Why is everyone ignoring this post? Companion link? Touchdown, is by the far the best Outlook sync availible, Calendar, ALL mail folders, Contacts even Global addresses. I came from a BB and until I found this app I was not that impressed with the Droid as a business phone. Now my phone smokes any BB on the market, the only thing I miss is group email. I have not found a good app for that yet.
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Is there a good App to SYNC directly with Microsoft Outlook (contacts and calendar)?
- Thread starter ttevogt
- Start date
Why is everyone ignoring this post? Companion link? Touchdown, is by the far the best Outlook sync availible, Calendar, ALL mail folders, Contacts even Global addresses. I came from a BB and until I found this app I was not that impressed with the Droid as a business phone. Now my phone smokes any BB on the market, the only thing I miss is group email. I have not found a good app for that yet.
Originally Posted by ttevogt
Thank you for the update on the Exchange info.....I am not using Outlook on an Exchange server. This is Outlook 2007 on a PC.
Because the question was about Stand alone Outlook and not Exchange.
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It's a tricky situation. They really want Android to sync wirelessly and there's not a good way to do so with a stand-alone Outlook install. You're really stuck using sync solutions like CompanionLink. I do agree, however, that it seems like quite an oversight on their part.
Really? I'm using my Droid with an Exchange account and ActiveSync (with Touchdown). Not germane to the OP, but...
ActiveSync is supported. It is not, however, relevant to a Outlook without Exchange. Outlook != Exchange.
Touchdown does not sync with Outlook (client). It syncs with Exchange (server). Again, Outlook != Exchange.
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Speaking as a mail admin, synching with a Stand alone installation of Outlook is a bit pointless. Basically what you are looking at is the old PDA in the cradle functionality. That's not what smart phones are intended for.
If you trully want to be mobile you have to have your data (no matter what it is) on an Internet facing server. Gmail provides that functionality free of charge. You don't have to use your Gmail address, you can have it pull your "other" email and get instant notification on your phone. Pretty sure you setup your Outlook to pull from Gmail too. That way you'd have the best of both worlds.
I second the call for Touchdown for Exchange by the way, it's a great app and really inexpensive.
If you trully want to be mobile you have to have your data (no matter what it is) on an Internet facing server. Gmail provides that functionality free of charge. You don't have to use your Gmail address, you can have it pull your "other" email and get instant notification on your phone. Pretty sure you setup your Outlook to pull from Gmail too. That way you'd have the best of both worlds.
I second the call for Touchdown for Exchange by the way, it's a great app and really inexpensive.
No, I don't believe so, but unless you're adverse to using Gmail this way is much better anyway. It's totally wireless and Companion Link can be set to sync at a preset interval. Any changes you make to your phone or Outlook sync invisibly without having to connect a cable like in the MS ActiveStink world.
FYI - I am in your boat. I use stand alone outlook. Here is my experience with companion link. Remember contacts is the real issue. Google does offer a way for stand alone users to sync their outlook calender up to the cloud, but they don't offer this for contacts.
Companion link has two different products. Android for Google. This is an application that will take your tasks, calendar, contacts, and notes and sync it to the Google "Cloud". I don't use notes. But your tasks are put into your calendar.
Then the cloud will sync that same information to your phone.
My advice...before you use CL, make a back up of your outlook calendar and contacts in case the first sync goes awry.
This product work flawlessly for me since November. However recently, when I try to sync GOOGLE will think that Companion Link is a phishing software and block the sync. This does not happen every time, but enough where it is getting to be a pain. The tech support with CL is very good, but as of know they have no solution.
There is a second product which is the USB sync. This product is a bit cumbersome as you need both an app on your phone and the software on your pc. Here you can sync your outlook directly to your phone. Your phone will then sync up to the cloud. Or you can eliminate the cloud by not allowing your phone to sync with it.
From what I understand, you can test both..but DO NOT do both at the same time. both programs run differently and if you sync with both you will end up with tons of duplication.
From what I have read there are some cheaper alternatives out there, but many do not work as advertised.
I was having this problem as well. When I had a WinMo phone and I responded to an e-mail on my computer and it was added to my contacts, it got added to my phone the next time I sync'd. I won't be able to do that with my Droid, since I have all my Gmail going to my address for Outlook Express. So even if Gmail syncs new e-mail contacts into my contacts list, it won't matter since my e-mail goes elsewhere.
Since the address that I use isn't work related, maybe it's just time for me to switch over to Gmail and be done with it. That way all my contacts are in one place and I don't have to worry about where my Outlook Express mail is going.
Since the address that I use isn't work related, maybe it's just time for me to switch over to Gmail and be done with it. That way all my contacts are in one place and I don't have to worry about where my Outlook Express mail is going.
CompanionLink USB will sync Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes directly from Outlook to the Droid.
Web page link: USB sync Android phones with Outlook, Lotus Notes, GroupWise, ACT!, and Palm Desktop
I think your instincts are correct. If you continue to use Outlook Express be prepared for ongoing integration problems. It's a dying if not dead product. (Not to be confused with Outlook.) And it's increasingly difficult to find products that interface with it well.
They're working on increasingly seamless PC-to-phone syncs, too. The USB sync product has gotten much better in the last couple of months and I expect it to be a complete solution very soon.