Apple tell me Exchange isn't supported....

[gbrookshaw]

Like most of you I've been having problems syncing Outlook linked to Exchange. Finally got through on Chat and was told this...

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Hi, my name is Orlando. Welcome to Apple!
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Orlando: Hello, I'm looking over the information you just provided.
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gbrookshaw: Hello
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Orlando: I understand that you would like to sync MobileMe with OUtlook, this is possible but Outlook cannot be already configured to an Exchange server
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gbrookshaw: So are you saying that it can never work or are you saying I must sync when Outlook is standalone and then I can change it to Exchange later?
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Orlando: It would not work when it is being synced from another source
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Orlando: If Outlook was stand alone it would work
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gbrookshaw: But all the documentation states that it works with Outlook 2007 - it doesn't mention whether Exchange or not. There are 1000's of people having the same problem as me. Is this by design or is it a temporary problem?
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Orlando: This is by design, what you are trying to do is sync to a source that is already syncing with another source
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gbrookshaw: But I can sync my contacts with my iPhone via iTunes. Isn't this the same principle?
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Orlando: No, that is totally different since when you sync to iTunes you are connected through a cable
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gbrookshaw: Are you getting this Exchange query a lot?
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Orlando: Me personally, yes. I have submitted requests to have this information in our site since I the information now is vague
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gbrookshaw: I agree. Are you OK if I share this information on forums to help other frustrated users? You are officially saying that MobileMe doesn't work by design with Outlook linked to Exchange?
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Orlando: Yes
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gbrookshaw: Is there a process where I can cancel my MobileMe subscription based on it not delivering as advertised?
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Orlando: I just need to verify some information then I can cancel it for you and refund your card
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gbrookshaw: Let me think it over 1st - once I decide is there somewhere I can email to start this process?
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Orlando: Just go the link below, click on Account>Cancel and submit an email request with the following information Birth date, Answer to secret question, last for digits of the card that you used to purchase this account
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Orlando: http://www.apple.com/uk/support/mobileme/
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gbrookshaw: What I don't understand is that I have also submitted an email query on this (stating Exchange) and was told to go through the normal troubleshooting procedure. Are there people unaware of this issue? Some people on forums are also saying that it works for them.
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Orlando: That is odd, if its working for some people, I guess that is good. I know that sometimes some things that are not suppose to work, do, but then eventually fail and there is nothing that we can do since it wasn't a supported feature to begin with
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gbrookshaw: OK, I'm shocked - the MobileMe sync on the PC isn't doing anything clever - it's just reading the Outlook file and comparing contacts to what's stored in the cloud. It should be just the same as the iTunes to iPhone sync.
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Orlando: That is what MobileMe/.Mac has always done
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gbrookshaw: Does that statement mean that you agree with my theory?
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Orlando: MobileMe has always worked from the Internet, syncing with iTunes would not be the same since you would be physically syncing one device to another between two devices
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Orlando: ok
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gbrookshaw: OK, well thanks for your time. I'm sure you'll be in for a rough ride on this one. Thanks.
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Orlando: You're welcome, have a nice day!


I'm completely shocked by this. Not what I expected - wanted it to be a bug! But how have some of you managed to get this working???

 

[Sky Blue]

I don' understand what you're getting at. Mobile Me does work with Outlook, Exchange is something separate.

 

[scormier]

I think he means that if Outlook is already set up with an Exchange account, it will not work with MobileMe.
At least that's the problem I seem to be having.

 

[gbrookshaw]

Yes, it's when your Outlook is set up to work with Exchange.

 

[Slip Jigs]

Yes, it's when your Outlook is set up to work with Exchange.

You asked the right questions, that's for sure. I'm still trying to come up with something as to why and iTunes sync should be different than a MM sync.

Orlando doesn't seem to understand it, that's for sure. A cable is just a conduit, that shouldn't make any difference. iTunes can surely recognize the data, then why can't the MM client?

One thing cable sync won't do - Exchange or standalone, is sync between two computers and the iPhone, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.

 

[marmiteturkey]

That's what I was afraid of - for some reason Apple don't WANT you to sync info on an exchange server with mobileme. Why not? There's a whole load of people for whom MM just isn't interesting without this basic functionality.

 

[txa1265]

This is the problem I'm also having - and it makes no sense since I can sync my Pocket PC through Outlook to Exchange data ... but I want it on my iPod Touch so I can stop carrying so much crap around!

 

[casper.wong]

MM Already Has Problems Syncing with Outlook Alone !

I think he means that if Outlook is already set up with an Exchange account, it will not work with MobileMe.
At least that's the problem I seem to be having.

I think it is mentioned somewhere in Apple's FAQs or guides that it will not work with Outlook with an Exchange Server.

However , the real problem is that MM has even trouble syncing with Outlook by itself ... read my posts in a separate threads this few days and be very careful with your data!

Outrageous!!!!

 

[David2070]

I don't quite follow. Can't you just sync directly to Exchange and ignore Outlook - that's what I do.

I use my iPhone synched to exachange if I'm mobile and use Outlook when I'm at my desk.

 

[casper.wong]

I don't quite follow. Can't you just sync directly to Exchange and ignore Outlook - that's what I do.

I use my iPhone synched to exachange if I'm mobile and use Outlook when I'm at my desk.

Syncing directly between iPhone and Exchange is not the same as syncing Outlook, Exchange and iPhone, please read the post in Apple Support:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2483

 

[alFR]

Syncing directly between iPhone and Exchange is not the same as syncing Outlook, Exchange and iPhone, please read the post in Apple Support:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2483

I think he's asking why you would bother syncing with your desktop Outlook when you could just sync with the Exchange server directly.

 

[casper.wong]

I think he's asking why you would bother syncing with your desktop Outlook when you could just sync with the Exchange server directly.

Ok. I do not use Exchange and ActiveSync and not sure whether Exchange can push syncs over the air to the iPhone without another apps like MobileMe. Sorry, I had not understood the question.

 

[tangible]

I too am attempting to sync my work calendar (which is on Exchange) with MobileMe so that I can work with the calendar on my iPhone. The Apple Knowledge Base item cited earlier is not clear on one point: Is MobileMe sync unavailable when Outlook is configured to work with Exchange, or only when it is actually connected to Exchange?

This is a critical question, because if it's the latter I could just have Outlook go offline temporarily, run the sync, and then go back online. Not convenient, but it would get somewhere. Does anyone know?

PS: Please don't tell me to go directly to Exchange. My employer, like many large corporations, blocks any connections other than those it supplies.

 

[robanga]

I sync both exchange and mobile me with the iPhone, I just don't sink the same things. I have separate home ( through mm) and work calendars (through exchange) and separate email boxes. Everything syncs. I frequently hear the chime of a work email coming in right after a home email etc. So the two definitely work.

 

[Phil A.]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 16GB: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

it does seem strange, particularly as you can do this on a Mac using Entourage. I suspect mobileme can't read the exchange data from outlook. What version of exchange and outlook are you using?

 

[Philgr]

I sync both exchange and mobile me with the iPhone, I just don't sink the same things. I have separate home ( through mm) and work calendars (through exchange) and separate email boxes. Everything syncs. I frequently hear the chime of a work email coming in right after a home email etc. So the two definitely work.

I have exactly the same set-up as does a work colleague, works a charm

I have full access to my work mail, calendar and company address books and a separate set-up for my home email, address book, calendar

 

[Fry-man22]

The issue is the way Outlook approaches Exchange accounts

At the risk of sounding like a fan boy - this is out if Apple's hands. You are running into a limitation imposed by the Outlook client - not the MobileMe server. The server doesn't care how many clients it is syncing to - it's his job to sync multiple sources.

The problem is while the server is meant to sync multiple clients - Outlook is meant (my Microsoft's design) to sync with exactly ONE Exchange account. In Outlook you can set multiple POP3 or IMAP accounts but only ONE Exchange account - this is true with every version of Outlook and every version of Exchange Server. Even if you wanted to sync with to Exchange 2007 MS servers you would still be running into this issue.

Apple's goal with MobileMe is to provide a replacement to Exchange functionality - to do this with the MS clients they made their services use the same protocol as MS Exchange - while this got them all the cool sync functionality of Outlook, it also got them its limitations...

I think the support person in the chat said this in a round-about way but I just wanted to take a stab at providing a fuller explanation...

 

[alent1234]

That's what I was afraid of - for some reason Apple don't WANT you to sync info on an exchange server with mobileme. Why not? There's a whole load of people for whom MM just isn't interesting without this basic functionality.

probably a licensing restriction from MS. Apple licensed ActiveSync from MS for the iPhone to sync with Exchange. Guess it doesn't cover MobileMe. Strange since MS licensed it to Google as well and Google is going to use it for their Docs software

 

[Fry-man22]

probably a licensing restriction from MS. Apple licensed ActiveSync from MS for the iPhone to sync with Exchange. Guess it doesn't cover MobileMe. Strange since MS licensed it to Google as well and Google is going to use it for their Docs software

You and the post you quoted are incorrect - this has nothing to do with MobileMe or Exchange or Licensing - it has everything to do with the fact that Outlook itself only supports ONE Exchange type account - since MobileMe looks like an Exchange account and Exchange (of course) looks like an Exchange account then it is not supported by OUTLOOK.

Outlook CAN (will and does) sync with a MobileMe server. Want to test it? Create another user on your Windows box and log in as that user. Not go to control panel and set up your MobileMe account as an Exchange account - KAZZAM - it works. Now try to set up your Exchange account - NOPE - won't work. Why not? Must be licensing issues (can you see the sarcasm dripping from the text of the last statement?). It doesn't work because Outlook won't do it.

Once again - the EXACT same limitation is evidenced if we perform this action with 2 Exchange 2007 servers. This issue has NOTHING to do with Apple development, the way your iPhone/Touch syncs, or MobileMe.

 

[jni]

I wanted to set up Mobileme to synch with Outlook/Exchange. I soon realized there is no way to do it. The second option was to connect my iPhone directly to the Exchange server which I finally succeeded. The key is to use format server/username and not your first.last@domain.com id.

Now I am facing another problem. The contacts that I have in my IPhone do not synch with mobileme. Anybody have an idea how to handle this?

 

[jni]

I wanted to set up Mobileme to synch with Outlook/Exchange. I soon realized there is no way to do it. The second option was to connect my iPhone directly to the Exchange server which I finally succeeded. The key is to use format server/username and not your first.last@domain.com id.

Now I am facing another problem. The contacts that I have in my IPhone do not synch with mobileme. Anybody have an idea how to handle this?

Happily (unhappily) I found following articles:
iPhone: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2483
Snow Leopard: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3778

It seems like Apple has same approach on iPhone and Snow Leopard. You have access to information on your Exchange-account but it is separated and, unfortunately, not synchronizable with mobileme service.

 

[jasoncardenas21]

No Calendar Option is Available

so is there a reason that I have no option to sync calendars at all from work?

 

[robanga]

I maintain separate and distinct calendars for work and home, they do not sync together but are certainly viewable as one on both desktop and iPhone calendar applications. Just curious about why the need to sync together into one?