Being set up for OWA is not the same as being set up for ActiveSync. But ActiveSync uses a firewall port that is already open for OWA, so that removes one excuse IT might have not to support ActiveSync. (Not to say that there aren't other valid reasons -- but I'm very fortunate in that the IT folks at my firm have expressed absolute willingness to set things up for me, so I haven't really heard what those other reasons might be.)
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My IT Department's response to the iPhone
- Thread starter jersey10
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Figured as much. But I read on the web that in some versions of Exchange, Activesync is enabled by default. I cannot confirm if that's true or not. So hopefully one of the IT gurus here can verify that. If it is enabled by default, I'd like to know what settings I'd need for the iPhone to test it. I assume it would be the same settings any other phone would need to connect to Activesync.
We just got tapped yesterday by the president of the company to build iPhone apps that work with our custom software and incorporate gps tracking. Wait to IT hears about that.My IT dept. told me no way they'd let iPhones access email. Hell, I'm just a lowly VP. When I convinced an Exec. VP and CEO to get one, IT was knocking on my door to set it up. Needless to say, they'll be supporting push email very soon.
What mobile do you have at the moment. OWA is different to OMA (Outlook Mobile Access) you have to have different setting enabled on the server. I have been. try going to https://Yourservername/Oma. if you can get to there it may be possable that Active sync is setup
Just found this. install this and test http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A1E-A7E2-CC500ED1F19A&displaylang=en#filelist
I don't have a Smartphone (or iPhone yet) to test OMA. But that Emulator you linked to looks promising. I will download that and test it out.
As a side question (if you have current iPhone) - are you able to access Outlook Web from Safari? Curious if the browser can handle HTTPS or not. If so, then to me that's a viable alternative to Activesync as I would just check work email via Safari as needed. Of course I'd rather have it Push, but I'm not THAT important!
I don't have a Smartphone (or iPhone yet) to test OMA. But that Emulator you linked to looks promising. I will download that and test it out.
As a side question (if you have current iPhone) - are you able to access Outlook Web from Safari? Curious if the browser can handle HTTPS or not. If so, then to me that's a viable alternative to Activesync as I would just check work email via Safari as needed. Of course I'd rather have it Push, but I'm not THAT important!
Morning IP2
I can access OWA and OMA with the iphone. at the moment i have my email forwarding to a google mail account and i then pick this up via IMAP4. i downloaded the emulator and for some reason the network will not work on vista (I hate Vista). When connecting to my OWA it says that the certificate is invalid. this was dut to my exchange server creating the cert. this was one of the problems i had with push email on my XDA. i had to download the certificate from the OWA server and install it on to the XDA
Thanks, but I can't find more info on this. Except a vague answer saying that Apple was working on a special App Store for enterprise users... that others have surmised means an enterprise version... doesn't sound like that to me.
Do you have links to anything from Apple that states that enterprise users can host their own apps?
(Preferably without iTunes involvement. One reason for buying handhelds is to not have to buy laptops as well. OTA is the way to go. This is where the Apple must-have-a-host-computer paradigm fails a lot of us.)
Here, under "Enterprise applications". Still needs itunes (desktop app) though by the looks of things.
Thanks Alexboy45 for the info.
I also downloaded the emulator and virtual desktop driver. I then setup Activesync. Looks like all you need is your OWA URL, domain, username, and password. The problem I ran into is that the emulator would not detect a connection (same issue as yours? but I'm on XP). I thought maybe Activesync was not enabled at my company. But then I tried to launch mobile IE from the emulator just to test and it would not get a connection. So that's where I got stuck...I tried all the connections menus in the emulator that I can find...none would detect my internet connection at home.
Our business (hospital) implemented ActiveSync about a year ago and the IT guys told me it was no big deal. We also have OWA.
Sadly, we only have CDMA available because Unicel was the only company willing to put a cell site in the building so the phones would work throughout the building...so Motorola Q is about as smart as our phones get here. No iPhones for us.
Sadly, we only have CDMA available because Unicel was the only company willing to put a cell site in the building so the phones would work throughout the building...so Motorola Q is about as smart as our phones get here. No iPhones for us.
If anyone needs to know, I am able to access my company's Outlook webmail through the iPhone, and yes it's an HTTPS address. It's not push email, but at least it's a way to check it.
Same problem.. upgrade and licenses to Exchange 2003 isn't cheap, would require downtime and configuration.
Mobile phones cannot connect to Exchange 2000, or at least I've never come across one that could. Hell, not even mail.app works with it, and presumably that's just using the standard exchange binary protocol.
btw. for the ports to open for it I was relying on the Microsoft information - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/259369 - no mention of it working over HTTP. Is this article wrong?
Anyway it's not really my decision.. I might know the admin passwords but it doesn't mean I can run around fiddling with mission critical servers!
Cool, another confirmation of this. Thanks. As I mentioned in a previous thread, this would be enough for me (of course would prefer Activesync!). If I'm gonna be paying $30/month for a data plan, its much more justifiable that I can do work (ie. access work email) remotely from the iPhone.
Hmm, that article may be referencing the old way of doing things and/or the ActiveSync Desktop client. Exchange 2000 used a product called Mobile Information Server (MMIS) in order to do the earlier forms of ActiveSync (syncing with mobiles).
Mobile Information Server:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb676815.aspx
Exchange 2003/2007 version of ActiveSync just needs port 443 (SSL) access (you can technically turn off this requirement and just unencrypted access, but of course it is not recommended) and the functionality is built into Exchange.
Mail.app should be able to work to Exchange 2000 as long as you have IMAP or POP3 enabled. Mail.app does not support Exchange MAPI connections.
It's been a long time since I worked with Exchange 2000 any. Never did actually play with MMIS. Not even sure if the newer mobile devices with ActiveSync would be backwards compatible. Would have to use IMAP/POP3 otherwise.
The reason why your POP3/IMAP connections may not have worked may be because of the username you have to use is different than what you expect. It uses a legacy format (from 5.5) of domain\user\mailbox for the username.
See this article:
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Connecting_POP_And_IMAP_Clients_To_MS_Exchange_Server.html
Okay, after watching the WWDC video, I saw Jobs' enterprise "solution". As usual, he was pretty vague about the details.
Yes, apparently it does need iTunes. I wonder if it needs a separate iTunes host for each iPhone. And/or how does one authorize specific iPhones?
Even assuming businesses allowed iTunes, many would want an abbreviated version that can't sync audio/video/photos.
I know Jobs thinks this is a clever way to get iTunes into businesses, but I don't think it'll fly in larger corporations. We still need OTA software distribution, independent of access to a laptop/desktop, with per-person versioning capabilities.
Heck, I've got both WM and RIM apps out there, which would be super easy to update if the thousands of users could each sync to a desktop via ActiveSync or the Blackberry Manager. But we're not allowed to waste resources that way. So we update over the air. Any iPhone version would have to do the same.
Thanks for all the replies.
Look here for a little bit more information:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/enterprise/integration.html
Read the PDFs as well.
Thanks, I did, but didn't see anything noteworthy the first time around. This time, I saw this piece:
Restrictions
Control the installation of third-party applications, Safari, YouTube, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, and explicit content.
Which helps a bit.
I'd be interested in knowing what use Apple has made of all the iPhones they gave away to employees last year. If they use them for their own enterprise apps, and for beta testing, it would be smart.
I just wish they would release the Device Configuration Utility early, so we could actually take a look at it before people start getting iPhones. The executives at my work pretty much all have a pre-order in for an iPhone.