Can someone explain email syncing to me?

[Guest imacken]

I'm confused!

At the moment, on my Omnia I have an email account called BT Mail (BM) and there is also Outlook Mail (OM).

On my PC, Outlook is set up for my BM account.

When I connect to my PC, OM syncs with it OK, i.e. Inbox and Sent folders.

So far so good!

The thing I don't understand is this. When I receive emails everything is OK, as they go to my phone and a copy is still on the server so that when I log in to my PC, I still get the emails. It's the sending emails thing that I don't get. For example, on my phone if I reply to an email I've received on my BM account, it goes to my BM Sent folder. OK so far. BUT, when I sync with my PC the BT folders don't sync, just the OM ones, so I don't get the replies I've sent coming over to my PC. The threads are then broken.

What am I doing wrong here?

Thanks.

Edited October 25, 2008 by imacken

[Guest imacken]

Can anyone help with this?

[Guest Neil5459]

You're not actually doing anything wrong, it's just the way synced mobile Email works :lol:

Pocket Outlook (messaging) - which is your OM setting will sync with Outlook on the PC. In this scenario, you'd compile a message in OM but it won't send the emails until you sync with the PC-at that point the Outbox of the PPC sends its contents to the PC, from where it is sent and the sent mail then appears in both Sent Items locations. This is a throwback to the initial days of WM devices, when they didn't have any inherent connections apart from the PC.

Your BM account on the PPC is treated as a totally separate account, so any sent items cannot sync with the PC, which only syncs with the OM account.

The only way around this is to use a hosted Microsoft Exchange system. These keep all your messaging on a remote server, from where any changes such as new mail (and contacts and appointments) get synced with any connected device, be it a PC, Laptop or Mobile Phone device. Generally the PC includes a 'cached exchange mode' so all the messages are kept loclly as well as a precaution. So this means that any 'Sent Items' on the PPC will immediately sync with the Exchange, from where the PC will pick up changes and everything will always be current.

There are a few free Hosted Exchange systems- Mail2Web etc, and some paid-for versions like 4Smartphone who charge about £5 per month. Paid for versions are more comprehensive and may be more secure,but some of the free ones are good.

[Guest imacken]

Thanks for that Neil.

This seems to make a nonsense of the whole email on the move concept. We are saying that I can receive emails fom my 'synced' account to my phone, but if I reply to any then they are lost - at least as far as my PC is concerned! So, they remain on the phone and that's it. Why can't the BM account be the same as the OM account on the phone?

What is the point in this?

[Guest Neil5459]

It's annoying but is a limitation of POP3 Email in general. POP3 doesn't update the Sent Items from one device to another because it is a local service. It doesn't just affect mobiles, it would apply to any other device as well.

If you want full syncing, then you need to use an IMAP account or an Exchange Hosted account.

[Guest imacken]

It's annoying but is a limitation of POP3 Email in general. POP3 doesn't update the Sent Items from one device to another because it is a local service. It doesn't just affect mobiles, it would apply to any other device as well.

If you want full syncing, then you need to use an IMAP account or an Exchange Hosted account.

Again I'm confused. My BT Mail account is IMAP not pop3!

[Guest Neil5459]

In that case I'm talking blx or I'm just confused :lol:

I don't use POP or IMAP as I'm on an Exchange Host, but I was under the impression that IMAP did update to the server on send. Maybe someone else can clarify? :D

[Guest imacken]

So, the bottom line is that if I reply to an email on my phone then that is lost as rfar as WMDC syncing is concerned. Is that right?

[Guest Neil5459]

So, the bottom line is that if I reply to an email on my phone then that is lost as rfar as WMDC syncing is concerned. Is that right?

In a nutshell, Yes unless you reply using the Outlook Email account and are prepared to wait for it to send until the next sync with the PC, or you upgrade to an Exchange service.

[Guest imacken]

Thanks again, Neil.

I don't know anything about Exchange Servers, etc. Can you give me a general idea of what that's about or point me to a site that would explain how they work?

[Guest imacken]

What's even more frustrating is that you can't even move the 'sent' emails to a folder outside of the mail account they were sent from! I thought I could move them to Outlook Mail 'sent' folder and then sync, but apparently not.

[Guest Neil5459]

What's even more frustrating is that you can't even move the 'sent' emails to a folder outside of the mail account they were sent from! I thought I could move them to Outlook Mail 'sent' folder and then sync, but apparently not.

I know- a number have tried and failed.

For Exchange Server info, you coiuld look at www.4smartphone.net. This is a paid for service (about £5.50 per month) and works well. A free service is offered by Mail2Web though I don't knowwhat its limitations are.,

Basically an Exchange service keeps your Outlook data on a central server. All your clients then connect to this to download/exchange all data including mail, tasks, appoiintments, contacts etc. You Desktop PC can also keep a local copy of the data for offline use. Content is then 'pushed' to your devices as it arrives, or can be done on a schedule. This is the best way to keep a number of devices always in sync with each other.

[Guest imacken]

Thanks again, Neil. Sorry to be dragging this out, but it would seem that the Mail2web service (and the Smartphone one) make you use a separate new email account, i.e. [email protected] etc.

Can my existing email account not be used? I really am amazed that such a simple thing is proving to be so difficult.

[Guest Neil5459]

Thanks again, Neil. Sorry to be dragging this out, but it would seem that the Mail2web service (and the Smartphone one) make you use a separate new email account, i.e. [email protected] etc.

Can my existing email account not be used? I really am amazed that such a simple thing is proving to be so difficult.

Mail2web being a free service has some limitations- the need to use their own email address being one of them.

The paid-for services like 4smartphone and Sherweb which some of the Modaco member use can use your own email address.

The way it works is that you set your normal email to forward to the Exchange Host; in your case, your BT Mail account would forward all incoming mail to 4Smartphone or Sherweb, so you would cease accessing it via the BT servers. Incoming BT Mail goes straight to the Exchange Server. All your email clients point their incoming and outgoing settings to the Exchange, so whenever they are set to connect, they will exchange data both ways. Your outgoing mail from whichever device you are currently using will send via the Exchange, and with the paid services will be sent as from your normal email address (so your addressee will see [email protected] or whatever you normally use.

Additionally, your connected devices will also reflect additions/deletions/changes in the other Outlook modules- Tasks, Contacts and Calendars so if you add a Contact on the Omnia, it will automatically be added on the PC next time Outlook is opened, etc, etc, regardless of whether the device is docked at the time. Items added/changed on the PC are reflected on the Omnia next time it connects.

The paid for services generally include a free copy of Outlook 2007 for the PC. There are costs to consider: the monthly sub is one. Data use for the mobile devices is another. If it is set for true 'push' sync, then changes are 'pushed'

to the device as soon as they occur on the server. This is acheived by the deviuce sending a regular 'heartbeat' signal reconfirming its connections status every 15 minutes. This signal uses about 4MB of data per month over and above the actual content being synced. You can of course still have it set for a time based sync- every xx minutes, though anything less than 30minutes tends to use more data than the smaller 'heartbeat' signal.

On the mobile you can set which folders are to sync (including Sent Item!) and how much of a message or attachments are downloaded. You can also set whether emails are text or HTML based.

From any PC you can also access your Outlook folders at any time by logging into Outlook Web Access, which is an integral part of an Exchange Hosted system.

So, as you can see this is a powerful system, but maybe overkill for a lot of users.

[Guest imacken]

Wow! Thanks for the detailed response Neil. I really appreciate it.

Now I understand a bit more, I'll go and investigate further.

[Guest Neil5459]

Wow! Thanks for the detailed response Neil. I really appreciate it.

Now I understand a bit more, I'll go and investigate further.

Good luck :lol: