Help with tablets and Outlook

[Happy Ronin NZ]

Hey all,

We run a small office with one computer running Windows receiving emails in Outlook. It would be useful for me to monitor emails remotely from time to time and wonder if anyone is using a tablet with Outlook that would sync with Outlook on the office PC whenever I am in the office.

Any ideas on the best way to do this?

Cheers
Happy

[FaceAche]

I initially thought that you'd probably need an ISP that provides an IMAP4 email server, but even with POP3 you can select the option of leaving messages on the email server, well, you can with Mozilla Thunderbird.

I can't imagine that Outlook wouldn't have the option to leave messages on the server until deleted.

In Thunderbird, i just checked in the Account Settings, and you get options to fetch the email headers only, or leave the email on the server after being downloaded, and have it automatically delete after a user-set number of days, or when the user deletes the message.

You could look at a tablet that has 3G, so that even if you're not near a WiFi Hotspot or your home or office networks, it will still download the email, but you'd incur data usage charges for doing it that way.

[sweetasman01]

Originally Posted by Happy Ronin NZ

Hey all,

We run a small office with one computer running Windows receiving emails in Outlook. It would be useful for me to monitor emails remotely from time to time and wonder if anyone is using a tablet with Outlook that would sync with Outlook on the office PC whenever I am in the office.

Any ideas on the best way to do this?

Cheers
Happy

Use IMAP not POP3, if you have a HP Touch pad or android phone phone it works fine. I dont know about Apple products but IMAP is pretty standard so should be supported.

[FaceAche]

Some ISP's charge extra for IMAP, like TelstraClear, so check that out first if extra cost is a deciding factor

[accidental]

In general you should avoid ISP email like the plague and use Gmail (if you don't mind your mail being snooped for advertising data) or a good dedicated paid service (i.e. not a web host). Any decent mail service supports IMAP which solves all your problems with synchronising mail across all your devices. ISPs and web hosts also tend to have terrible webmail interfaces and ISPs can give you hassles sending mail depending on how you're accessing the internet.

[FaceAche]

That's a matter of opinion - @companyname.com or @companyname.co.nz just look way more professional than @gmail.com.

And i can't see someone running a business wanting Google snooping at their potentially commercially sensitive information. Remember, we've no idea what this business is - what if an awesome idea was being discussed via email, and Google stole it?

At least with an ISP, you're paying for it, so have every right to demand a decent level of service. Not to mention that actual, real support that they can offer in times of crisis.

Try phoning Googles 0800 Customer Service number, and then let us know what it's like

[accidental]

When I refer to Gmail I meant Google Apps, in which you can use your own domain. My @accidentaldesign.co.nz emails have been hosted by Google Apps for several years after I ditched my web host. The biggest reason for this is that Google's spam filtering is the best in existence. I'm happy to have my mail trawled by bots for keywords in exchange for free email hosting with several GB storage space, spam filtering and an excellent web mail interface.

Who also wants company name@xtra.co.nz? ISP email doesn't tend to support your own domain name which is why people tend to use their web host as their email host. Web hosts are just about as terrible as ISPs at email hosting.

[FaceAche]

Okay.

I guess what i'm saying is that even an ISP can still host a domain, and if you have a problem, because you're paying an ISP, you have some right to a decent level of service.

I mean, unless you don't have the internet, i can't see any reason to not use an ISP for email, as you're already paying them for your internet connection anyway

Just because Google Apps works for you, doesn't mean it will be suitable for everyone - if it was me, i'd personally have an issue with Google snooping in my business email. I guess i just value my privacy more than getting something for free.

My point about you phoning the Google 0800 Customer Service number if you have a problem is still valid - because there is no such avenue for you to seek help from them in the event of a problem. What happens if you lose a bunch of business emails? Do you really think Google would give a shit? Whereas an ISP would be behooved to help a paying customer.

Aside from free stuff, an an arguably decent spam filtering service, is there any other reason one should avoid ISP email "like the plague"?

And Ronin's asking how he can get emails based on his current setup, using Outlook - trying to convince him to adopt a completely different way of doing that seems rather presumptuous to me

[accidental]

All I'm trying to say is:

* IMAP is far superior to POP3, use it.

* Own your own domain, so you're not locked into an email provider. They are cheap, will serve you for life, and lets you move to any email service at any time.

* If you want the best free IMAP service with your own domain, Google Apps is the best as long as you're willing to 'pay' for it by letting Google trawl your data.

* If you want the best paid IMAP service, ISP and web hosts are NOT IT. They almost always suck. If your reason for sticking with them is for customer support, I'd argue that you should never need to contact customer support, but with ISPs you do. And the same desire is met if you pay for a good paid dedicated email hosting service, such as FastMail.

* The main reasons ISPs suck is their outgoing mail reliability when traveling, small inbox capacities, horrible web interfaces and patchy device support.

[FaceAche]

Hey, we have different opinions - i'm totally cool with that dude, we're all good here

[Happy Ronin NZ]

Hi all,

I've been busy and hadn't checked back in a bit but I appreciate the responses. When I first discussed the option with the boss I thought it was going to be simple but it all sounds a bit more complex then I thought. I'll have to have a read through and might come back with some more questions

Cheers
Happy

[FaceAche]

Honestly it's not that hard - this is from Mozilla Thunderbird, but i'm sure that Outlook has something similar. This is how i get the same emails to both my phone and desktop email account, even using POP3 (IMAP is better though);

[Happy Ronin NZ]

^ So I am guessing I could have my phone email settings to leave on server till I manually delete and the PC to delete once downloaded - that would mean my phone only downloads ones not seen on the main PC.

[FaceAche]

I'd say so, but it would depend on the email program on your phone, and how comprehensive it's server settings are. But yeah, should be able to do that. Have a poke around in the email program account settings

[Happy Ronin NZ]

Got my new phone and all in business. Thanks for the help guys. Seems to be working good. I have no idea how much of a data plan I need so I got the big one