What is so great about wireless syncing of my data on my Windows Mobile phone? Let me first start by outlining what data your phone will sync with your outlook. The Windows Mobile platform will sync your inbox and sub folders, sent items, contacts, calendar and tasks between your phone and your Outlook.

The days of cable syncing are over. We can all afford this ingenuous technology to save us time and increase our collaboration with co-workers. Back in the day I use to have to remember to plug in my phone to sync this data before leaving my house or office. When someone in my office wanted to add an appointment to my calendar I would not see it till I got back and synced my phone.

Now with wireless sync as I am working in Outlook the changes I am making to my inbox, calendar, contacts and tasks are being synced to my Windows Mobile phone in real-time. If I want to leave the office I simply grab the phone and go with no need to cable sync my device to have that important phone number of the client I justed entered into Outlook that I want to call when I get into my car – it’s already on the phone.

Any changes I make to my data on the phone while I am on the road will also be synced wirelessly back to my outlook as well. So if I meet a client at their office then add an appointment to meet them next week within seconds that new appointment is wirelessly added to my Outlook back at the office. If my assistant or a co-worker looks at my calendar from their outlook they will see that I am booked at that time instead of me having to call them to tell them I added an appointment which is the case for the dinosaur cable sync method.

There are two requirements to have this snazzy service on your phone. First you need to have a Microsoft Exchange mailbox and secondly you need to have a data plan on your PDA phone which is like an Internet access plan for the phone and is sold separate from your voice plan. Many hosted exchange providers (like us) include the Windows Mobile syncing with their mailboxes and most mailboxes start around $9.95/month per person.

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.