How to sync Outlook Contacts with Droid X

AdamZ

AdamZ

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Adam Zucker
As some may know I recently moved to a Droid X. I previously used a Palm Treo which synced via cable with outlook. It synced my Calendar as well as my contacts and several other things.

With the Droid X I figured out how to use Google Calendar to sync with my outlook calendar and it seems to work well. I would really like to sync with outlook contacts as well but my carrier verizon told me there is not way to "just" do it like I did with the calander. I still use Outlook contacts on my work desktop as my primary phone book. Is there a program or app out there that anyone is familar with that I can purchase to sync the contacts with my Droid X?
 
I remember doing this with my Windows Mobile phone (I'm also on Verizon) after I bought a Droid. I set the server address to m.google.com with SSL, specified my gmail username/password with no domain, and specified that I wanted to sync contacts (but left the other boxes unchecked). I turned on wifi on my Windows Mobile phone to do this because the Droid had already been activated and the old phone could no longer do it over the Verizon network.
 
Or use CompanionLink for Google - it will automatically sync Outlook and Google, and thus your Android calendar and contacts linked to Google.
 
TMetzinger said:
Or use CompanionLink for Google - it will automatically sync Outlook and Google, and thus your Android calendar and contacts linked to Google.
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That looks like its the way to go Tim. you can sync your outlook calander with Google Calendar through google but they don't have a way to sync the contacts.
 
If you look at Companionlink in Android Marketplace and read the reviews, you'll find many that excoriate it. I've been reluctant to try, especially for $40. I have a Motorola Atrix and also rely on Outlook on the PC for contacts and calendar and am unhappy that there doesn't appear to be a reliable way to sync. I would probably not have bought the Atrix if I'd understood the problems.
I am not interested in syncing in the cloud.
 
Another solution: If you have OWA set up, you can sync your email and contacts with the device natively.
 
SkyHog said:
Another solution: If you have OWA set up, you can sync your email and contacts with the device natively.
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You mean an Exchange server? OWA is just the web interface for Exchange. But yes, Iphone has a native Exchange client and I would be surprised if Droid did not have one as well.
 
Sac Arrow said:
You mean an Exchange server? OWA is just the web interface for Exchange. But yes, Iphone has a native Exchange client and I would be surprised if Droid did not have one as well.
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OWA can be deployed separately from Exchange. You can spilt those servers and most IT departments do. It's a "Really Bad Idea(TM)" to run public-side Internet services directly on your Exchange server.

iPhone's "Exchange client" actually uses ActiveSync which can also be deployed with or without OWA.

Most phones are actually using ActiveSync. And most ActiveSync policy deployments include you giving the IT department running the ActiveSync server the ability to remotely wipe your phone whether you want them to or not. A built-in security feature of ActiveSync that's on by default and implicitly allowed by all devices that implement ActiveSync. Usually the end-user can't turn it off.

You leave the company, the admins will probably not hit the wipe button, but if they do, I hope you have your data backed up somewhere.

Some services and phones know how to "web-scrape" data from OWA.

Blackberry's personal BIS servers used to be able to do this. They're not typically able to be remote-wiped. It's also a security-breach for IT departments who've purposely not supported ActiveSync. Anyone with OWA access can "sync" and do "push" to a non-Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) Blackberry if they have a personal phone plan and BIS service from RIM.

Not a big deal until RIM hands over all your work e-mails to someone in a foreign country, which they've shown they're willing to do, and the IT department is left holding the bag for "not securing company e-mail to mobile devices" by the CIO and Chief Legal Counsel.

Mobile devices are here to stay, but they're a nightmare for the IT Security folk.
 
Sac Arrow said:
You mean an Exchange server? OWA is just the web interface for Exchange. But yes, Iphone has a native Exchange client and I would be surprised if Droid did not have one as well.
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No. I mean OWA. As in - you can access Exchange from outside the network using Outlook Web Access.
 
SkyHog said:
No. I mean OWA. As in - you can access Exchange from outside the network using Outlook Web Access.
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Oh, yes, through the web interface, but it isn't very functional on a small phone screen though.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Oh, yes, through the web interface, but it isn't very functional on a small phone screen though.
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No. Both android and windows mobile use OWA for their mobile email connections as well. Its not in the browser, its through the email client.
 
SkyHog said:
No. Both android and windows mobile use OWA for their mobile email connections as well. Its not in the browser, its through the email client.
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I believe that's incorrect. You point the devices at your OWA server, but it must be running ActiveSync to handle the requests.

Note the first couple of sentences under "Enabling Users" in this web page.

http://www.petri.co.il/setting-up-mobile-messaging-in-exchange-2007-part-1.htm

Many companies/organizations have ActiveSync turned off by default if they don't want users attaching mobile devices to the Exchange server.

OWA through a web browser still works just fine on such servers, but mobile devices will be completely ignored.

Same guy also has a decent history of how mobile devices have connected to Exchange in the past, since Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 handle it completely differently.

http://www.petri.co.il/differences_exchange2003_exchange2007_mobile_features.htm

He makes no mention of how to configure the common setup which is "split server" where the OWA server is NOT the same physical machine as the Exchange server, nor does it have anything other than IIS and appropriate "connectors" running on it to talk to the internal/secured Exchange farm.

If you're using Exchange servers that "just work" with Windows Mobile and Android devices, thank your IT staff. To do that properly and securely is truly a pain in the butt. (That or they did it improperly and insecurely by running it all on the same box, and they'll eventually hate that decision and have a lot of work to do to rip it apart and do it right... GRIN!)
 
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