Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server

[DustinGreen]

I have an email account through my work. I can access that account using Outlook Web Access. I have been able to configure the server very easy on my PDAphone with activesync by putting in the correct server address, user name, password, and domain. When I try to create a new account with Outlook 2007 I get completly confused, and I am unable to get anywhere. How do I set up Outlook so I can sync with Outlook Web Access?

[hosebeast]

Desktop Outlook (i.e. Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, etc) does not use Outlook Web Access nor ActiveSync to communicate with Exchange Server. It can use either:

• MAPI RPC - if your Outlook client is on a LAN, WAN, or VPN with the Exchange Server (in other words, nothing is blocking or filtering traffic)
  
• RPC over HTTPS - if you need to connect over the Internet without a VPN and still be able to use full Exchange-Outlook functionality
  
• IMAP (with or without SSL) - next best to RPC over HTTPS for connecting over the Internet without a VPN because it comes close to normal Exchange-Outlook functionality but the server-side configuration is much easier than RPC over HTTPS (which tends to baffle some "9 to 5" corporate admins); biggest drawback with IMAP is that you can't access the full information for Contacts and Calendar appointments in your Exchange mailbox
  
• POP3 (with or without SSL) - worst choice because no special Exchange-Outlook features are accessible via POP3, but this option is favored by some colleges due to ease of support when a large percentage of the user base (students) changes every few months
  

Outlook 2007 has a new wizard for account setup which attempts to automagically detect the most appropriate way to connect to your server based on your email address. In the real world, however, there are too many domains and servers which have been set up by their administrators in quirky ways which confuse the wizard. Best bet is to configure the account manually using info from your server admins.

Some organizations choose to use OWA as their only method of external access to Exchange. In that case, you would simply not be able to use Outlook 2007 outside your company's network. There are Mac and Linux email programs which communicate with Exchange thru OWA by "scraping" web pages but that's unreliable and slow.

[DustinGreen]

What irritates me is that it is so simple to set up my email with the exchange server on my Window Mobile 5 device. I put in my server address, user name, password, domain, and click SSL connection. It works so easily. Then when you go to set up the same exchange server in Outlook 2007 it is so complicated. I know the server isn't blocking access because I can access it on my PDA.

[fizban2]

what version of Exchange is your Company running? (sounds like 2003 but just to check) Outlook 2007 should be just as easy as running through the wizard at the beginning that sucks in your account information and configured the settings from your AD account settings

[DustinGreen]

Yes, we are using exchange server 2003. Ya, you would think it would and should be easy to get the two working together.