Picking the Right Email Strategy for Your Windows Mobile Device

[Jason Dunn]

Windows Mobile-based devices, both Pocket PCs and Smartphones, can be powerful tools for working with e-mail. If you're anything like me, you get a lot of e-mail every day, and managing the flow of e-mail when you're away from your desk is a critical task best accomplished with a Windows Mobile-based device. There are several options for working with your e-mail, including POP, IMAP, and Exchange ActiveSync. Each has specific advantages and disadvantages. <br /><br />If your company only offers one option, this article may not be of much use to you—it's primarily geared for mobile workers who have the freedom to decide which of the three options works best for their needs. This article assumes you use some version of Outlook and a wireless connection to access the Internet from your device. Let's take a look at e-mail options, and when you might use each one.<!><br /> <br /><b><span>POP/POP3 E-mail Accounts</span></b><br />POP stands for Post Office Protocol, and it's been around for a very long time. POP2 became a standard in the mid-'80s, but POP3 is the version most of us are familiar with, and it's still in use today. A history of POP can be found at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POP3">Wikipedia site</a>. Today, if something refers to POP, it's really POP3. Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile supports POP, and odds are that if you have an e-mail account, it's going to be POP by default. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer POP e-mail accounts, and if you get set up with a Web hosting account you'll undoubtedly be able to use POP as an option. This doesn't apply to Web-based e-mail accounts such as Hotmail.<br /><br />POP accounts in Outlook Mobile work fairly simply—clicking the Send &amp; Receive button is all it takes—but they're also limited in functionality. When you check your e-mail, it's downloaded to your mobile device and a copy is left on the server. This cannot be changed. If you delete a message from your inbox, it will disappear from view on the mobile device, but it will still be on your desktop computer when you connect with your e-mail client. This can be avoided by emptying the Deleted Items folder on the device or by configuring Outlook Mobile to delete items immediately, but it's a bit of a hassle. Another limitation of POP is that it can't support multiple folders. Everything has to stay in your inbox folder, and you can't move e-mail to other folders on the server for archiving.<br /><br />Although most e-mail clients (including Outlook) can be configured to leave messages on the server for x number of days, the vast majority of people using POP pull down e-mail to their local computer and delete it from the server. The net result is that all your e-mail is on your main computer in a single Outlook PST file, and only new messages are accessible on your Windows Mobile-based device. This means you have to protect that PST file from data loss. <br /><br />POP e-mail really breaks down as a solution when you introduce a laptop alongside your desktop computer and try to keep your e-mail in sync between the two. For years I tried to do just that. I tried a variety of file synchronization tools to push my 2 GB PST file from laptop to desktop and back again, but they were all clumsy and slow. I purchased Outlook PST synchronization tools to keep the two PST files in sync, and suffered through all manner of bugs, crashes, and lost data. Outlook was simply not designed to be used in this way, and it shows. <br /><br />If you have a single desktop or laptop computer and one mobile device, POP3 is a decent choice because it's simple to use. If you have the option, however, IMAP is a better overall choice. Read on to find out why. <br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><b><span>IMAP/IMAP4 E-mail Accounts</span></b><br />IMAP, also known as the Internet Message Access Protocol, was designed by Mark Crispin in 1986. It's similar to POP in that it's a widely supported protocol, usable in Outlook and in Outlook Mobile on Windows Mobile-based devices. IMAP isn't as widely supported as POP, largely because it requires more server resources to support. Most ISPs do not offer IMAP as an option, but most Web hosting packages that include e-mail hosting will offer IMAP alongside POP. In fact, many e-mail accounts nowadays can be accessed via POP or IMAP, depending on how you configure your e-mail client. It's best to stick to one method rather than mixing them. IMAP is an improvement upon POP in many ways, but the core advantage is that all your e-mail remains on the server. If using POP results in all your e-mail being collected and held on the local computer in an Outlook PST file, IMAP is the opposite—all the e-mail stays up on the e-mail server. Copies are downloaded to your local computer and cached for offline use, but the server is where all your e-mail really lives. Another key advantage is that IMAP supports sub-folders, meaning you can sort and archive your e-mail, all on the server. <br /><br />The advantages of this are immediately obvious when you configure Outlook on your desktop and Outlook Mobile on your mobile device so that you can access e-mail via IMAP—both devices show all the available folders, and download the e-mail you specify. The power of this solution can't be overstated. Whenever I set up a new computer or Windows Mobile-based device, I enter in my IMAP e-mail account settings. Within seconds I have access to all my e-mail, even though it's spread over dozens of folders. On a Pocket PC I can select Tools > Manage Folders and see all of my e-mail folders. By checking off the box next to the folder I want, I can download all the e-mail in that folder. This can be extremely useful if you need to access old e-mail sitting up on the server. <br /><br />IMAP is not without its limitations—most IMAP accounts can only be accessed by one e-mail client at a time, so if you leave Outlook open at work and access your e-mail from a Windows Mobile-based device it may connect, then disconnect and give you an error statement about the account already being in use. And IMAP works only for e-mail, so it can't keep your Contacts, Calendar, and other Outlook data in sync. <br /><br />There's also some peculiar behavior with Outlook Mobile and IMAP. When you switch to an IMAP account with Outlook on the desktop, it immediately connects and downloads all new e-mail as it should. It stays connected until you exit from Outlook, and any changes you make (moves, deletions, etc.) are tracked because you're connected to the server. However, Outlook Mobile doesn't automatically connect when you switch to the IMAP account. You'd think that tapping Send &amp; Receive would be the right thing to do since that's what you do with POP e-mail accounts, but it's not: if you do a Send &amp; Receive, Outlook Mobile will connect, grab your new e-mail, and then disconnect. Any moves or deletions you make will not be reflected on the server until you do another Send &amp; Receive—and sometimes it doesn't work properly, resulting in duplicated and un-deleted e-mail when you start up Outlook or connect the mobile device to your e-mail account again.<br /><br />Avoid this by tapping the Connect button when you want to check your IMAP account. Then you interact with your e-mail (read it, delete it, etc.), tap Send &amp; Receive once, then tap Connect again to disconnect. Also, if you're connected to large folders Outlook Mobile sometimes disconnects randomly from IMAP. You need to watch the Connect icon and ensure you're always connected when making changes. Lastly, with IMAP folders containing hundreds of e-mail messages it will often re-download the same messages each time you connect. Based on my experience, IMAP works best on Windows Mobile-based devices when there are less than 200 messages in the folders you're synchronizing.<br /><br />IMAP is a great solution if you want to access e-mail from more than one computer—for instance, a desktop and a laptop. I access my e-mail accounts from two desktop computers, three laptop computers, and two Windows Mobile-based devices, all using IMAP. It's less reliable on the mobile devices, and since it doesn't support Outlook data synchronization such as Calendar and Contacts, you still need to synchronize your mobile device with just one of your desktop or laptop computers. Now that ActiveSync 4.0 no longer supports wireless synchronization with a desktop computer, this means physically connecting your Windows Mobile-based device each time you want to sync—unless you're doing an Exchange ActiveSync, which is my preferred solution. <br /><PAGEBREAK> <br /><b><span>Exchange ActiveSync</span></b><br />Microsoft Exchange 4.0 was first introduced as Exchange Server 4.0 in 1996 as a corporate e-mail tool. It's evolved over the years to be a collaborative software server. The current version is <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/default.mspx">Exchange Server 2003</a>, and <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2003/sp2/overview.mspx">Service Pack 2</a> coming out later this year will add some compelling features, most notably Direct Push Technology e-mail support that puts Windows Mobile-based devices on a par with instant-messaging devices. Until fairly recently, Exchange accounts were the purview of employees of large corporations and something that most small business owners lacked. Many of the wireless synchronization features introduced in past versions of Windows Mobile required an Exchange account, so I felt left out until I discovered the marvels of a hosted Exchange account. <br /><br />What's hosted Exchange? First, let's consider all the things you'd need to have in order to have your own Exchange account: a server, the license for Exchange, a special Internet access account (most ISPs ban people from running any type of server on consumer-level Internet access accounts)—and the knowledge and skill to install, configure, and keep an Exchange server up and secure. I tried setting up an Exchange server once, and simply didn't have the necessary knowledge to get it working properly. I must not be the only one who had trouble, because there are hundreds of companies out there that take the headache out of running an Exchange server. For a monthly fee, they manage the server, the configuration, and all the security. You simply synchronize with your server, and that's it. You get all the benefits with none of the hassle—that's my kind of solution! <br /><br />I've tried two services over the past two years, and settled on a company named <a href="http://www.4smartphone.net/affiliates.aspx?go=referal&ref=JD10726">4Smartphone</a> in late 2004. Don't let that name fool you, their service works with both Pocket PCs and Smartphones. Their $6.99/month plan gives you both Windows Mobile and desktop Outlook synchronization and 1 gigabyte of space on their server for your e-mail and Outlook data. If you don't need to synchronize Outlook, for $3.99 a month you can get Windows Mobile-based device synchronization and Outlook Web Access (OWA). There are many other companies with hosted Exchange offerings, so pick the best one for your needs: an MSN Search query for the terms <a href="http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=%22hosted+exchange%22&FORM=QBRE">"hosted exchange"</a> turns up some 103,000+ results.<br /><br />Exchange really shines in multiple-device scenarios. I use several computers day-to-day, and having up-to-date information on all of them is critical. By having all of my e-mail and Outlook data (Calendar, Contacts, etc.) sitting on the Exchange server, I can keep all my devices in sync painlessly. If I'm working on my desktop computer and make changes to my calendar and contacts, then leave my office carrying only my Smartphone, I know that within a few minutes all those changes will be on my Smartphone. The side effect of this is that your Outlook data is protected from loss because it's on multiple devices. Having once lost a 2 GB PST file full of data, it's a comfort knowing my data is mirrored on five different computers and two different mobile devices. <br /><br />Exchange and Outlook 2003 also have a fantastic offline cached mode. When Outlook 2003 is offline you can move, delete, read, respond, and change any piece of Outlook data—unlike IMAP where you need to be connected live to the server to really do anything. The next time you connect, all those changes are uploaded to the Exchange server and then mirrored when you connect your other devices. <br /><br />Windows Mobile-based devices can be configured to synchronize on a time basis (i.e., every thirty minutes), or when new items arrive. That means when a new item arrives (say, a new e-mail message), the Exchange 2003 server sends an SMS message to your mobile device. That SMS message contains the command to start up an ActiveSync session on the device, which then connects to the Exchange account and pulls down the new e-mail. With the forthcoming Windows Mobile 5 devices, and the SP2 update for Exchange 2003, the scenario will get even easier: when a new e-mail arrives on the Exchange server, it's immediately pushed down to the device, just as with other instant messaging devices on the market. <br /><br />The setup of a hosted Exchange is also amazingly simple—<a href="http://www.4smartphone.net/affiliates.aspx?go=referal&ref=JD10726">4Smartphone</a> offers me a setup file that I can download. Once I double-click the file and enter my username/password, Outlook 2003 is automatically configured and all e-mail and personal data starts to download immediately. Outlook 2003 is required if you don't want to mess with VPN configuration, but most hosted Exchange providers give users a free copy of Outlook 2003 with the setup of their account. <br /><br />As great as a hosted Exchange account is, there are still some baffling limitations. There's no way to sync Tasks as of yet (this is fixed in the upcoming Exchange SP2 release, but you need a Windows Mobile 5 device for it to work), no way to sync Notes, and no synchronization of documents or favorites. I'm hoping that future versions of Windows Mobile and Exchange Server will offer more options. <br /><br />Despite these limitations, using a hosted Exchange account is one of the best technology decisions I've ever made. It allows me to use multiple devices, yet always be in sync and up to date. The freedom of not having to worry about whether or not a particular device is up to date is priceless, and has made my devices much more useful to me.<br /><br /><b><span>Conclusion</span></b><br />Windows Mobile-based devices make ideal tools for managing your e-mail—whether it's deleting spam so you'll come in to a clean Inbox at work, triaging and forwarding important messages while you're out of the office, or sitting down with a folding keyboard at the airport to really dive into all that e-mail. Once you start using your Windows Mobile-based device for e-mail it will become even more valuable to you. <br /><br />It's important to understand that you can use these three options in tandem. Windows Mobile-based devices support up to eight e-mail accounts in Outlook Mobile, so you can have a POP e-mail account, an IMAP account, and a hosted Exchange account. In my case, I use my 4Smartphone-hosted Exchange account for my primary work e-mail, and four IMAP accounts—one for my personal e-mail, and one for <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/">each of my Web sites</a>. You might use a POP e-mail account for personal e-mail. <br /><br />In an upcoming article we'll tackle setting up a Pocket PC and Smartphone with an Exchange server, and what sort of issues and options you'll have.

[wot_fan]

Great article :way to go:

Thank you.

[bdegroodt]

Good stuff Jason. I'd add to this my own personal reason for selecting a hosted Exchange service--I needed to sync all devices without the potential failures of some sync software on 3 machines--one of which was a Mac/Entourage. Hosted Exchange really made this a simple and powerful way to get it done and I have nothing but nice things to say about Exchange (as an end user) for this scenario.

[fmcpherson]

Good article Jason. I use the hosted Exchange service from 1and1.com and have been happy with their service. The pricing for these services has become cheap enough to make it a viable solution for home users.

One thing that I would add to this article is Windows Mobile's support for SSL encryption. If you use POP or IMAP for retrieving email via wireless connections (Wi-Fi or cellular) there is a possibility that your email is in cleartext and readable to people using Sniffers. Many people still don't enable WEP or WPA to secure their home wireless networks, and many Wi-Fi hotspots don't use encryption. To be confident that your email is secure in transit over wireless connections, I recommend using SSL, which Windows Mobile supports. You will need to use an e-mail or web-hosting service provider that supports SSL security for email. (SSH is another method for securing email, but that requires software beyond what is built-in to Windows Mobile.)

I believe that all synchronization with Exchange servers is encrypted by default, so that would be another good reason to use an Exchange hosting service.

A final reason for me to use an Exchange hosting service to synchronize email is that I feel it has better performance when transferring email. This may just be my perception, but it just seems to me that Outlook Mobile is built primarily for syncing wiht Exchange and the POP and IMAP support were add-ons.

[Paragon]

Damn good article, Jason!

[alabij]

Awesome article. Written in lay man english. Really appreciate it.

Is it possible to transfer my current 600MB PST file to an exchange server?

[thanos255]

How about starting to list the email progams available to ppc users?
I personally use 3 imaps and 1 pop

I know of the following:

Default Box
WebIS @mail

[Jason Dunn]

I believe that all synchronization with Exchange servers is encrypted by default, so that would be another good reason to use an Exchange hosting service.

Yes, that's a good point that I didn't think about - my 4smartphone connection is SSL-encrypted.

A final reason for me to use an Exchange hosting service to synchronize email is that I feel it has better performance when transferring email.

100% agreed - Exchange ActiveSync overall feels much faster than doing a Send/Receive on a POP3 email account. And it's also much more efficient with bandwidth - there's a LOT of KB bloat when checking email over POP/IMAP. That can be painful if you're paying by the KB.

[Jason Dunn]

Is it possible to transfer my current 600MB PST file to an exchange server?

Absolutely - when you set up your Outlook profile with the Exchange server, you can open your PST manually and drag and drop, or you can do a FILE > IMPORT and suck the PST up onto the Exchange server. Works like a charm!

[Brad Adrian]

As always, Jason, a great article. I know that Ed is a big fan of IMAP, but for some reason I've never been able to completely understand his explanation of why it's so great. ;)

Makes me rethink my e-mail strategy.

[d-roC]

This is a very good article, and quite timely considering that many people are looking for the new devices that will be released in the Fall/Winter seasons. I personally have Exchange for two accounts, and POP for the other 9 (or 10) that I have. I find POP access easier to setup, though with the exchange accounts that I am in, they are easier to deal with across the distances that I have with those people.

[if you dont mind, I linked to this article at http://mobileministrymagazine.com as it fits very well with what is being established in that community in terms of having the info to make mobility a well used option; if making a posting there is an issue, please PM me and I'll make the changes]

[SinHarvest]

Jason,

Long time viewer here. Thank you, the Pocket PC Thoughts Team, and the forum contributors for informative articles and responses like this!

I am a recent owner of the Audiovox 6600 phone (Sprint branded). I currently use POP (leave messages on server) server access on my workstation (Outlook), notebook (Thunderbird), and ppc (uuh.. default). I tested IMAP4 last week and found a few obstacles that reverted me back to a POP3 zealot. Can someone provide a solution or link to a KB article (seached Microsoft, Sprint, and a few other sites, might have to google more) that addresses this foremost issue..

Outlook and PPC Sent Items folder, IMAP
Whenever I send an email out, the sent email is moved to the local Sent Items folder in the PST instead of the Inbox.Sent subscribed folder on the IMAP server. The same applies for Drafts and Trash folders. This issue also occurs with the Audiovox 6600's default email application.

An acceptable solution that I tried to apply was to copy and paste from the local folders into the IMAP folders. Outlook errors out and prevents me from doing so. IMAP functionality in Outlook and the Pocket PC does not seem to work accordingly. I really do not want to create a rule within Outlook as a patch solution, not sure what to do in the Pocket PC. I do not mind using Thunderbird as the workstation / notebook solution to IMAP. I am at a lost for the Pocket PC however. Can anyone provide a little guidance so I can continue to troubleshoot IMAP on the Pocket PC and Outlook (Exchange installation will not occur until 2nd quarter of 2006 :(, ActiveSync mod will be the 2nd thing that is implemented :)).

Thanks!

[Jason Dunn]

[if you dont mind, I linked to this article at http://mobileministrymagazine.com as it fits very well with what is being established in that community in terms of having the info to make mobility a well used option; if making a posting there is an issue, please PM me and I'll make the changes]

By all means, link to it all you wish! If people find this article useful, the more that know about it the better. ;-)

[Jason Dunn]

Long time viewer here. Thank you, the Pocket PC Thoughts Team, and the forum contributors for informative articles and responses like this!

Glad this article could get you out of lurking mode and into posting! I hope it's the first of many you'll be making. ;-)

Whenever I send an email out, the sent email is moved to the local Sent Items folder in the PST instead of the Inbox.Sent subscribed folder on the IMAP server. The same applies for Drafts and Trash folders. This issue also occurs with the Audiovox 6600's default email application.

There's an option in Pocket Inbox under Tools > Options that says "Keep copy of sent mail in Sent folder" - I believe that keeps it on the device. That's about all I can suggest though.

[VanHlebar]

Jason,
Would a hosted exchange server such as 4smartphones.com be a realible option for a small office with say 5-6 employees?

I currently use a different software package called WorkGroup Share to share our office calendar info, but it doesn't work well all the time. in addition to that I can't sync remotely with this software. With a hosted exchange server would I be able to keep my work desktop, my laptop, home desktop and my two PPCs all synced? Would this option allow me to share all of our office calendars? Would my staff be able to update my schedule while I am out of the office and have that automatically updated on my PPC while away from the office?

Can we continue to use Thunderhawk to receive our email?

Great and timely article as I have been contimplating installing the Small Business Server Exchange 2003 in our office, but the complexity has me scared. I don't want to be a network admin, I want to run/manage my company and still get my data that I need.

thanks,
-Eric

[bigkingfun]

Good stuff Jason. I'd add to this my own personal reason for selecting a hosted Exchange service--I needed to sync all devices without the potential failures of some sync software on 3 machines--one of which was a Mac/Entourage. Hosted Exchange really made this a simple and powerful way to get it done and I have nothing but nice things to say about Exchange (as an end user) for this scenario.

Does Entourage work well for this or did you have any issues? One of the things that has been holding me back from using my Mac Mini more is the fact that my email and Outlook data is all on my Windows notebook. If I could keep the two in sync, I could actually use my Mac a lot more (which would be a good thing :D )

This was an excellent article - thanks, Jason. I've had this itch to explore a hosted Exchange account for quite some time but now you've inspired me to sign up.

(You've also inspired me to renew my subscription to PPCT - I had forgotten it had expired!)

[Jason Lee]

while on the topic of email, the university i work for just changes its name and while they were at it the domain, mail server and all that. :) anyway, our new setup requires different usernames for incoming and outgoing servers. :( the default inbox/messaging app does not support this and i could not find a way to hack it. I'm using imap and must use seperate login for smtp. both require ssl. anyone know a way to hack pocket inbox or do i have to look for another app? if so, which one? I have webis mail and really do not like it. it never worked with the old server anyway. i guess i may be forced to try it with the new one. i have to be able to sent email for work... :(

[Jason Dunn]

Would a hosted exchange server such as 4smartphones.com be a realible option for a small office with say 5-6 employees?

Certainly, I think that's the core scenario that it makes the most sense in.

With a hosted exchange server would I be able to keep my work desktop, my laptop, home desktop and my two PPCs all synced?

Yes - everything is kept on the central server, and any device that connects to that Exchange server will sync with it. Think of it like the way your Pocket PC and desktop PC work.

Would this option allow me to share all of our office calendars? Would my staff be able to update my schedule while I am out of the office and have that automatically updated on my PPC while away from the office?

I believe so - that requires public folders which means you'll need the Enterprise level package:

http://www.4smartphone.net/plan_enterprise.aspx

Features include:

* 100MB of public folder (shared) space
* Shared Company Address Book
* Shared Contact Lists
* Shared Calendar(s)
* Shared files and folders
* Administrator account and control panel for user/file/rights management

I'm not sure how those all work mind you. I've been trading emails with 4smartphone and trying to get some help/input from them on how it should work and not having much luck. Generally their support is decent, but this one issue is a thorn in my side. I'm hoping to having it resolved tomorrow when I call their president on his mobile phone. ;-)

Can we continue to use Thunderhawk to receive our email?

No. To do what I'm describing requires that you use Outlook 2003. There are ways of doing POP/IMAP with Exchange, but I don't believe 4smartphone supports that.

...I have been contimplating installing the Small Business Server Exchange 2003 in our office, but the complexity has me scared. I don't want to be a network admin, I want to run/manage my company and still get my data that I need.

That's exactly why I went with a hosted Exchange solution. There's only so much time in the day, and when I compared paying a few bucks a month versus having to figure it all out for myself...the choice was very obvious. ;-)

[Phillip Dyson]

Great article Jason.

I've been contemplating using a hosted exchange service myself. Mostly because I had to WM devices and hoping it would allow some visibility of calendars between my girlfriend and I. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like "personal" accounts will provide the latter. I was actually considering setting up an OpenGroupWare installation, but I'm not overly crazy about the idea and my procrastination shows it.

Is there a way to tie pop/imap accounts into your hosted accounts so that they will all come down with a sync?

thanks again.

[Jason Dunn]

...hoping it would allow some visibility of calendars between my girlfriend and I...Is there a way to tie pop/imap accounts into your hosted accounts so that they will all come down with a sync?

For sharing, you might want to try something like this:

http://www.softalk.ws/products/workgroupshare/

As for pulling down POP/IMAP accounts into your Exchange account, nope, not possible as far as I know.

[fmcpherson]

Does Entourage work well for this or did you have any issues? One of the things that has been holding me back from using my Mac Mini more is the fact that my email and Outlook data is all on my Windows notebook. If I could keep the two in sync, I could actually use my Mac a lot more (which would be a good thing :D )

I access my hosted Exchange account using Entourage 2004 on a Mac PowerBook, Outlook 2003 under Windows XP, and various Windows Mobile devices.

I have had no problems sending or receiving email using Entourage 2004 and the Exchange server. I will note that I was not able to get the previous version of Entourage to access the Exchange server, so I emphasize Entourage 2004.

There are a couple of quirks between Entourage and Exchange. One big one is that Tasks do not transfer. This appears to be a similar problem that exists in transfering tasks between Windows Mobile and Exchange. Hopefully SP2 will fix the problem. (Basically, I sync my Pocker PC tasks with Outlook 2003, which in turn is an Exchange client and that gets my tasks to the Exchange server. However, those tasks never come down from Exchange to Entourage. Likewise, tasks that I enter in Entourage never make it up to the Exchange server.)

Another quirk that I find is with meeting requests that I synchronize from my work Windows PC to my Pocket PC. Then I go home to my home PC, synchronize with my Outlook/Exhange client, and sometimes the meeting request originator changes from someone else to myself. When this happens and I come back to work and sync with my work Outlook/Exchange combo it creates a duplicate. My guess is that in this case I am doing something that Microsoft didn't intend to happen, that being that I am syncing the same Pocket PC with two different Exchange servers using Outlook 2003 as a client. I am not sure when the problem happens, and I haven't figured out if it is repeatable, so its possible that Entourage is actually messing up the meeting request when it syncs down from Exchange to Entourage.

[boback]

you forgot to mention that with the exchange server it won't sync messages in other folders. that's a huge limitation for me because i have rules in my outlook that move my messages to the appropriate folder. my pocket pc then can't see them. sucks. hopefully they'll fix it with the update.

[Jason Dunn]

you forgot to mention that with the exchange server it won't sync messages in other folders. that's a huge limitation for me because i have rules in my outlook that move my messages to the appropriate folder. my pocket pc then can't see them. sucks. hopefully they'll fix it with the update.

I've heard about this problem but never experienced it myself. I always thought they did in fact sync, but there was no unread notification so you didn't actually see them? So when you do an Exchange ActiveSync, only the Inbox is updated? That doesn't seem right because you can move a message and it will update the folder that you moved the message into.

[boback]

i think what you discribed works. you can on your pocket pc move an email to a folder and it'll sync later to your desktop outlook. but you can't have your desktop move a message (ie. using rules) and then have the pocket pc sync to the contents of that folder.

if someone knows how to get around this, i'm all ears.

[Jason Dunn]

but you can't have your desktop move a message (ie. using rules) and then have the pocket pc sync to the contents of that folder.

Desktop? I thought we were talking about hosted Exchange here...yes, that's definiately a limitation of the Pocket PC with regard to synching against Outlook on the desktop. Though can't you sync against all email folders and set the threshold to 3 days or something to keep email to a minimum? Would that work?

[boback]

i use both. i have it setup to sync with the exchange server, as well as with my outlook on my desktop. if i'm away from home and i click active sync, it'll download messages only in my inbox and not the subfolders (even though there are new messages in the sub folders). there is no setting for syncing all email folders. just how many days i want. it really sucks. you'd think the same software company would completely synchronize all their software. i end up haveing to use the browser to go to a webmail site and check my other mail and it's difficult to read messages in that format. i'm hoping 5.0 takes care of that.

[chscof]

Jason,
Please outline the process of changing from pop3 to imap. I am afraid of losing my .pst info. I want to upload my current pst file to my email server. I use imap with my treo using chattermail for email and outlook on my laptop configured with pop3. I want to use imap on both devices and since all my saved emails are on the laptop I need to upload the info first. My server is a hosted website liquid web.
Thanks

[Jason Dunn]

Please outline the process of changing from pop3 to imap.

Well, assuming that you have the IMAP account configured, and the POP3 info is already inside your Outlook PST file, it should be as simple as opening up the IMAP folder tree and dragging and dropping your folders one by one from your Outlook folder tree into the IMAP folder tree. It will likely take a while, and you'll want to make sure you have enough space on your IMAP account, but it should work.

[Jason Lee]

Please outline the process of changing from pop3 to imap.

Well, assuming that you have the IMAP account configured, and the POP3 info is already inside your Outlook PST file, it should be as simple as opening up the IMAP folder tree and dragging and dropping your folders one by one from your Outlook folder tree into the IMAP folder tree. It will likely take a while, and you'll want to make sure you have enough space on your IMAP account, but it should work.

works good. that's what i do but in reverse to back up my imap mail to my pc at home.

[chscof]

Thanks guys,
I've moved a couple folders, it takes awhile. I would like to delete a few of the folders on the server trying to make it look exactly as my outlook pop folder view. I am not allowed to delete some folders "The server responded: 'DELETE failed: Can't delete mailbox Inbox.Drafts: no such mailbox'." The server I am using gets cluttered with folders for the various web mail tools such as Neomail, Horde and so on. Would it be best to just subscribe to a exchange server service if cost is no issue but organization is big.

[Jason Dunn]

I've moved a couple folders, it takes awhile. I would like to delete a few of the folders on the server trying to make it look exactly as my outlook pop folder view. I am not allowed to delete some folders "The server responded: 'DELETE failed: Can't delete mailbox Inbox.Drafts: no such mailbox'."

A few things to keep in mind:

1) Most IMAP servers don't support sub-folders

2) You can control which folders you see/don't see why right-clicking on the root IMAP folder, selecting IMAP Folders, then clicking QUERY. You can then subscribe or unsubscribe to various folders to clean things up

3) Sometimes Outlook still shows a folder that has been deleted. Shut down Outlook then re-connect

[HaraldB]

Hi

First time writer, long time reader.

This article of yours really woke me up, and I have been trying to find a good Exchange solution since I read it, but I must say I am surprised at how hard that is.

I have been checking out a few hundred sites offering the service (!), and at least 50% have no clue as how to take advantage of the internet. They think it's enough to create a 'professional' looking site with the usual men-in-suits look and telling that they offer Exchange hosting. What they do not mention is exactly what they are offering, which plans, and the cost of these. It's like a car dealership saying 'we are selling black, white and red cars. Contact us for further info!'. No, I won't. If you are at that level, I won't waste my time. On to the next site...

Right after reading your article, I visited 4smartphone.com. I do remember stopping by there some time ago, but back then I really didn't have the need for Exchange, which I do now. So I signed up... During the process I ran into a problem and contacted support. I got a no good reply, so I went on without any help.

After downloading the setup files, I clicked on 'next' on the site to see how they should be installed, only to find a non-finished page , consisting only of 'text here'-labels. I took a screenshot of that page and sent it to support, along with a few questions. That's 8 days ago and I am still waiting for a reply...

It took some work getting 4smartphone.com running without any support, but finally it was ok. While testing, I decided to check out the competition. I soon found out, though, that not only are the professionalism and competitiveness at a low, as described above, but being european made me unwelcome on many sites.

1and1.com seemed very professional, so I contacted them with a tech question. Not only did I receive a swift reply, I was also spot on. Great! I'm signing up! So I entered there signup page and started filling out... I got to the Country drop down and clicked it. US or Canada... Nice! So I have spent hours finding the right hosted Exchange site, only to find out during signup that they actually don't want my business after all! Couldn't you put that on the front page? Believe it or not, the world is bigger than Northern America and I came here to save resources, not to waste them!

Well, after that time waster, I decided to give 4smartphone.com another go, as I was getting close to the limit of time I could spend on this single issue. Wrote the sales department with a few questions, but yet again I got no reply. That's a few days ago and still waiting. Anyway, since the service was already running, I was just going to sign up, pay and get on with my life. No such luck...

4smartphone.com only accept a full annual subscription! In the fast paced world of the internet, I think that's a LOT to demand from the costumer. Especially considering the level of their support! I believe that if you offer a good product and user friendly service, you don't have to force the costumer to stay. They simply don't wanna go anywhere else! So yet again I went hunting for an Exchange server...

Lanlogic.com was next in line. They are 40% more expensive, right on top of my $10/month limit. During signup you have to decide how to alter the DNS MX record for your mail settings. I checked out my webhost and they are a bit fiddly in the DNS department. When it's set up for the first time, the records are locked and I had to make sure I could unlock them and do the DNS settings myself, not to waste more time. Finally I got it straight and continued with the signup. Entered personal details and those of my MasterCard. Hit the 'Signup' button. Guess what? 'An error has occured. We will contact you using the details you have entered'. But they didn't...

Looks like the shared hosted Exchange market is no way near ready for privates like myself, who don't wanna spend a fortune getting things up and running. Especially if you are from outside the US, you are in big trouble.

Not only did my first choice fail, also the second AND third turned out to be a no go. Guess I'll just have to wait another year or two for this market to mature....

[Jason Dunn]

HaraldB - thanks for your thoughts on the matter. The hosted Exchange market is indeed still a bit rough around the edges - even with 4smartphone I had trouble getting my accounts set up, getting the MX records straight, etc. It's not for the faint of heart - what surprises me is that these companies don't seem to offer domain registration services as well so that someone can get a domain AND an email account in one step. This is especially important because most people don't have the technical knowledge needed to register a domain, change the MX records, etc.

In defense of 4smartphone, when they're only charging $6.95 USD per month for a starting account, it's not financially viable to do 12 transactions over a one year period - they're having to pay 4-6% on credit card transactions, which eats into the profit. It's the same reason why I don't offer a $3/month subscription and instead opt for a yearly amount.

I think there's room for improvement from pretty much all hosted Exchange providers!

[HaraldB]

Hi, and thanks for the input :)

Isn't the credit card fee the same, no matter if you pay 4% of (12x$7) or 4% of $7, 12 times?

Anyway, I have received reply from Lanlogic, so now I am trying that out. I have already set the MX records some hours ago, so it should soon be up and running. No such luck with Outlook...

After setting up with Lanlogic, you get access to download setup files for both Outlook and ActiveSync. I have tried converting an old profile and creating a new, but it doesn't work. Outlook can't log on, and if I allow it to run offline, Outlooks quits while reporting that the ost file is not an offline folder.

Trying to set up manually doesn't work either. When checking the username on the exchange server, the server can't be found.

I have tried everything I can think of, including switching to http, but no luck. Weird, because ping to the server is perfect and the 134 port isn't shut down...

Oh well, as you said, this isn't for the faint hearted. 4smartphone was a lot easier and I still think about paying for the full year, but their lack of support really is a turnoff.

[Jason Dunn]

Isn't the credit card fee the same, no matter if you pay 4% of (12x$7) or 4% of $7, 12 times?

Sorry, I didn't explain that fully: there's usually a per transaction cost, so it's 4% + 35 cents or something. That's really what eats into the profit.

After setting up with Lanlogic, you get access to download setup files for both Outlook and ActiveSync. I have tried converting an old profile and creating a new, but it doesn't work. Outlook can't log on, and if I allow it to run offline, Outlooks quits while reporting that the ost file is not an offline folder.

Assuming that you're using Outlook 2003 (and you need to unless you want to mess with VPN stuff), and that the downloadable setup file from Lanlogic is like the one from 4smartphone that automatically configures your Outlook 2003 settings, here's what I suggest:

1) Export all your Outlook data into a PST file
2) Run the Outlook setup file, which should create a new Outlook profile that is empty
3) Outlook 2003 should set itself up and sync with the Exchange server
4) Do a FILE > IMPORT and import your old PST data. Or, if it's huge, do a FILE > OPEN and attach the PST, then drag and drop the folders from the local PST up to the Exchange server

Hope that helps a bit!

[HaraldB]

Thanks a million for your help and interest, Jason :)

Now I understand the 4smartphone thing. I guess I even see the logic in annual payments, when they have the lowest price on the market (well, except for a single competitor). Getting ever closer to buying this packet, even though they don't deserve it :), due to the lack of support...

Unfortunately the problems with Lanlogic runs deeper than that. The setup file does something weird, so I can't even open Outlook. It times out, trying to connect to the server. I have tried manually switching the profile to http, but that doesn't help. It simply looks like wrong server info is entered into the profile. Since their site contains no valuable info about a manual setup, I guess I'll just have to wait for the reply from support.

Btw, I have installed the latest patches for both Outlook 2003 + XP SP 2, so that shouldn't be the problem.

[Jason Dunn]

...due to the lack of support...

It's strange a few months ago I wasn't getting responses from support, but in the past week they've been VERY responsive. Maybe it's because I wrote this article. ;-) You may want to try sending them an email - it's just support@, maybe that will get you the response you need.

[HaraldB]

I have had the same thought :) No doubt your article has generated a LOT of work for what appears to be a very small company, but they still should reply to requests for help, if they want to earn money.

I used email to contact both support and sales (even though I have a strange feeling they end up the same place) with the same result: nada!

One of the things I contacted support about was problems with sending a mail. It looked like the item got sent alright, but afterwards it was back in the outbox again. This happened maybe 10 times, before I gave up and deleted the mail. I can't help but wondering if they (he?) thought I was flodding and got p!ssed? Althought that seems very unprofessional, I guess it is a possibility.

[Jason Dunn]

One of the things I contacted support about was problems with sending a mail. It looked like the item got sent alright, but afterwards it was back in the outbox again. This happened maybe 10 times, before I gave up and deleted the mail. I can't help but wondering if they (he?) thought I was flodding and got p!ssed? Althought that seems very unprofessional, I guess it is a possibility.

So you did sign up with 4smartphone after all? I haven't had any problems with sending through them - in fact, it's always my own IMAP servers on my own servers that bomb out. Outlook keeps hanging, even after I exit it, then I have to manually kill it and restart before my IMAP SMTP server will work. So in that regard 4smartphone has been perfect.

[HaraldB]

No, I haven't paid up yet. This was during the start of my trial run. Problems occured while trying to mix my original .pst file with the new Exchange setup. Outlook didn't like that. Got it working myself after some time. It would have been embarrasing if I didn't, since I was part of the original team, creating Outlook 97 :)

Outlook sure can have some problems shutting down. Especially if you have your PDA connected while Outlook is being shut down. Not good! Pull the plug on the PDA connection one minute in advance, and life is much easier :)

[Jason Dunn]

Outlook sure can have some problems shutting down. Especially if you have your PDA connected while Outlook is being shut down. Not good! Pull the plug on the PDA connection one minute in advance, and life is much easier :)

Yeah, I'm aware that when the Pocket PC is connected it locks the outlook.exe process, but I hardly ever connect to my PC because I do the Exchange sync. I think it's one of the software programs I have that hooks into Outlook - MSN Desktop Search, SnagIt, PDF Creator - take your pick. It's rather frustrating!

[ctmagnus]

Have you tried KnockOut (http://sunflowerhead.com/software/knockout/)? It puts an icon in the system tray that shows whether Outlook is running. If it's still running after you've disconnected the PDA and exited Outlook, you can close Outlook via KnockOut's right-click menu.

[Jason Dunn]

Have you tried KnockOut (http://sunflowerhead.com/software/knockout/)? It puts an icon in the system tray that shows whether Outlook is running. If it's still running after you've disconnected the PDA and exited Outlook, you can close Outlook via KnockOut's right-click menu.

Hmm. Looks interesting, but ultimately it still requires me to manually intervene to kill Outlook. This might save me one click though. ;-)

[HaraldB]

Yesterday I gave up on waiting for Lanlogics support. Apparently the word 'support' means something different, if it's related to Exchange servers.

Instead I paid 4smartphone, because at least I got their service running as it is. Needless to say, I haven't even received an automated receipt from 4smartphone yet, after something like 15 hours, but at least I have the one from Paypal. Oh well, guess I'll hear from them after the weekend.

Thanks for your time and thoughts, Jason :)

[topps]

This has been a very illuminating thread, watching the two of you trying to sort this out. Extremely helpful - thank you.

Having got fed up of the tribulations of trying to get Outlook and the PDA to talk to GroupWise, I've also decided to go with a hosted Exchange service. Looked at these earlier this year but was not impressed. Jason, your article gives me hope...sorta...

I was also put off from 4smartphone by the lack of a response to questions sent to sales and support...but your thread partly addresses this. I think I'll go ahead with them.

Tempted to go with 1and1...but have also had lots of problems getting them to respond. Big drawback with them is that your setup must only be SP1, not SP2 for Win XP. Showstopper, I'm afraid - suprised that they have not addressed this yet. Also, it appears that there is limited amount of control over who can access which bits of the account.

I hope that 4smartphone Enterprise does allow the proper admin of the accounts. Won't be much point if I can't share calendar with staff, boss/spouse etc. Jason, you'd mentioned that you were stilll were working on this with them...did you get a satisfactory resolution?

[Jason Dunn]

I hope that 4smartphone Enterprise does allow the proper admin of the accounts. Won't be much point if I can't share calendar with staff, boss/spouse etc. Jason, you'd mentioned that you were stilll were working on this with them...did you get a satisfactory resolution?

Not yet, but that's mostly my fault - they say I have it activated on my account, but I don't really understand how to share my calender with my wife's profile for instance. I find this aspect of Outlook 2003 incomprehensible.... :?

[topps]

...incomprehensible? Oh dear...that was the bit I am depending on...and I thought that you two had got this sorted out already.

So, if you're not sharing this kinda information...is it really worth going with a hosted exchange server? I would have thought that this would be one of the main advantages.

Are you able to access your stuff with Outlook 2003, not Outlook Web Access? I kinda had the impression that you do...but now the blurb back from 4smartphone suggests that OWA is the only way...I probably need to dig more.

[Jason Dunn]

...incomprehensible? Oh dear...that was the bit I am depending on...and I thought that you two had got this sorted out already.

Not yet. It's not 100% vital, more like a fun side-effect, so I haven't spent much time on it. I know it's possible, I'm just not sure how to get it working. ;-)

So, if you're not sharing this kinda information...is it really worth going with a hosted exchange server? I would have thought that this would be one of the main advantages.

For me, absolutely. Having two desktops, two laptops, and two Windows Mobile devices in perfect sync is AWESOME.

Are you able to access your stuff with Outlook 2003, not Outlook Web Access? I kinda had the impression that you do...but now the blurb back from 4smartphone suggests that OWA is the only way...I probably need to dig more.

Their $6.95 intro package is OWA only + Windows Mobile sync. Their next package up (Professional) offers Outlook 2003 access. The one above that offers Public Folders.

[bigkingfun]

It's strange a few months ago I wasn't getting responses from support, but in the past week they've been VERY responsive. Maybe it's because I wrote this article. ;-) You may want to try sending them an email - it's just support@, maybe that will get you the response you need.

I've been having trouble getting any response using their contact form too, but I just tried emailing them at the address Jason suggested and had a response within minutes. Perhaps the problem is related to the form? They tell me they were going to check it.

[topps]

I've been trying out the calendar sharing between two Enterprise level users. Seems to work well. Was easy to set up.

Next step tomorrow is to see if the staff can get into the shared calendar, using only the Professional level package. (They don't need their own calendars yet)

[ipaq_wannabe]

found this site from LinkeID (https://www.linkedin.com/):

http://www.intermedia.net/hosting/exchange/shared/

what do you guys think???

[topps]

found this site from LinkeID (https://www.linkedin.com/):

http://www.intermedia.net/hosting/exchange/shared/

what do you guys think???

Looks much like many of the other dozens of sites out there offering similar service and rates. Hard to tell the difference.

I went with 4smartphone for two reasons:
1. They seem more oriented towards mobile devices than most providers.
2. Jason is using them - he usually researches this stuff pretty well. I know that his search will not have been exhaustive or all-encompassing but it will be better than I could have done...and an all-encompassing review is not feasible just now since this whole field is moving too fast.

I've only just started with this stuff...so take these comments with a pinch of salt...but things that I found that you need to look at, beyond the bottom line of price per month, were the following:

1. Minimum number of users (often more than 1, although not immediately obvious from the front page of most sites)
2. Setup fee
3. Disk space if this is important to you. I've been managing with 100MB for years on mailblocks. I periodically archive my stuff to my own hard disk and free up space. But this is an area that will change fast, with the trend set by Gmail etc.
4. System requirements - some need Win XP SP1, some SP2.
5. Accessible in your area. Quite a few are USA only.

So far, I've had good luck with 4smartphone... easy to set up...which is just as well, because I have NO luck getting a response from support, even when I address it directly to them, as Jason suggested. Hope that this does not become an issue.

[Jason Dunn]

what do you guys think???

200 MB for $9.95 doesn't seem all that great - one of the reasons I moved from my last host was that they didn't offer enough storage space for the money.

[Jason Dunn]

So far, I've had good luck with 4smartphone... easy to set up...which is just as well, because I have NO luck getting a response from support, even when I address it directly to them, as Jason suggested. Hope that this does not become an issue.

Very odd. I talked to their founder about this and he said they're responding to all support requests - but you're not the first one to complain about this, so obviously something is wrong. I'll bring up the issue with them again.

[ipaq_wannabe]

So far, I've had good luck with 4smartphone... easy to set up...which is just as well, because I have NO luck getting a response from support, even when I address it directly to them, as Jason suggested. Hope that this does not become an issue.

Very odd. I talked to their founder about this and he said they're responding to all support requests - but you're not the first one to complain about this, so obviously something is wrong. I'll bring up the issue with them again.

that is nice to hear...

if there is some sort of promise that support would be better than from what ive been hearing - i might as well decide to sign-up...

i mean - why should one go through all the trouble of scouring the net for what they need if the closest and best thing are those used and recommended by friends and colleagues.... right?

[ikesler]

I have sent in 3 support requests due to trying to set up a trial with them........ never heard back. So I never used the trial. I then decided to give it another shot and set up the trial again this month.......... Remember I never even finished the set up the first time because they never got back to me. Now I have to pay for it to work. I sent 2 more support requests and a sales email............ even tried the Live Chat that doesn't work....... no response.
That is not much better than it was in August when I first tried.
I would love to give this a run and it seems like everyone is going with 4smartphone......... but this is saying 'use someone else' big time!

[Jason Dunn]

I have sent in 3 support requests due to trying to set up a trial with them........ never heard back.

I've just emailed them now after reading your message to ask what the problem is - I'm very upset that the solution I've recommended is turning out so poorly for so many people in this community. :?

[ikesler]

I have sent in 3 support requests due to trying to set up a trial with them........ never heard back.

I've just emailed them now after reading your message to ask what the problem is - I'm very upset that the solution I've recommended is turning out so poorly for so many people in this community. :?

Thanks!
They must be monitoring this page.......... I posted my issue here and 5 minutes later had an email from them and they reset my trial. They also apologized for the delay. I am not busy trying to set this thing up correctly.......... I have just upgraded the trial to the Pro plan........ hopefully it will be all that I am thinking it will be.
Thanks Jason!

[Jason Dunn]

They must be monitoring this page.......... I posted my issue here and 5 minutes later had an email from them and they reset my trial. They also apologized for the delay.

That's great! I would hope though that they'd want to provide great service to ALL their customers, not just the ones reading this thread. ;-)

[ikesler]

They must be monitoring this page.......... I posted my issue here and 5 minutes later had an email from them and they reset my trial. They also apologized for the delay.

That's great! I would hope though that they'd want to provide great service to ALL their customers, not just the ones reading this thread. ;-)

totally agree!

[ikesler]

They upgraded my trial to the Pro plan with no problem and very quickly.
Now I am onto trying out the service. I think they must have been hit hard when everyone started talking about them on the web........ they fixed my issue perfectly now.
Thanks for the heads up Jason!

[Jason Dunn]

They upgraded my trial to the Pro plan with no problem and very quickly. Now I am onto trying out the service. I think they must have been hit hard when everyone started talking about them on the web.

Great! Glad to hear they got you up and running - I hope you like the service.

[Phillip Dyson]

How does it allow you to use your existing email/domain?
Do I have to have them host my whole domain?

[Jason Dunn]

How does it allow you to use your existing email/domain? Do I have to have them host my whole domain?

Technically, you're supposed to change your MX records so that they handle all email for your domain. They did tell me once they had a way of doing a partial MX record change whereby only the one email address would be controlled by them...but I have no idea how that would work. I'm an MX n00b.

Another option though would be to configure your email server to forward [email protected] to your hosted Exchange account. Although I don't know if you can configure the Exchange account to have a different reply-to address ([email protected]).

[Phillip Dyson]

I'm a bit paranoid. I want to try the demo but I'm worried about what will happen to my data if I decide not to use the service.

Jason, can you find out if my data would be purged from their system if I decide not to use them?

Also, does this service sync tasks? or just contacts and appointments.

[wot_fan]

Also, does this service sync tasks? or just contacts and appointments.
From the original article/fist post:
As great as a hosted Exchange account is, there are still some baffling limitations. There's no way to sync Tasks as of yet (this is fixed in the upcoming Exchange SP2 release, but you need a Windows Mobile 5 device for it to work), no way to sync Notes, and no synchronization of documents or favorites. I'm hoping that future versions of Windows Mobile and Exchange Server will offer more options.

[Phillip Dyson]

From the original article/fist post:
As great as a hosted Exchange account is, there are still some baffling limitations. There's no way to sync Tasks as of yet (this is fixed in the upcoming Exchange SP2 release, but you need a Windows Mobile 5 device for it to work), no way to sync Notes, and no synchronization of documents or favorites. I'm hoping that future versions of Windows Mobile and Exchange Server will offer more options.

Thanks Wot_Fan, I guess it had been so long since I read it. Should have gone back before posting my question.

[Phillip Dyson]

I'm a bit paranoid. I want to try the demo but I'm worried about what will happen to my data if I decide not to use the service.

Jason, can you find out if my data would be purged from their system if I decide not to use them?


I sent an email to 4Smartphone.net and got a response the same night. I'm not sure if they're EST like I am, but either way its a quick response.

Heres what they said when I asked them about the demo, and cancelling service...


Thanks for your interest in 4SmartPhone.

In both cases the information is deleted/purged after a short grace period (few days maximum...) ... A few people do honestly forget to pay their bills and if they realize the next day, we don't want to penalize them.

Best regards,

The 4SmartPhone Team




Any word on the release date for Exchange SP2 release?

[Jason Dunn]

I'm a bit paranoid. I want to try the demo but I'm worried about what will happen to my data if I decide not to use the service.

You'd have to do three things before your trial expired:

1) Export all your Outlook data to a local PST file
2) Delete the Outlook Exchange profile and create a new one
3) Import your PST data and start over locally

So, all in all, quite safe.

[Marty1781]

So I'm a bit confused on how this hosted exchange account works so hopefully someone can clarify. Here is my current email setup:

I have Outlook on my desktop at home check email every 2 minutes from 2 different POP/IMAP accounts (school and work) and these emails get delivered into the same Inbox in Outlook. The Sprint Business Connection software then pushes the new email out to my WM device via the SMS-triggered sync mechanism. I would like to elminate the Sprint Business Connection software part of this equation as its unreliable at times.

What I don't understand is by signing up for a hosted Exchange account with say, 4smartphone, do I need to use the email address they give me in order to take advantage of the Exchange benefits or can my two current POP3/IMAP accounts somehow be linked to the Exchange account? Basically, I want to continue to use my two current accounts as I do now which means when using my WM5 device, if I send a reply to an email that was received from my school account, the recipient of the email sees my name/school email address in the "from" box. Same thing for work, receive a work email, I reply, and the recipient sees my name/work email address in the "from" box. What I don't want is to send a new email or a reply from my WM5 device/Outlook and for the recipient to see a @4smartphone email address in the "from" box. Basically, I'm looking to add the benefits of Exchange (wireless/fast updating of contacts/appts/email over Activesync) to my two current POP3/IMAP accounts without having to use an altenate/4smartphone email address to accomplish that. I don't want anyone I send an email to (whether it is a new, reply, or fwd) to ever see @4smartphone.com in the "from" box, only thing they should see is my name and the appropriate email address (work/school). Is this possible? (I apologize for the numerous questions but after reading the various websites offering exchange hosting, can't seem to get a straight answer to my questions). Thanks for any clarification you can provide.

[Jason Dunn]

What I don't understand is by signing up for a hosted Exchange account with say, 4smartphone, do I need to use the email address they give me in order to take advantage of the Exchange benefits or can my two current POP3/IMAP accounts somehow be linked to the Exchange account?

There's a feature in Outlook that, when you have multiple email accounts set up, you can select which email account to use to send it from. So what you'd do is have both your email accounts forward to the 4smartphone account, then you'd have three email accounts set up in Outlook: 4smartphone, business, and personal. All email would flow into the 4smartphone account, but when you hit reply you'd select the business or personal profile. These email profiles will have a valid outgoing SMTP server setting, but no valid incoming mail server settins. They're only for sending.

Note that this only works with Outlook - when you reply from your Pocket PC I think it will have your 4smartphone email address on it. I don't believe you can set a device-side reply to email address on Exchange ActiveSync the way you can with a POP or IMAP account.

I hope that makes sense!

[wot_fan]

Note that this only works with Outlook - when you reply from your Pocket PC I think it will have your 4smartphone email address on it. I don't believe you can set a device-side reply to email address on Exchange ActiveSync the way you can with a POP or IMAP account.
I am thinking of using 4smartphone when my Qtek 9100 arrives, but want all my email to flow through my gmail account. I wrote the following to their [email protected] email address:
I am considering your Professional Plan for my hosted exchange service. I have a question before I make my decision. I have read in your FAQ that your service is not able to connect directly to a gmail account since it uses an SSL Pop3 server. This can be handled by having the gmail account forward incoming mail. My question is this, can I configure your service so that all the email I write (both on my PocketPC w/ WM5 and my PC) will have my gmail account as the return address (so all responses will be sent to my gmail account )? I am fairly certain this can be done with the desktop version of Outlook, but I am unclear if the same is true of Pocket Outlook.
Here is their response
You are right. All emails coming out of your exchange mailbox including your mobile device will take the identity of your gmail account. When people will reply to your emails it will go to the gmail account.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if necessary.
BTW, they responded to my question in about 1 hour.

[Jason Dunn]

You are right. All emails coming out of your exchange mailbox including your mobile device will take the identity of your gmail account. When people will reply to your emails it will go to the gmail account.

Well that's interesting...I wonder how you change that setting? I looked in Outlook 2003 and couldn't find any way to change that. :?

[HaraldB]

Have you guys checked your expiry date on 4smartphone? Looks like the 15 days free trial isn't free after all! My current Pro account will expire on the date of my trial signup (sept 14), NOT 15 days later!

Considering how extremely hard it is to get in contact with support, I won't even try. I know I'll just waste more time getting frustrated than it is worth...

[Phillip Dyson]

Has anyone tried using Inbox Rules? I created some from Outlook with a few folders under the mailbox.

My PDA now has the folders, but they remane empty. Outlook shows them though.

I don't know if this is a Windows Mobile limitation or something else. I have an email into 4Smartphone. I'll post back with their response.

[JUST A THOUGHT]
Perhaps we need a sub-board for Services like we have one for Software. Maybe a cross board with SmartphoneThougts. If thats even possible.
[JUST A THOUGHT]

[ctmagnus]

Has anyone tried using Inbox Rules? I created some from Outlook with a few folders under the mailbox.

My PDA now has the folders, but they remane empty. Outlook shows them though.

I don't know if this is a Windows Mobile limitation or something else. I have an email into 4Smartphone. I'll post back with their response.


Have you checked the ActiveSync settings? It only syncs the default Outlook folders by default. Any folders added after the initial installation of Outlook and creation of the PST/OST file aren't added to the synched folders list. You need to select those manually.

Why the Inbox plugin in ActiveSync realizes new folders have been added without offering to sync them for you is beyond me.

[Phillip Dyson]

Thanks ctmagnus, that did the trick. It escaped me that even though I'm sync-ing with a hosted exchange server, there are still settings for me on the desktop version of Activesync.

I guess I should post here before going to the contact page on 4smartphone.net.

thanks again.

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks ctmagnus, that did the trick. It escaped me that even though I'm sync-ing with a hosted exchange server, there are still settings for me on the desktop version of Activesync.

You can change all those same sync settings on the device by going into the advanced settings.

[Jason Dunn]

[JUST A THOUGHT]
Perhaps we need a sub-board for Services like we have one for Software. Maybe a cross board with SmartphoneThougts. If thats even possible.
[JUST A THOUGHT]

There are some major forum changes coming up, but they're taking a lot longer to implement than we had hoped, so I can't say when they'll be happening. :?

[Phillip Dyson]

[JUST A THOUGHT]
Perhaps we need a sub-board for Services like we have one for Software. Maybe a cross board with SmartphoneThougts. If thats even possible.
[JUST A THOUGHT]

There are some major forum changes coming up, but they're taking a lot longer to implement than we had hoped, so I can't say when they'll be happening. :?

Sounds great. I'm looking forward to it. :way to go:

[dannycombs]

I currently use a Blackberry plus laptop with Outlook 2003. My company runs Exchange 2003 SP1 and says I'm allowed to replace my failing BB with a Windows Mobile 5.0 device but it's not specifically supported, meaning they don't intend to install Exchange 2003 SP2 any time in the near future nor will they specifically install and configure the push services when they do. I'm not clear if I can still get my Exchange email on a Pocket PC Phone Edition running Windows Mobile 5.0 without any back end support or support from our administrators. Can I, whether by manually initiated synch somehow or otherwise?
Thanks,
Danny

[Phillip Dyson]

I'm not clear if I can still get my Exchange email on a Pocket PC Phone Edition running Windows Mobile 5.0 without any back end support or support from our administrators. Can I, whether by manually initiated synch somehow or otherwise?
Thanks,
Danny

It seems like you should be able to if they open up access. I'm using 2003SE on a host exchange and I get the email. Its not a direct answer to your corporate question, but the ability is there if your sysadmins allow it.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm not clear if I can still get my Exchange email on a Pocket PC Phone Edition running Windows Mobile 5.0 without any back end support or support from our administrators. Can I, whether by manually initiated synch somehow or otherwise?

Yes, you should be able to set it up without any problem - you should be able to enter your Exchange credentials and sync.

[dannycombs]

Thanks. I assume you mean that yes, I will be able to synch with Active Synch to my Exchange profile. But will that just allow me to synch via my desktop or will I be able to send and receive email remotely via GPRS? That's the critical factor for me to be able to switch from my BB. Not necessarily pushed email (though I look forward to that) but I do need to be able to send and receive while out and about.
Thanks again,
Dnany

[Jason Dunn]

But will that just allow me to synch via my desktop or will I be able to send and receive email remotely via GPRS?

I can't think of any reason at all why you'd have problems, because that's exactly the way it was designed to work.

[dannycombs]

Awesome. Thanks for your help.

[simeonp]

Great article -- i've been using www.intermedia.net for about 2 years now. Very good service and free activesync, though i use goodlink and a Treo 650 for my Exchange email.

Simeon[/url]