Synchronizing Entourage
with Mobile Devices
In
March 2006, Microsoft released the highly-anticipated Office 11.2.3 update
that brings Sync Services support in Tiger (OS X 10.4.3+) to Entourage.
As a result, Entourage can now write to the system Sync Services database.
This can make synchronization remarkably easier. You can use Sync Services
support as a substitute for Paul Berkowitz's "Sync Entourage-Address
Book" & "Sync Entourage-iCal" scripts in the solutions
on this page as well. Office 2008 also has this functionality.
To enable Sync Services (if your
copy of Entourage is up-to-date):
-
Go to Entourage > Preferences.
-
Under "General Preferences",
select "Sync Services".
-
Check the appropriate options
to synchronize contacts, events, tasks, and notes.
At that point, it should be possible to synchronize
Entourage data with devices that synchronize with the Apple applications,like
the iPhone.
Users, however, may choose to continue synchronzing using the old tools,
which are described in detail below:
Synchronizing with Palm
devices
Entourage includes a Handheld Synchronization conduit for synchronizing
tasks, notes, calendar events, and contacts between Entourage and Palm
brand devices (including Palm brand smartphones running Palm OS).
The conduit is compatible with the free HotSync Manager included with
Palm devices. There are different conduits for each version of Entourage.
If you upgrade to a
new version
of Entourage,
you must install
the appropriate conduit. Below are installation instructions.
Entourage 2008
Entourage 2008 does not include a Handheld Synchronization
conduit. Users will need to use Sync Services functionality as described
above and then use that to synchronize with their handheld.
Entourage 2004
After installing Entourage 2004, go to /Applications/Microsoft
Office 2004/Additional Tools/, and launch the Handheld Sync Installer.
Entourage X
Download and install the Handheld
Synchronization for Entourage X conduit from Microsoft.
NOTE: Before
installing, you must first download and install the latest
Office X updates.
Entourage 2001
Insert the Microsoft Office 2001 CD.
Open the Value Pack, then run the
Value Pack Installer. Check "Handheld Synchronization" and
click Install.
The Handheld Synchronization conduit synchronizes calendar
events, contacts, notes, and tasks, but not mail. To synchronize mail,
check out Mail
Courier.
Below is a list of common issues encountered with Palm
synchronization:
NOTE: At the moment,
Palm devices with Organizer Plus include Z22, Zire 31, Zire
72, Treo 650, Tungsten E, Tungsten E2, Tungsten T3, Tungsten T5. TX,
and LifeDrive.
Data loss when synchronizing
with Organizer Plus applications
Some of the new Palm devices have "Organizer Plus" applications.
Unlike previous Palm devices, these new Palm devices include Calendar,
Contacts,
Memos, and Tasks. They also have new features that are not recognized
by the Handheld Synchronization conduit. This problem is described
in detail at the Microsoft
Knowledge Base. Unfortunately, there is no workaround at the
moment.
Synchronization between Entourage 2004 and
Palm device fails
To avoid accidental data loss, synchronization
between Entourage 2004 and Palm's new handhelds is turned off
by default.
Follow
this procedure to turn on synchronization after both Palm synchronization
software and the Microsoft Handheld Synchronization software have
been installed:
1. Launch the HotSync Manager application (usually located in /Applications/Palm)
2. Under the HotSync menu, choose Conduit Settings.
3. Double-click the "Entourage Conduit" entry.
4. Near the bottom, check the option to "Enable synchronization
with these new handhelds."
5. Click OK.
Conduit crashes when synchronizing calendar
Make sure all recurring events that you are synchronizing
have end dates. There is a bug in some versions of the Handheld Synchronization
conduit that
keeps it from being able to synchronize recurring events without end
dates properly.
Conduit crashes when synchronizing contact
list
There is a bug that causes this to happen if there are "@",
"<", and ">"
in a phone number field for any contact. Check your contacts to make sure you
don't have any of these non-number characters in any of your contacts.
Error "The installation failed
because Microsoft Component Plugin was not found." when installing
This error appears
if you try to install the wrong version of the Handheld Synchronization
software for your configuration, or if your copy of Office hasn't
been updated. Installing the correct version and
making sure your copy of Office is fully updated should resolve this
issue.
Synchronizing with Mobile Phones
iPhone
Apple's iPhone synchronizes with Macintosh computers through
the Apple iTunes software.
First, users should make sure that Entourage is set up to synchronize
data with Address Book & iCal. Entourage 2004 users can do this
using Sync Services; Entourage X users should
investigate alternatives. Then, to set up
synchronization, users should connect the iPhone to the computer and
then launch iTunes. Then, in the iTunes Source pane at the bottom of
the window, select "iPhone". Click the "Info" tab
to change synchronization settings. Make sure that Contacts are set
to synchronize with the Mac OS X Address Book, and that Calendars are
set the synchronize with iCal.
Palm
Palm brand mobile phones running Palm OS should synchronize
with Entourage using Entourage's Handheld Synchronization
conduit.
Palm OS from another
manufacturer (Kyocera, Samsung)
To synchronize with non-Palm brand phones using the Palm
OS, you need the Handheld Synchronization conduit in conjunction with Missing
Sync for Palm OS.
Windows Mobile OS
See Synchronizing with Windows Mobile.
Sony Ericsson (excluding Symbian)
Microsoft does not support synchronizing Microsoft Entourage
data with Sony Ericsson smartphones. Salling
Software produces MobileSync
that allows direct synchronization of contacts and calendar events between
Entourage X and Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
BlackBerry
You can now synchronize Entourage data with several RIM BlackBerry
handhelds using Mark/Space
Missing Sync for BlackBerry. Note that you must have Entourage 2004
and Sync Services enabled for this to work.
If you still have Entourage X, check out PocketMac
for BlackBerry from Information Appliance Associates.
HipTop (sold as T-Mobile SideKick)
You need The
Missing Sync for HipTop in order to synchronize with the
popular T-Mobile SideKick. Because this product does not support
Entourage, you need a program to synchronize data between Entourage
& Apple's Address Book & iCal. You can use Paul Berkowitz's Sync
Entourage-Address Book and Sync
Entourage-iCal scripts to synchronize Entourage contacts and calendar
events with the corresponding Apple applications, and then synchronize
the data in those applications with your mobile phone using iSync.
Or, you can use e2Sync to synchronize
Entourage data with other iSync-aware
products.
Other
Unfortunately, there are no other synchronization solutions for mobile
phones of which I am aware. However, iSync,
the synchronization software provided by Apple for OS X, supports several more mobile phones. Though Entourage doesn't work with
iSync, Address Book and iCal do. With Entourage 2004, one can use Sync
Services to synchronize Entourage with those applications. Entourage
2004 users can can use Paul Berkowitz's Sync
Entourage-Address Book and Sync
Entourage-iCal scripts to synchronize Entourage contacts and calendar
events with the corresponding Apple applications, and then synchronize
the data in those applications with your mobile phone using iSync. An
alternative is to use e2Sync to
synchronize Entourage data with other iSync-aware
products.
Synchronizing with Apple iPod & iPod Nano
The newer iPods have organizer programs installed. ZappTek makes a product
called iPDA which allows
you to synchronize Entourage data with an iPod.
Alternatively, you can use the iPod's synchronization
capability to synchronize your data. Because the iPod only recognizes
Address Book & iCal, you need to use a tool like Sync
Services to synchronize your data with that program first. If you
don't have Entourage 2004, you can use Paul Berkowitz's Sync
Entourage-Address Book and Sync
Entourage-iCal scripts to synchronize Entourage contacts and calendar
events with the corresponding Apple applications, and then synchronize
the data in those applications to your iPod using iSync. Or, you can use
e2Sync to bridge Entourage with iSync.
Synchronizing with Windows Mobile
Use The
Missing Sync for Windows Mobile from Mark/Space to synchronize Windows
Mobile phones & Pocket PC devices with Entourage. The latest version
requires Entourage 2004 with Sync Services
enabled.
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