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How to load the IBM Lotus Sametime Client onto your Blackberry Bold 9000 (Even if you've only got Blackberry Professional Server)

Blackberry Professional vs Blackberry Enterprise Server
One of my greatest disappointments with RIM's recent "downgrade" of the Blackberry Enterprise Server to a Blackberry Professional Server for small business customers was the loss of Lotus Sametime. When I first read about this, I was really miffed. After all, we hadn't yet got around to using Sametime on the blackberry and they were going to block it.

The other thing that I couldn't understand was exactly how the version of Blackberry Server affected the use of Sametime anyway. After all, blackberry messenger still works and Google Talk works extremely well on the Blackberry. The Blackberry server has no impact on these applications so why should it affect Lotus Sametime.

The answer is I don't know and it doesn't. It certainly doesn't affect Sametime in any way that I can see however perhaps I'm not using all of the features that were once available.

Installing Sametime for the Blackberry
While trying to find this file, I downloaded quite a number of files from IBM's download site including a Swedish version of Sametime which did very little for me, though I admit it did make me crack a smile. As it turns out, the install is very simple and can be done over the wire. [Thanks Gary Wickham for finding it for me]

  1. Point your Blackberry browser to the following URL
    http://stmobile.lotus.com

  2. On the next screen choose a language, in my case, English

  3. Choose a device: RIM blackberry 8100/8300/8800 series

  4. Click on the button marked download

  5. Then there is a second download button to push and then the same time download will commence

  6. You will be prompted to give the application trusted status but I guess that if you can't trust IBM then there's probably nobody you can really trust in the computing world. You have to say Yes.

Configuring Sametime on the Blackberry
  1. When you run Sametime it will come up to a user name and password screen.

  2. You might be tempted to fill this in and see how you go but it's not going to work like this.

  3. Press the blackberry button at this screen and choose connectivity from the menu

  4. The host should be the IP address of your same time server.
    It probably needs to be on the same subnet as your blackberry server but I'm not sure about this since mine already was.

    This is probably one of those great times where I should mention that typing numbers on the blackberry while holding the alt key down is a pain in the butt. Instead hold the Alt key down and then press the shift button. The blackberry will lock into Numbers mode and now you can type numbers without holding anything down. When you've finished, just push the Alt button again to go back to normal

  5. The default port is 8082 this didn't work from a but when I changed it to 80 it worked like a charm.

  6. Leave the connection option as direct connection.

  7. Press the blackberry button and choose ok

  8. Now in the user name box you should type your first name and your last name.

  9. The password will usually be your Web client password from the Lotus Notes address book. I'm sure you can synchronise these but I can't remember the reason why I decided not to.

  10. You might want to check same password and also automatically login though I'd recommend that you do a successful login first.

  11. Press the blackberry button and choose log In.

  12. You should now be able to talk to your sametime people on the desktop and on other mobiles.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Two things :

1) You are right, BPS was disappointing

2) Technically ST Mobile is only available in a Lotus Sametime Standard or higher license (i.e., not Entry)
11:35 pm
Keith Brooks said…
Gavin,
I can't say for sure, but I believe the issue is with the RIM Sametime client, not the Lotus one.
RIM offers their own client, which among other things handles automatic logging of all sessions.
I believe this client and its functionality were bumped.
I had written an article on how to set up their client, which is different from the IBM version.
You can get those docs at http://www.rprwyatt.com/st4bb
1:35 am
Farnooshyoga said…
Thank you so much for that tip on locking in the numbers. While I still can't get the Sametime to work, I am thrilled about knowing that alone :)!!!
2:56 am
Unknown said…
I got the 8.0.1 version to work on my Bold, but with the beta 5.0.0.100 OS, the Sametime notification evetns don't show up in the profile manager :(
4:24 am
Anonymous said…
I upgraded my BB from Pearl to Tour. It appears the sametime mobile client download is no longer available at http://stmobile.lotus.com

Is there a new site to point BB for download??
6:44 am
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