Cingular 2125, 8125 and MSFP/AKU2--Push Email Is Here, Finally!
When Cingular announced a Windows Mobile 5.0 phone late last year, I rushed out for the latest and greatest, assuming that Exchange Server SP2 and its support for "push email" would just work. So very, very wrong. The extra security and push email features were a long time in coming--supposedly, Microsoft completed work on these features of WM5 back in January, but the various vendors needed time to "test" the features (Note the irony implied by the quotes. You have to imagine the air quotes as I'm telling this story).
Finally, this month, Cingular has released the MSFP update, which includes two huge features: push email from Microsoft Exchange SP2, and added security features, such as the ability to wipe a phone remotely should you happen to lose it while traveling. I really like the concept of being able to remove all the personal information from my phone, via a Web site (http://yourserver/mobileadmin), should I ever inadvertently leave the phone in a "bad neighborhood."
My main goal was to avoid those nasty SMS charges (Cingular provides an unlimited data plan, which I have, for my phone. But when you have unlimited data, SMS messages cost $0.10 each, and the phone was using SMS to have Exchange notify it when email had arrived. The charges add up). By having push email enabled, in theory, Exchange isn't using SMS to push information about new email to the phone, but is instead using HTTP(S). All I can say is that when a new message arrives, it appears on my phone within seconds. Finally, I can be just as tethered to work as my Blackberry-addicted friends!
Installing Exchange SP2 and updating the phone was a snap. I'm not an IT-kind of guy, and we only have three or four mailboxes on our single Exchange instance, so I'm guessing the update was way easier for me than it may be for you, but to get started, drop by the Exchange site. Download and install SP2.
This was a no-brainer, on my server, but I strongly suggest you back the server up first. For this purpose, I love Acronis True Image Enterprise Server. (I'm using the older 8.0 version, but a sales rep told me "If it's working for you, don't bother to upgrade to 9.1". Not upgrading saved me $599.)
Next, you must upgrade your phone. If you're a Cingular customer, you can find the links here. If not, you might find an update for your phone on Microsoft's site. Make sure you take heed of the warnings you see online: When you update the phone, you'll lose all your settings and data. If you have installed applications, or data stored in the phone that doesn't come from Exchange, you must back it up before applying the ROM update.
All I can say is that after a few days using the MSFP update, I'm sold. It works flawlessly, and installs easily. I swear I get better connections and better signal strength than I did before. (I live way out in the country, and before this update, I could never get a signal at my home. Now the phone shows three or four bars here.) I'm a happy Cingular customer (for a few minutes).