As a company we use SharePoint to store everything from documents to group calendars, contacts & task lists. The reason SharePoint is so great at this is because any of us can access this information from anywhere we have an internet connection using a web browser, Outlook or even on our mobile PDA phones like the iPhone.

In short - SharePoint gives everyone access to everything from anywhere!

While reviewing some of the iPhone apps for SharePoint I took a peak at SharePlus Lite a free iPhone app that allows you access to your SharePoint data from the iPhone. Overall I have to say the setup was about as simple as it gets and took all of 60 seconds for me to download the application and get it configured to our SharePoint site. One immediate simple feature to this application that was exciting is that you can add and browse multiple SharePoint sites; so if you collaborate with multiple companies that use SharePoint you can see all the sites from this one application. With the free version there is the one minor detail of having to view little advertisements while in the program; fortunately they are small and out of the way so it didn’t bother me much – and after all it’s free!

Below I have provided a quick reference list to different SharePoint items and what you can do with them in this free version. You will notice that editing and creating new items is not in the list – you will want to buy the full version of SharePlus in the App Store for $14.99 for those features.

Shared Contacts: View, email, text, call & browse the contact’s website
Shared Calendars:  View calendars & appointment details including body
Shared Documents: View & email documents like excel, pdf, word & just about any other type of files
Shared Task Lists: View all task information including body in HTML format

Overall I was impressed with the application and features it brought for the ultra low price of nothing and encourage you check it out. We know it’s important for people to try things before they can determine if it is the right solution for them so we are offering you a free 30 day trial of SharePoint & you can get SharePlus Lite for free at the App Store on your iPhone – how is that for a no brainer?

Try SharePoint – Get a SharePoint Site Free for 30 Days

SharePlus Lite Free or SharePlus Full Version $14.99

NOTE:  If not already, the ActiveSync feature will need to be enabled for your Microsoft Exchange mailbox. Contact your Microsoft Exchange provider or administrator for assitance with this step. Many PDA phones support this configuration including but not limited to iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android based phones like the DROID.

Procedure:
To synchronize your Pocket PC to your you@yourdomain.com account, please follow these instructions. Keep in mind that the Pocket PC and Treo menus can vary. The instruction provided are basic setting information that will allow you to configure ActiveSync to wirelessly sync over the mobile network your Outlook inbox and subfolders, calendar, contacts & tasks. 

• On your Pocket PC or Treo, go to Start, (Programs on some phones)
• If you have already configured active sync previously, click Menu and then ‘Configure Server’

Choose ActiveSync

NOTE: Some phones may require you to click ‘set up your devices to sync with it’ the first time you open activesync

Server address: mail.yourexchangeservername.com (Check This server requires an encrypted (SSL) connection) Click Next

Username: Normally, the username will be your exchange server OMA address. This address has a 20 characters limit and the @ sign will be replaced by the # sign

For Example: username@yourdomainname.com will be username#youdomainna

Password:  will be the same as your Exchange mailbox password

Domain: windows domain                         

Save password (required for automatic sync) Click Next

Edit Server Setting (Choose the data you want to synchronize) Contact, Calendar, Email and Task

Click Finish

Click Sync if the synchronizing does not start automatically

You can adjust your settings to fit your needs for things like how much of an email message to download, how far back to sync your calendar’s past items and the syncing schedule.

Important Note: When you configure a device to sync with Exchange, all existing calendar and contact information on the device is overwritten, it is recommend that you backup your data. Additionally, iTunes no longer syncs contacts and calendars with your desktop computer. You can still sync your device wirelessly with MobileMe services.

Procedure:

To synchronize your iPhone to your you@yourdomain.com exchange account, follow these instructions.

Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and then tap Add Account.

Tap Microsoft Exchange.

 Note, you can configure only one Exchange account per device

When you manually configure the device for Exchange, use this chart to identify the settings and information you enter:

Email:Enter in your Exchange accont
Domain:Enter in your Exchange Domain
Username:Enter your OMA address:
Password:Enter in your password
Description: 

Your iPhone (or iPod touch) will now try to locate your Exchange server using Microsoft’s Autodiscovery service. If the server cannot be located, the screen below is shown. Enter your Exchange server’s complete address in the Server field. Contact your Microsoft Exchange server administrator or hosted exchange provider if you are unsure of the address.

Email: Enter in your Exchange accont
Server:Enter in your Exchange accont
Domain:Enter in your Exchange Domain
Username:Enter your OMA address:
Password: Enter in your password
Description:

  Next, the device offers to immediately sync with the Exchange server. If you choose not to sync at this time, you can turn on calendar and contact syncing later in Settings > Mail, Contacts, and Calendars. By default, Exchange ActiveSync pushes new data to your device as it arrives on the server. If you prefer to fetch new data on a schedule or to only pull new data manually, use Settings > Fetch New Data to change the settings.

           
 If you wish to change how many days’ worth of emails are synchronized to your device, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts and Calendars. The default setting is three days.

The first release of the iPhone left many Microsoft Exchange users unhappy. They hear about this new cool device and run out and buy one.. then find out.. I PAID WHAT?..AND IT ONLY SYNCS MY EMAIL? Yeah ..kind of depressing if you have had a Blackberry, Windows Mobile or PalmOS phone with wireless syncing of your Outlook data; It’s like taking 5 steps back in time technology wise and renders it almost useless for business people.

NOW the good news! Apple listened and responded quickly to customer demand. The release of the new 3G iPhone now incorporates the ability to sync your email, calendar, and contacts wirelessly between your iPhone and your Exchange Mailbox.

It is important to understand what each device can wirelessly sync if you are considering moving from a Blackberry, Windows Mobile, or PalmOS device to an iPhone. Here is a quick cheat sheet below and they all assume you are using the device with an enterprise grade email system like Hosted Exchange.

1. iPhone – syncs email, calendar and contacts
2. Blackberry (using Blackbery Enterprise Server) – syncs email, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes
3. Windows Mobile – syncs email, calendar, contacts and tasks
4. PalmOS (using Good Server) – syncs email, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes

We have also heard that AT&T is offering some attractive upgrade options for people who paid a small fortune for the first model. For existing Link2Exchange customers who want to configure their Exchange Mailbox to their new 3G iPhone for wireless syncing please refer to our knowledgebase article below.

NOTE: The iPhone has to be the newer 3G model to support this feature. First version iPhones only support email syncing.

3G iPhone Exchange Settings – Once you go to this page be sure to enter your link2exchange email address into the box at the top and click customize. This will customize the instructions for your mailbox.