ARCHIVED: What is BlackBerry USB Device Manager?

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BlackBerry USB Device Manager is a small software application deployed on the workstation. This software is used to reduce the use of wireless bandwidth, or to communicate when cellular data coverage is unavailable. It negotiates the communication between the serial or USB port and the connected BlackBerry wireless handheld. This application is included in the BlackBerry Desktop Manager 4.0 and later as well as in the stand-alone MSI-based installation.

Note: You must have BlackBerry Desktop Software or BlackBerry USB Device Manager installed in order to have the USB driver necessary to connect the BlackBerry handheld to your computer.

After you connect the handheld to the computer running BlackBerry USB Device Manager software, all BlackBerry data is routed through the computer's network connection instead of the cellular wireless network. This function is useful in situations when you are not going to be within range of the cellular data network for an extended period of time.

At Indiana University, to retrieve data using the BlackBerry USB Device Manager, follow the steps below:

Connect to the Internet with a computer that has the BlackBerry USB Device Manager software installed, and connect the BlackBerry to the computer via the cradle and USB cable.
Make a VPN connection to the IU network. For more information, see the Knowledge Base document About the IU VPN.
Open the BlackBerry USB Device Manager software.

To view the connection status, click the Statistics tab in the device management software.