In a previous article/tutorial I discussed the basics of the BlackBerry Enterprise process and gave you a number of ways you could activate a BlackBerry on the BES server. This article/tutorial can be accessed here BlackBerry Enterprise Activation Guide. In this tutorial I want to take you through some of the most common issues that you will run into when trying to activate a BlackBerry on a BES server as well as give you tips for resolving these issues so that you can successfully activate your BlackBerry Device.

ETP Messages Don’t Reach Inbox

As mentioned in the above article when a BlackBerry attempts to activate it sends what is called an ETP message to the users inbox.  If this message does not make it into the  users’ inbox then the BlackBerry will never activate.  The most common reasons for the ETP not making it into the inbox are:

- Spam Filter blocking message
– Rules on Inbox to filter messages
– BlackBerry Not Sending the Message
– Wrong email entered in activation screen
– Mail client not working properly

These issues can be resolved by checking the spam filters, adding blackberry.net to your whitelist, checking for filters on the inbox, or verifying that the email has been typed correctly. The last issue of the BlackBerry not sending the ETP out will be addressed in the next paragraph.

BlackBerry Not Sending ETP

This does not happen very often but occasionally you will see this happen. If you have gone through checking all of the above and still are not receiving the ETP in the inbox then you will want to determine if the BlackBerry is even sending out the ETP message. To do this simply try activating to a Hotmail, Gmail or other form of personal email address to see if the ETP makes it into that inbox. If so then the trouble is definitely with the mail environment. If you are not receiving the ETP messages then the problem may lie with the actual BlackBerry. To resolve this issue do a security wipe on the device and then try to reactivate.

ETP Does not get Picked Up from Inbox

If an activation goes through flawlessly you should never even see the ETP in the inbox as the BES will grab and delete it fairly quickly. However if you notice that the ETP is not being picked up and the Activation is hanging then you could have some issues, most likely being:

-No BES services on the BlackBerry.
-Appropriate Permissions are not present
-Email was tampered with (by user or Spam service)

In this case you will have a few things to verify and check. The first and foremost are services on the BlackBerry this is a very common issue. With domino and GroupWise the permissions isn’t as big of a deal but with Exchange permissions are crucial. One small permissions that isn’t set right could break everything, so verify that all of your permissions are set correctly as per BlackBerry’s KB02276. Finally make sure that the email has not been moved, edited, opened or the title modified by a spam filter this can cause the BES not to recognize the ETP message.

ETP is Picked Up but Activation does not Start

This issue is less common but it is common enough to mention it. Sometimes what will happen is that the ETP will be sent and picked up however the activation screen on the BlackBerry will get stuck at “verifying encryption” or “waiting for services”. This is usually caused with the sending of the IT policy and can usually be taken care of by restarting the BlackBerry Policy and BlackBerry Synchronization services on the BES server. Ensure that you are also getting a good network signal. It should be between 70 and 90 DBM to be most effective.

Slow Sync stops or hangs

This is another fairly common issue and is usually one of the biggest pains to take care of, not because its hard but because its time consuming. This issue can happen for a few reasons them being:

- Inconsistent network signal
- Synchronization service is stuck
- Server resources are low or Server is really bogged down.

If this issue is caused by the first or the second point above then the resolutions are simple, get to a better coverage area or restart the BlackBerry Synchronization service on the BES. If it happens to be the last point above then you will have to go into the BAS or on the Device itself and temporarily disable the contact and/or calendar synchronization to take up less server resources thus making your activation go much quicker.

Once the Activation is complete then you will be able to go back in to wherever you changed the settings for the wireless synchronization and you will be able to enable that and your contacts and calendar entries will begin to sync over.

Note- If you are running Exchange you can place the user on a static mailbox agent which dedicates special resources to the user. This will allow the activation to go a whole lot quicker. Do not keep them on this agent however as it will take a toll on your BES server.

These are the most common failure points for BlackBerry Enterprise Activations that I have run into. There are obviously many more factors and variables however if after completing this article and your activation not being successful you will have to give BlackBerry a call.

NOTE: Just a few notes to remember when it comes to activating BlackBerrys

-Wireless Sync of contacts and calendars can take up to a few hours depending on server resources and number of entries.

-If after enabling the wireless sync nothing happens after about 10 min, simply go into the calendar or contacts, press the menu button, go to Options and then type RSET. This will clear the address book or calendar off the device and reload it from the server.