Seemless Exchange Integration with Windows Mobile

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:10:19 GMT

One thing I have done on my Windows Mobile device (Motorola Q) to have a better universal access experience is to save a copy of my email when sending it from my mobile device and sync my sent items folder. What this accomplishes is the ability to see reply's to email in Outlook that I made on my mobile device and vice versa. The reason I sought this solution was that when I replied to emails on my cell phone, it was not recording the replies in Outlook, and sometimes I didn't remember if I had replied to someone.

By doing both "save a copy" and "sync sent items" you get the ability in Outlook to see the "Replied To" icon in your Inbox. I'm using Outlook 2007 but it probably also works in Outlook 2003. Also when you open the email in Outlook, the top bar above the "From/To" header has a message "You replied on xx/xx/xxxx 00:00 AM/PM" which is clickable to "Find related messages". This is great because I can send an email on my mobile device and at a later date on my computer bring the reply up easily from my Inbox without searching manualy through my Sent Mail folder.

Here are the steps I use to accomplish this integration:

On you Windows Mobile Device (I'm on Windows Mobile 5), Open your "Outlook E-mail" folder or the folder that contains your Exchange email under the Messaging applicaiton.
Inside your Outlook email Inbox, choose "Menu" -> "Options"
Under Options, choose "Sending" and check the "Save copies of sent items" option and then "Done" to save the option.
Now click "Done" again to get back to your "Outlook E-Mail" folder inbox (or whatever your folder is called that has your email from Exchange)
From your Windows Mobile inbox, choose "Menu" -> "Folders"
From the "Folders" screen, choose "Menu" -> "Manage Folders" and scroll down to your "Sent Items" folder.
Highlight the "Sent Items" folder and choose "Sync" then "Done"
Highlight your "Inbox" and choose "Select" to return to your Windows Mobile Inbox.

Now any email messages you reply to will be decorated and linked in Outlook with your reply!

Hope this tip helps you...

Talbott Crowell's Development Blog: Exchange 2007

Seemless Exchange Integration with Windows Mobile