Hello. Need Your Exchange Input.

[rws381]

Hi all, long time BlackBerry guy here. I'm eligible for an upgrade and I think I want to try an iPhone.

I am on BES at work and my company does support iPhone. I'm not a super heavy user but I do my fair share, I need my remote email device to be reliable and user friendly. So I have a couple of questions about email on the iPhone.

1 - Do items sent from your PC sync to your phone like they do with BES?

2 - When a message is filed away in Outlook what happens to it on the iPhone? Does it stay in the main list or are folders supported?

3 - I know iPhone supports push but is it as instant as BES? Sometimes my BlackBerry alerts me before my PC does.

4 - How is the calendar and contact sync? Its pretty instant on BES. Is it as good on iPhone?

5 - Personal email - I use Yahoo! for my personal email. Is that also two way sync like it is for BIS? If I open, delete or file away on my PC will the email show as read or gone if deleted or filed?

I have read a few blogs and such about ActiveSync but wanted to get some real time input from users. If something similar has been posted please point me in the right direction, same if you have a really good article link.

Thanks! Hope to get some helpful responses soon. ...And maybe an iPhone

 

[bubbatex]

Hi all, long time BlackBerry guy here. I'm eligible for an upgrade and I think I want to try an iPhone.

I am on BES at work and my company does support iPhone. I'm not a super heavy user but I do my fair share, I need my remote email device to be reliable and user friendly. So I have a couple of questions about email on the iPhone.

1 - Do items sent from your PC sync to your phone like they do with BES?
Yes
2 - When a message is filed away in Outlook what happens to it on the iPhone? Does it stay in the main list or are folders supported?
Yes, folders are supported and you can choose which folders to "push", meaning which folders you want to stay updated each time you connect to Activesync. What happens in Outlook is reflected on the iPhone almost instantly and vice versa.
3 - I know iPhone supports push but is it as instant as BES? Sometimes my BlackBerry alerts me before my PC does. Have not had BES in ages, but yes, it is fast and sometimes is on my phone before it hits my PC

4 - How is the calendar and contact sync? Its pretty instant on BES. Is it as good on iPhone? Same, instant

5 - Personal email - I use Yahoo! for my personal email. Is that also two way sync like it is for BIS? If I open, delete or file away on my PC will the email show as read or gone if deleted or filed? Not sure about Yahoo, but think it will do this. My GMail account (IMAP) reflects changes made on the iPhone.

I have read a few blogs and such about ActiveSync but wanted to get some real time input from users. If something similar has been posted please point me in the right direction, same if you have a really good article link.

Thanks! Hope to get some helpful responses soon. ...And maybe an iPhone

I answered what I could above. I assume your company supports Exchange Activesync.

 

[rws381]

Thanks bubbatex, that's a helpful response. And yes, my company does support Activesync. Still not sure if I want to make the switch yet or not but BlackBerry has gotten kind of boring. Would still like a positive yes/no on Yahoo mail sync. I read that its push so I assume it should work just the same.

Another question. What's all this talk I've read about exchange email not coming through when connected to WiFi and the phone is in sleep mode. That would be an annoying problem for me, I'm on WiFi quite often. But I guess I'm not clear on exactly what sleep mode is either since I don't have an iPhone. Maybe you don't have to ever put it in "sleep mode" or something?

 

[bubbatex]

Yes, wifi is off when the phone goes to "sleep" - the screen turns off. But as long as you have any signal at all (ie, not in Airplane mode), mail will come through.

BTW - did you search for the Yahoo answer? Sorry - that link was for Singapore, try this: Yahoo!? Mail for iPhone?

 

[ghostface147]

What version of exchange are they using? Remember that OS 3.1 enforces encryption on 3GS phones for Exchange 07 if that option is enabled. If you use an older iPhone, it won't work if encryption is enforced via IT policy.

 

[rws381]

What version of exchange are they using? Remember that OS 3.1 enforces encryption on 3GS phones for Exchange 07 if that option is enabled. If you use an older iPhone, it won't work if encryption is enforced via IT policy.

I don't know what version of Exchange but I plan on getting a 3GS so that doesn't matter right?

 

[rws381]

Ok one more question, I keep thinking of things. Is there Outlook Global Contact List look up support? In a company with 45,000+ it comes in handy quite often.

 

[robalex117]

Ok one more question, I keep thinking of things. Is there Outlook Global Contact List look up support? In a company with 45,000+ it comes in handy quite often.

Yes I think that was added in 3.0. In any event it is available now.

 

[robalex117]

I don't know what version of Exchange but I plan on getting a 3GS so that doesn't matter right?

Correct. With a 3gs it does not matter. If exchange forces encryption you are ok and if it does not you are ok.

 

[rws381]

Great! Thanks everyone. Its looking like I'll probably go for it. Seems like all benefits of BES that I used are fully covered by ActiveSync. Decisions, decisions....

 

[rws381]

Ok I got my iPhone yesterday and email definitely isn't being pushed when it's asleep over WiFi. I sent a test email to myself and another person on the same exchange server on the same WiFi network. He received a notification and I didn't. Any ideas as to what is going on here? I'm on WiFi a lot and definitely need notification of Exchange mail.

 

[lukeca]

Is the other person using an iPhone or something else? Do you get push notification ok when you have WiFi turned off? Is the exchange host your using accessible from the WiFi? For example say you are using the exchange host mail.mycompany.com. That host may work fine on 3g because the 3g connection is outside of your network, but if you are using an internal wifi connection, mail.mycompany.com might not resolve correctly depending on how your internal dns is setup.

I can tell you that I'm using exchange on my iPhone and push notifications work instantly on wifi or 3g, so it does work.

 

[rws381]

The other person was using an iPhone on the same exchange server. I had a few other problems with that phone so I went back to my BlackBerry. After a couple weeks with it I realized how boring they are and got another 3Gs. This one has been working much better in many areas.

I wonder if I just had a dud the first time.