This post is a bit late in coming, but I felt the need to capture my thoughts and decision points both for posterity sake and to share it with others…

Like many others in the association-world, I spend a considerable amount of time traveling, both domestically and internationally for business and professional development events. Being out of the office has it’s own unique set of challenges largely stemming from being disconnected from the office network: email, shared files, etc. Thanks to my internal IT staff they have helped minimize the disruption by offering a robust technology infrastructure including webmail access and a very secure VPN. The good news is that as long as I can connect my laptop to a wired or wireless connection I can conduct business pretty much status quo. The bad news, however, is the fact that sometimes it simply isn’t possible and or practical to do so.

This lack of connectivity not only impacts my ability to stay productive and keep from falling too far behind thereby minimizing the effects of being out of the office but it also significantly impacts my ability to stay connected to one of my most coveted assets: my social media. For the past 2.5 years I have struggled with finding the right mix of technology to help me stay connected regardless of where I’m at. Despite the abundance of possible solutions finding something that really met my needs was a lot more challenging than I would have initially thought.

If it were a one dimensional problem (e.g. work only) there are some very obvious solutions available. Since we are a Windows shop (Exchange Email, Win2k network, Office, etc.) the solution would have been pretty simple: go to Verizon (my wireless carrier of choice) and pick-up one of their “smart phones” running Windows Mobile and be done with it. There are plenty to choose from including the Palm® Treo™ 700wx Smartphone, Verizon Wireless XV6800, Samsung SCH-i760, and the Motorola MOTO Q™, and at first that is exactly what I did. Admittedly, I am not one of Microsoft’s biggest fans, as I fall more into the Free Software / Open Source movement and don’t like the controls and limitations imposed by Microsoft. That said, since my options (and initial thinking) were limited, I decided to pick up a Motorola Q and see what I thought. That is what launched me into the world of almost continuous connectivity and as a positive impact helped me accomplish much of what I was trying to do.

Yet the more I used the device (1 year) the more I realized that for as much as it enabled me to do, there were similar trade offs that had to be made as well. The device was first and foremost a phone and a pda second and for as feature rich as the device is, the carrier imposed limitations and lack of capable software made it less than desirable. I was able to connect it to my Exchange email server which worked well and I did have internet connectivity which worked great. But to use anything on the web required nearly going blind to see what was on the screen. Obviously this was less than an optimal user experience. The other limiting factor was that I could not use it outside of the US. For most users this wouldn’t be a big deal, but for me it was a show stopper. It meant that every time that I traveled internationally (3X per year) I would have to obtain (usually through rental) a phone that I could use while I was away. It also meant that every trip I had a different number which then required me to update all of my family, friends and colleagues of the number. To add insult to injury, the rental prices were exorbitant to say the least. After my first rental experience, I did some quick math and found out that based on my number of uses per year and the usage that I would experience it would be far less expensive to get a phone that could be used globally.

I don’t share many of the same complaints that many users do about Verizon Wireless, but one area where I do is in their selection of phones both domestic and world capable. Not only do they lag at least a generation behind most other carriers for their domestic phones (I have been told that this has to do with their rigorous testing and quality assurance standards) but their world-capable phones are all but non-existent. I contemplated switching carriers but not only have I been otherwise satisfied with Verizon as a carrier but I also have a family share plan with them which has proven to be quite convenient and cost effective. Knowing that I would be staying with Verizon I knew that I’d have my work cut out for me.

As fate, luck and timing would have it, about the same time I considered making a switch, Verizon announced the availability of the Blackberry 8830, an 8800 series phone which is world capable (it can work on both CDMA and GSM networks). I was intrigued but also skeptical. As tempting as it was, knowing Verizon’s track record with new phones, I didn’t want to be an early adopter. I wanted a lot of features and functionality, but I needed reliability. While I had a less than ideal situation with my MotoQ, I know that it was reliable and could do most of what I wanted, and decided to be sit on the sidelines and join in with the early majority once most of the bugs were worked out. I also had to weigh whether I wanted to become one of the many BB users out there as I had promised myself very early on that I would never use a “Crackberry“…not a rational decision on anything other than my own perception. I also considered myself to be more of an creative/innovative and wanted something other than a device designed to cater to the masses. As I had said, the MotoQ did most of what I wanted it to do but the compromises were many and apparent. Primarily, the ability to add applications easily was non-existent. Granted I was able to do things through some technological judo (registry hacks and the like) but it wasn’t easy nor was it guaranteed to work. Additionally, even with an extended life battery, the device batter management was abysmal. These two things would ultimately lead me to rethink my purchase and look for a more viable solution.

An aside: If you haven’t noticed I am a pretty fickle consumer of technology. I have a pretty firm grasp on what is possible and what is not. I do my homework and have pretty strong (some may say biased) opinions on certain solutions. That said, I am willing to compromise or get creative if there is a compelling enough of a reason. In the end, maybe what I am really looking for doesn’t yet exist, at the same time it hasn’t dissuaded me from continuously looking for it.

A few months after the 8830 was introduced I watched it grow, mature and stabilize on the Verizon network. The court of popular opinion generally looked at the device favorably and my own research of reviews suggested that the “experts” also felt it was a worth addition to the Blackberry lineup/Verizon stable. Armed with that knowledge I began my search early this year. Obviously my first choice would have been to go directly to Verizon and use my “New Every Two” option to save a considerable amount of money on the deal, but unfortunately it wasn’t set to be up until this summer. My second option would have been to purchase the device at full cost but at almost $500 it was prohibitively expensive. On a whim I decided to search eBay to see what, if anything, I could turn up. Again fate, luck and timing appeared to be on my side and I found a number of auctions for new or nearly new devices that were unlocked and could be used on the Verizon network. Bidding was a frustrating process as the phone appears to be pretty appealing. I lost the first auction that I participated in, but did win the second auction at a considerable savings over the first.

Needless to say there was a lot to consider in the time between winning the auction and receiving the phone so I put my time to use reviewing how to get it added to the Verizon network without unnecessary complications, how to get it connected to my Exchange server, and figuring out what I wanted to do with the phone once I got it. Thankfully there are a number of very useful Blackberry communities online and I was able to tap into the wisdom of the crowds to learn all that I needed to know. A few days passed and I received the phone and immediately set my plan (based on the information that I had gathered) into action. My first step (after charging the battery) was to place a call to Verizon’s customer support number and get my MotoQ removed from my account and add the 8830. Fortunately that process couldn’t be easier. Within 10 minutes my old phone was deactivated and the new one was activated.

Another aside: Verizon support takes a lot of shots for their service but I have had nothing but extremely positive interactions with them. Maybe it has more to do with the individual representatives but in all of my years with Verizon (7+), I have either been lucky or their service and support over the phone has been great.

I was able to keep my Family Share plan active, able to transfer my text messaging and broadband connection and get the service set up similar to the way that I had it for my MotoQ. My only surprise was the fact that despite having been advertised in the auction as shipping with a SIM card (used for the GSM network) it did not come with one. Because I was leaving for Sydney, Australia a little over a week from when I received the phone, I would have to make a trip to a VZW store to pick one up, something that I really didn’t want to do. That said, sometimes getting something done requires taking extra steps to get it done in the time alloted.

Getting the phone to talk with the Exchange Server was equally pretty easy. It would have been easier if we had our own Blackberry Server, but since we don’t I had to rely on the BIS service offered through Verizon. Setting that up was a walk in the park, I simply had to create a user name and password and then configure my accounts which required nothing more than providing the email address that was connected to the Exchange account. Obviously, results will likely vary depending on your own configuration, but for mine it was effortless. Since it was a personal phone that I would use largely for business (aka I would be paying for it myself), I also added my personal email account through my ISP and that too was very easy to set up. From that point forward I set to getting the phone set up the way I wanted it to be and also getting comfortable with the tactile aspects of the phone and the overall usability. My first real test of the phone and the service would come when I went to Sydney and there would really be no compromising. It would either work or it wouldn’t and my remedy if it didn’t work would be pretty limited considering that I would be a world away.

In the states (I flew from PHL to LAX) the BB performed magically. No issue with email, phone or internet. It behaved exactly how I thought it should and without any problems at all. When I landed in Sydney, however, all was not well. I turned on the phone and tried to call home but the phone wasn’t picking up a network. I checked the SIM card and did everything that I could think of doing but nothing resolved the problem. Fortunately Verizon had provided me with a specific number to call (back to the US, NJ specifically), unfortunately I didn’t have a phone to use to make the call. I didn’t see the true humor in the situation until long after the situation. Luckily I was traveling with a number of colleagues and one of them lent me their phone to make the call. It was a challenging call to make (I was gathering my luggage and trying to get to our transportation between the airport and hotel), and the connection was less than perfect. Fortunately, the rep on the other end of the line was competent and walked me through what I needed to do. Most of the work was on his end (when I purchased the SIM card from the VZW store the sales rep forgot to initialize it – part of the reason that I abhor VZW stores), but I did need to pull the SIM card, reinstall it and restart the phone. After 20 minutes on the line I now had a working BB (voice and data) and was able to make and receive calls and send and receive email. All was well.

As I compared my ability to do all of the things with the BB that I should be able to do with what my colleagues could/couldn’t do with their phones on the AT&T network I was pleased that my connection was much more reliable and at a better quality. Throughout the entire trip the BB performed as I wanted it to, the battery life was great and I really had no worries. I returned from the trip with a huge appreciation for just how much the Blackberry would enable me to do, how efficiently I could do it as a result I felt a lot better about being out of the office for an extended period of time. I had become, and still am, a devoted Blackberry user. With my newly found appreciation of the device I was now intent to getting as much as I could out of it. Primarily would be adding applications to allow me to connect in new and previously (for me) unexplored ways that would satisfy my need to share and connect with others outside of the confines of phone and email.

Stay tuned for the second part of my saga where I talk about turning my humble Blackberry into a mobile social media platform.