Android not a busines Phone - Outlook Synchronization?!

[Ernie_P]

I have everything in my corporate outlook (which is BUSINESS USE I would guess right) and I have ZERO issues sync'ing my calendar and email and contacts from my outlook only. I have nothing in my gmail calendar and contacts but I do have an account I register for my phone so I can access the android market. My google gmail account is set to sync as well but there is nothing in there.

I hope we are making things clearer for you.

If all you have is something local on your desktop, how do you think it can magically get to your phone unless the computer has something that will send it there?

(Sigh) I appreciate the help - I really do - but lets regroup:
1. No corporate Exchange Server, Email, etc. STAND ALONE PC.

2. PC has Outlook installed and it is used for only Contacts and Calendar - no Emails are configured or read via Outlook.

3. Looking to synchronize Outlook <Contacts> and <Calendar> ONLY - no Email.

4. I have found that the phone does not come with any pre-installed applications to synchronize Microsoft Outlook Contacts and Calendars with it.

5. I have found third party applications - but at a cost of $50+ for the ones that actually work and are stable - I started this thread to find if those were my only options.

6. I cannot sync through Gmail because of security concerns (for the type of contacts and data that I have) - simply not an option.

Now I have a question - perhaps I "AM" missing something....

You keep mentioning that I should sync my "Email client with my Email server". I have mentioned that I do not use Outlook for ANY Email - no Outlook - no Lotus Notes - no Email. Contacts and Calendar only. We have other more secure options required by our clients for Email.

I know that I can configure Outlook to be an Email client and to read any and every Email service out there - I know that - but I do not want to do that and cannot do that!

Just Contacts and Calendar on Outlook.

If I am using Outlook for Contacts and Calendar only - is there a "server" somewhere that I am unaware of that I should be synchronizing with as you mentionj in your solution?!?!?

If at the conclusion of this discussion the consensus is that you need to purchase a third party application such as CompanionLink to synchronize - so be it - (I won't be happy) but just want to make sure there is not another way...

To <ALL>: again - genuinely appreciate your patience and feedback...

 

[annovice]

...
Just wanted to focus on a solution for Outlook Contacts and Calendars synchronization....thanks!

As a novice user of these devices I should not step into this conversation. Yet, Ernie, I feel your pain. I had the same problem and questions just days ago (you can search my posts).

I humbly suggest just purchase a thirdparty solution - as I did - start syncing between your Android cellphone and your standalone computer, just as I do. After spending many hours and days agonizing over a solution to use my Outlook, I gave up and went with commercial software. Did not want to do it, grieved me that I had to spend a lot more cash - yet the outcome of paying turning out well worth it.

Should you decide to go thirdparty and want a huge discount, drop me a line today and I will give you the discount code sent me on the reliable sw I now use. You get to trial the sw first. Best.

 

[chanchan05]

I am really starting to get confused here. Native Outlook sync without third party programs? Basically you want WinMo 6 there. Wait. Even WinMo6 does need a PC client from what I remember. NO SINGLE OTHER OS CAN DO THAT WITHOUT ANOTHER PROGRAM ON THE PC AFAIK. No matter what phone you have, you need a client to get Outlook to sync. You should know better than to demand something from Google that even MS cant do on their own software. . Nokia has Ovi/PC Suite, Android has a multitude of programs along with cloud, WP7 and iPhone uses cloud.

That said, the simple solution is take back your Motorola, get a Samsung/SE/HTC instead, install the free Kies/PC Companion/Sync software that comes with phones from these brands, and click sync.

 

[A.Nonymous]

A.Nonymous - Thanks for the advice - but obviously I have offsite backups, D/R solutions etc....so I am taken care of there.

I use Outlook for Contact Management and Calendar - because it is truly roboust (for my needs) in managing a lot of details of my clients, appts, etc.

For Email I use other more secure channels - simply because of the nature of my business and clients - Email again - is not part of this thread.

Just wanted to focus on a solution for Outlook Contacts and Calendars synchronization....thanks!

So why don't you sync with your email server directly?

Edit: Saw you answered my question.

At the end of the day, what you are wanting to do is a very, very unique case. 99% of people who use Outlook use it for email. You are using Outlook without email and you have your contacts and calendar on only one computer. 99% of business users do not do this. This is why solutions don't exist for this - no one needs them except a very, very small minority.

 

[qraider]

Getting the word out that there is not direct and complete way to synchronize Outlook Contacts and Calendars to ANY Android phone without the purchase of a third party application - which in and of themselves are limited to only a few fields - is the whole purpose of a board like this - I assume!

This is false of course.
My SGS2 sync's tasks, contacts, email, calendar with my work account with no 3rd party apps required.

The next time you buy a handset make sure it has the ability to sync with MS exchange.

EDIT: caught up with your posts

So, in essence, because android doesn't cater to your individual requirement, i.e. a 1 in 1,000,000 strange type of setup, alarm bells should ring worldwide ... ?

Face it, if you are using an unconventional set up then mainstream isn't going to cater for you. Thats where the app market comes into play.

 

[Bigguyoak]

Good Morning All,
I recently switched from a Blackberry to a Motorola X2. I am an independant sales rep using a laptop as my office computer running XP 2002. I am most certainly no IT type!! I don't know what most of this thread means, but I'd love it if somebody could tell me how to sync my contacts, and calendar between the Droid and laptop. I'm manually entering everything twice and I'm afraid of something slipping through the cracks. My email shows up in both places. I have no ax to grind and I'm not trying to add gasoline to a raging fire. If someone can tell me (in the simplest terms) how or if this can be accomplished, step by step, I'd be greatful nearly forever. Free is naturally much better!!
If it can't be done, I'll continue loving the Droid platform and the phone itself. No harm, No foul.

Thanks,
Bigguyoak

 

[chanchan05]

Good Morning All,
I recently switched from a Blackberry to a Motorola X2. I am an independant sales rep using a laptop as my office computer running XP 2002. I am most certainly no IT type!! I don't know what most of this thread means, but I'd love it if somebody could tell me how to sync my contacts, and calendar between the Droid and laptop. I'm manually entering everything twice and I'm afraid of something slipping through the cracks. My email shows up in both places. I have no ax to grind and I'm not trying to add gasoline to a raging fire. If someone can tell me (in the simplest terms) how or if this can be accomplished, step by step, I'd be greatful nearly forever. Free is naturally much better!!
If it can't be done, I'll continue loving the Droid platform and the phone itself. No harm, No foul.

Thanks,
Bigguyoak

Basically there are two ways:

1. Use a PC Client. Since you are using a Motorola phone, you need to buy Companionlink, or use MyPhoneExplorer (free).

2. Via cloud. The most convenient since basically once you set it up you can forget about it mostly, but also has many people turned off, because you basically upload all the data to Google servers, which your phone and PC downloads.

 

[Szadzik]

Just import the contacts to GMail from your PC and they will sync with your phone. Done.

 

[lunatic59]

Good Morning All,
I recently switched from a Blackberry to a Motorola X2. I am an independant sales rep using a laptop as my office computer running XP 2002. I am most certainly no IT type!! I don't know what most of this thread means, but I'd love it if somebody could tell me how to sync my contacts, and calendar between the Droid and laptop. I'm manually entering everything twice and I'm afraid of something slipping through the cracks. My email shows up in both places. I have no ax to grind and I'm not trying to add gasoline to a raging fire. If someone can tell me (in the simplest terms) how or if this can be accomplished, step by step, I'd be greatful nearly forever. Free is naturally much better!!
If it can't be done, I'll continue loving the Droid platform and the phone itself. No harm, No foul.

Thanks,
Bigguyoak

The proper way to sync your contacts and calendar is if your email server is running Exchange, then sync directly to the server and your contacts, email and calendar will be available on your phone. Your server administrator should provide you with the settings.

The controversy in this thread is about how to sync a desktop outlook client with your phone (which is something Win Mobile 6.x did and is also provided by some handset manufacturer's sync'ing software ... actually Motorola is one of a few who does not provide that option.)

The easiest way to do that is to sync email directly to your email server, either POP3 or IMAP and have it leave messages on the server. Export your contact list from outlook as a text file (either .csv or tab delimited) and import them into the gmail account your Droid is registered to. As for the calendar, if you are using outlook as your calendar and wish to sync it you can use Google's app for that.

Getting started with Google Calendar Sync

 

[A.Nonymous]

The proper way to sync your contacts and calendar is if your email server is running Exchange, then sync directly to the server and your contacts, email and calendar will be available on your phone. Your server administrator should provide you with the settings.

The controversy in this thread is about how to sync a desktop outlook client with your phone (which is something Win Mobile 6.x did and is also provided by some handset manufacturer's sync'ing software ... actually Motorola is one of a few who does not provide that option.)

The easiest way to do that is to sync email directly to your email server, either POP3 or IMAP and have it leave messages on the server. Export your contact list from outlook as a text file (either .csv or tab delimited) and import them into the gmail account your Droid is registered to. As for the calendar, if you are using outlook as your calendar and wish to sync it you can use Google's app for that.

Getting started with Google Calendar Sync

I would add to this by saying the proper way is to sync with your email server period. Whether your server is running Exchange or Lotus or you're with Yahoo or GMail or whoever doesn't really matter. You should be syncing your phone with your email server and not your email client.

 

[Ernie_P]

This is false of course.
My SGS2 sync's tasks, contacts, email, calendar with my work account with no 3rd party apps required.

The next time you buy a handset make sure it has the ability to sync with MS exchange.

EDIT: caught up with your posts

So, in essence, because android doesn't cater to your individual requirement, i.e. a 1 in 1,000,000 strange type of setup, alarm bells should ring worldwide ... ?

Face it, if you are using an unconventional set up then mainstream isn't going to cater for you. Thats where the app market comes into play.

qraider: I don't agree - I know thousands of folks (I'm sure Microsoft has stats) who use Outlook simply for Contact management. Obviously could go with something like SalesForce or even Siebel - but I am 100% positive that if I can't get Outlook to synchronize I am certainly not going to get Siebel/CRM to sync. But don't dismiss something that is utilized by thousands (if not more) business folks to manage their business.

 

[Ernie_P]

All,

I want to thank everyone that has contributed to the "lively" but still respectfull conversation on this thread. It is great to see people exchanging ideas while still assisting and more importantly respecting others that differ.

I think that I have confirmed that the best way to synchronize Android with Outlook is to load things up to Gmail and then back down - "Cloud" the information.

Obviously as I have mentioned that is not an option for me and I will need to move ahead with a third party app such as CompanionLink.

I think the discussion has been helpful to me and hopefully has helped other to know what to expect prior to purchasing an Android phone.

I have updated the original post to summarize what we have discussed and again I want to thank everyone for their input and feedback.

Thanks!

 

[A.Nonymous]

qraider: I don't agree - I know thousands of folks (I'm sure Microsoft has stats) who use Outlook simply for Contact management. Obviously could go with something like SalesForce or even Siebel - but I am 100% positive that if I can't get Outlook to synchronize I am certainly not going to get Siebel/CRM to sync. But don't dismiss something that is utilized by thousands (if not more) business folks to manage their business.

I would be interested in those stats because I don't agree with that assessment at all. I would bet that the vast majority of people who use Outlook use it for email in some way. I confess I don't have any stats to back this up, but I work in the IT field and don't know of a single person at any of my clients who's not using Outlook for email.

 

[spile]

I use my Android phone as part of my business and personal life.
I use Outlook (not exchange) on two different user accounts - effectively two PCs
Email:
Business account uses Email app on phone
Personal account uses Google mail app on phone
Calendar:
Use Google Calendar sync on business and personal accounts. I only want ONE calendar and GCS keeps the two Outlook accounts sync'd along with the phone.
Contacts
Use MyPhoneExplorer (free) on each of the two accounts to keep my business and personal contacts sync'd with the phone and also with each other. I use Outlook Colour Catergories to keep Work and Personal contacts separate.

 

[blueman2]

Could not agree more with Ernie P. I had no issues with security or synching or anything that had to do with contacts with my blackberry right out of the box (and can't wait for my next upgrade to get back to it). I understand the benefits of all the bells and whistles the android phone provides along with the speed of the internet access. What I cannot understand at all is why in the world can't a phone provide all of these things. Are the people who make these things deaf dumb and blind. Searching high and low for apps that do one thing but not the other thing is getting very very tiresome. And of course ernie is correct, what could be more important in a phone than contacts.

 

[Morat]

Actually, Android phones DO provide exactly the functionality Ernie_P requires - but not all of them have it out of the box. HTC sync will do it (IIRC), I'm sure there are other manufacturers that provide the same - or you'll have to use expensive 3rd party apps.

 

[Ernie_P]

As a novice user of these devices I should not step into this conversation. Yet, Ernie, I feel your pain. I had the same problem and questions just days ago (you can search my posts).

I humbly suggest just purchase a thirdparty solution - as I did - start syncing between your Android cellphone and your standalone computer, just as I do. After spending many hours and days agonizing over a solution to use my Outlook, I gave up and went with commercial software. Did not want to do it, grieved me that I had to spend a lot more cash - yet the outcome of paying turning out well worth it.

Should you decide to go thirdparty and want a huge discount, drop me a line today and I will give you the discount code sent me on the reliable sw I now use. You get to trial the sw first. Best.

annovice: Thanks for the help and info - I sent you a private message. Thanks!

 

[blueman2]

HTC sync will not do it for me. I have multiple businesses and i.e folders in my outlook folder. I do not want or need all those contacts on my phone. HTC sync will only allow syncing to one folder. The people who developed the Blackberry were perceptive enough to realize this need and as I said, it took care of this right out of the box.

 

[blueman2]

annovice:

Will the software you mentioned above do what I am looking for? (See previous post from a few minutes ago)

 

[aysiu]

This thread is mistitled. Typical business use is syncing to an Exchange server, not an Outlook email client. Syncing to an Outlook email client is a fringe pursuit, not a typical use-case scenario.

And analogies to cars and gasoline make no sense. You could make just as much of a case that Outlook is being difficult and why would you use Outlook when it requires you to use a particular kind of phone to sync contacts. Microsoft isn't well known for playing fair (for example, my workplace uses an Exchange server, and we can't get it to work with POP3 or IMAP, even though it should be able to do so in theory--any other kind of mail server POP3 and IMAP are the default standard).

If you want a phone that integrates well with Microsoft stuff (yes, that's what Outlook is), get a Microsoft-made phone (Windows). If you want a phone that integrates well with Google stuff, get an Android. If you want a phone that integrates well with Apple stuff, get an iPhone.

I know, for example, that I can use third-party software to integrate my Android phone with iCal and iTunes and iPhoto, but it's not as smooth an experience. That's why I don't care about any of that stuff. If I did, I would have gotten an iPhone.

 

[edgchacon]

Blackberry was meant to be the "business" phone/pda. so it supported syncing out of the box

I dont think android has ever claimed to be that. What android has claimed to be is a social-type phone that lives in the cloud.

as far as iphone, well you need iTunes to sync any information

I have looked for something like this as well, but here is the best i found:

How To: Sync Android With Microsoft Outlook | PCMag.com

 

[blueman2]

I've read that article and the key words are "too late"

"..here's a little secret to buying an Android phone, one that you may not learn until it's too late: Google really wants you to use Gmail, Google Contacts, and Google Calendar. "



"Blackberry was meant to be the "business" phone"

Again, my question is why does it have to be an either or? Why can't they just think this think out a little more so it works for fun AND for business. And blackberry, for that matter, could have made their phones a little faster and more internet friendly(which apparently they just did or tried to)

 

[dshearn]

WP7 phones are superb in my experience. There are times I ask myself if I made the right decision in an Android whenever I play around with my friend's phone. But then I just look at how many more free apps on Android and I realize I did. LOL.

Windows 7 is NOT outlook native....


You have to Have an exchange Server (same as on Android)

OR Synch Outlook to Hotmail ( same as you can import outlook in to GMAIL)

 

[dvhttn]

(Sigh) ...

1. No corporate Exchange Server, Email, etc. STAND ALONE PC.
2. PC has Outlook installed and it is used for only Contacts and Calendar - no Emails are configured or read via Outlook.
3. Looking to synchronize Outlook <Contacts> and <Calendar> ONLY - no Email.
4. I have found that the phone does not come with any pre-installed applications to synchronize Microsoft Outlook Contacts and Calendars with it.
5. I have found third party applications - but at a cost of $50+ for the ones that actually work and are stable - I started this thread to find if those were my only options.
6. I cannot sync through Gmail because of security concerns (for the type of contacts and data that I have) - simply not an option.

...

Just Contacts and Calendar on Outlook.

...

This is exactly what I do. I sync contacts/calendar to my phone from Outlook running on my local PC (emails I get another route). I use MyPhoneExplorer to do this. Free app on the phone and (free) client on the PC. Works for me.

Dave

 

[A.Nonymous]

And analogies to cars and gasoline make no sense. You could make just as much of a case that Outlook is being difficult and why would you use Outlook when it requires you to use a particular kind of phone to sync contacts. Microsoft isn't well known for playing fair (for example, my workplace uses an Exchange server, and we can't get it to work with POP3 or IMAP, even though it should be able to do so in theory--any other kind of mail server POP3 and IMAP are the default standard).

Your Exchange server has to be set up for POP/IMAP access. I don't think it is by default. If it's not set up, then nothing you do will work.