS recommends this option if you have an IU Exchange account.
The BlackBerry Desktop Redirector runs on your personal computer and redirects messages as they arrive in Outlook. You can use this option with any Outlook mail setup (i.e., POP, IMAP, HTTP).
A BlackBerry receives email through the following process:

The Exchange account receives the message.
The redirector looks in the email account, finds the message, and forwards it to the BlackBerry service provided by RIM.
RIM's BlackBerry service sends the message to the wireless data network (e.g., AT&T, Verizon).
The wireless data network provider sends the message in a wireless signal to the BlackBerry device. (You must be in a data coverage area to receive mail.)
The BlackBerry receives the signal and displays the message.
A BlackBerry sends mail in the reverse of this process. The BlackBerry device sends the message to the wireless data network provider. The provider forwards it to RIM's BlackBerry service, which in turn sends it over the Internet to the redirector (either the BES server or desktop software). The redirector then sends the message to your Exchange account, from which it is sent over the Internet to the recipient.

Source:

http://www.kb.iu.edu/data/aljq.html