Synchronizing Notes Contacts with Blackberry
December 16 2008
As I've been talking to more customers about the features in Notes 8 and 8.5, I've been noticing a feature that is somewhat going overlooked in terms of how powerful it can be to your end users. Then, a recent "Tips and Tricks" email from a colleague prompted me to write this entry (Thanks, Lisa)!
How are you doing Notes personal contact synchronization for your end users?
If you remember, in previous versions of Notes, the way to get personal contacts to synchronize over-the-air with your Blackberry was to have the end-user manually select "Action -> Synchronize Journal" and/or "Action -> Synchronize Contacts" in the menu. This would synchronize the contacts with the mail file (also used for Domino Web Access). Then, your end-users would have to do this regularly in order to get any updates. Most of my customers found this more than a tad bit annoying, and therefore found other "interesting" ways to get contacts to synchronize. Not fun, right?
One work-around that I'm finding more and more people using is the use of Roaming Profiles instead. Now, the use of roaming profiles has its own implication in ND8 (roaming is not supported with the Standard client until 8.5) as well as implications for administration, etc. It's a heck of an undertaking just to get contacts to synchronize!
So...there's a MUCH easier way to do it in ND8!
You may have noticed that in 8.0.2, the menu options mentioned above for "Synchronize Contacts" are gone. Well - they've been replaced by a much better option for your end-users! To enable the new, improved and EASY way of synchronizing your contacts (so you can get over-the-air synch with your BB), just do the following:
1. From the Notes client, select "File -> Preferences" (or other options to get to your preferences, depending on your O/S)
2. Click on the "Contacts" header in the navigation pane on the left to get to your Contacts preferences.
3. Make sure you select the option for "Enable Synchronize Contacts on the Replicator...".
If you switch to your replicator tab, you will see a "Synchronize Contacts" icon added to your replication. Now, when you replicate, your contacts will replicate too! You can even setup a schedule to replicate them on a regular basis!! It's THAT easy! No more manual synchronization tasks for your end users!
Try it out! And, you may make your end-users happier and your life easier!
Clarification NOTE: At this time, this only works for the Contacts - not the Journal. To Synchronize the Journal, you would still have to do it manually or through some other method.
How are you doing Notes personal contact synchronization for your end users?
If you remember, in previous versions of Notes, the way to get personal contacts to synchronize over-the-air with your Blackberry was to have the end-user manually select "Action -> Synchronize Journal" and/or "Action -> Synchronize Contacts" in the menu. This would synchronize the contacts with the mail file (also used for Domino Web Access). Then, your end-users would have to do this regularly in order to get any updates. Most of my customers found this more than a tad bit annoying, and therefore found other "interesting" ways to get contacts to synchronize. Not fun, right?
One work-around that I'm finding more and more people using is the use of Roaming Profiles instead. Now, the use of roaming profiles has its own implication in ND8 (roaming is not supported with the Standard client until 8.5) as well as implications for administration, etc. It's a heck of an undertaking just to get contacts to synchronize!
So...there's a MUCH easier way to do it in ND8!
You may have noticed that in 8.0.2, the menu options mentioned above for "Synchronize Contacts" are gone. Well - they've been replaced by a much better option for your end-users! To enable the new, improved and EASY way of synchronizing your contacts (so you can get over-the-air synch with your BB), just do the following:
1. From the Notes client, select "File -> Preferences" (or other options to get to your preferences, depending on your O/S)
2. Click on the "Contacts" header in the navigation pane on the left to get to your Contacts preferences.
3. Make sure you select the option for "Enable Synchronize Contacts on the Replicator...".
If you switch to your replicator tab, you will see a "Synchronize Contacts" icon added to your replication. Now, when you replicate, your contacts will replicate too! You can even setup a schedule to replicate them on a regular basis!! It's THAT easy! No more manual synchronization tasks for your end users!
Try it out! And, you may make your end-users happier and your life easier!
Clarification NOTE: At this time, this only works for the Contacts - not the Journal. To Synchronize the Journal, you would still have to do it manually or through some other method.
