Improving Communication with Blackberry Messenger Groups

Blackberry Messenger Groups provide a powerful, but often overlooked, method of communication. Of all the Blackberry applications Blackberry Messenger has always been one of my favorites. Blackberry Messenger provides excellent chat capabilities between contacts and has always been very reliable. Unfortunately many organizations never use one of Blackberry Messenger’s most powerful features – Blackberry Groups. Here’s a brief overview of Blackberry Messenger groups as provided by Blackberry support documents:

You can use the BlackBerry® Groups feature of BlackBerry® Messenger to create or join a group of people that you want to stay connected with, such as family, friends, or co-workers.

You can share pictures, lists, and appointments with the members of your group. You can also chat with members and comment on shared items. A group can contain up to 30 members and can include members who are not part of your BlackBerry Messenger contacts.

The groups that you belong to are listed on the contact list screen of BlackBerry Messenger. You can also add a shortcut icon for the group to the Home screen of your BlackBerry device so that you can quickly access the group.

Depending on your wireless service provider or organization, this feature might not be supported.

Setting up groups is easy and any time you need to collaborate with multiple team members I highly recommend setting one (or more) up.

Here’s how:

1.            On the Home screen or in the Instant Messaging folder, click the BBM icon.

2.            On the contact list screen, press the Menu key.

3.            Click Create New Group.

4.            Name the group appropriately (Spaces are accepted)

5.            Type the group description

6.            Click Create Group.

Instructions for inviting contacts to join your group are available from the BlackBerry Help Center.

Common Uses:

Here are some examples of the many ways to use groups:

• Emergency Response teams
• Information Technology support teams
• Sales teams
• Small businesses (all employees)
• Field Technicians
• Engineering groups
• Business units or departments
• Collaboration groups

More Information:

Blackberry Group Basics
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartphone_users/deliverables/13195/Group_basics_title_841303_11.jsp

Managing Group Members
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartphone_users/deliverables/13195/Members_title_881182_11.jsp