Setting up for Direct Push

Reader mail from Mike in Canada:

I’ve read your articles for years and they’ve always provided me with invaluable timely information. I have a quick question about the “Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5”. This seems to be a hard feature pack to find good information about. Microsoft doesn’t seem to have a download for it so I assume it must come with a Windows Mobile 5 Device that has a version after 148xx.2.x.x. My organization is about to get the latest Motorola Q’s from Bell Mobility in Canada. Apparently the Q’s that Bell have support the messaging and security feature pack for Windows Mobile 5 but I don’t really have any good information on it. This article is supposed to step me through the process of getting Windows Mobile devices working with Exchange SP2. Step 7 in this article tells me to install the Exchange ActiveSync Mobile Administration Web tool but I’ve never seen that tool (I’m guessing it comes with the feature pack).
I have an ISA 2004 server and I already have active sync working for older Windows Mobile devices but I’m very interested in the new live sync “direct push” technology so I’m trying to get as educated as I can before my new devices arrive from my provider. I don’t even know if the new “direct push” requires me to change my publishing policy in ISA Server as I can’t find information on that topic either (I used the wizard in ISA server to publish Exchange active sync over SSL for my older devices). Can you direct me to some more information and let me know if the feature pack is downloadable?

So, several embedded questions here.

First, you can think of the MSFP like a service pack for Windows Mobile, except that– unlike Windows service packs– you can’t get it directly from Microsoft. MS makes the MSFP available to cellular carriers and original device manufacturers (ODMs), and they (not Microsoft) decide the timing of MSFP availability for a given device. Verizon and Motorola were slow to release the MSFP for the Verizon version of the Q. I have no idea when Bell Mobility might make it available.

Next, you don’t have to change your existing publishing rules in ISA 2004, but you will need a new one to publish the Exchange ActiveSync virtual directory. Fortunately, this is easy to do.

Third, the Mobile Admin tool is available as a separate download, but it’s a little hard to find. Thankfully, that functionality is built in to Exchange 2007.