Exchange Mailbox - Synchronize Contacts and Calendar but NOT Email

[Michael]

I have a client who uses Outlook at his office in conjunction with
Exchange Server and Outlook at home with a totally separate POP3
mailbox and email address.

He wishes to be able to see his Office Calendar and Contacts on his
home machine but does not want his office mail delivered or
synchronized with his home machine or visa versa.

I have set up an Exchange Mailbox on his home machine and can access
the Calendar and Contacts but have not found a way to stop the Mailbox
picking up the email from the Exchange Server.

I have tried every setting i can think of including modifying the Send
and Receive Groups settings to exclude the Exchange Mailbox but is
still seems to check for mail every minute or so.

Does any one have any suggestions please.

Many thanks

Michael

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Just allow him access via OWA to his work email account.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Michael asked:

| I have a client who uses Outlook at his office in conjunction with
| Exchange Server and Outlook at home with a totally separate POP3
| mailbox and email address.
|
| He wishes to be able to see his Office Calendar and Contacts on his
| home machine but does not want his office mail delivered or
| synchronized with his home machine or visa versa.
|
| I have set up an Exchange Mailbox on his home machine and can access
| the Calendar and Contacts but have not found a way to stop the Mailbox
| picking up the email from the Exchange Server.
|
| I have tried every setting i can think of including modifying the Send
| and Receive Groups settings to exclude the Exchange Mailbox but is
| still seems to check for mail every minute or so.
|
| Does any one have any suggestions please.
|
| Many thanks
|
| Michael

 

[Michael]

Milly - Thanks for the prompt response

I suppose I asked for that.

When I said "see" his Office Calendar and Contacts on his home machine
I should perhaps have been a little clearer.

Ideally, he would like to have access to his Office Contacts on his
home machine so that he can use the email and other addresses in his
email and other correspondence. The idea being that he could log on
to the office server from time to time via his VPN and update the
contacts folder and calendar without collecting his email.

Thanks again

Michael

 

[Michael]

If he has a VPN and is accessing the Exchange server through that with an
Exchange account (not a POP account), then he's NOT "collecting" the mail.
He's just accessing the mailbox on the server and has identical access to
all the folders he does at work, since he actually is referencing the
folders at work. You can't access non-mail folders via POP or IMAP
accounts, so it'a apparent that he's not using those account types.
Consequently, why does he care whether or not he can see the mail folders as
well?

Brian - Many thanks for the considered response.

I will try and explain the problem in a little more detail.

You are entirely correct that he does access the Exchange server via
the VPN and as such can see his work Contacts, Calendar and Inbox etc.

The problem arises because his home computer also has an Personal
Folder (Outlook.pst file) which he uses to handle his personal
correspondence via a personal email address and a POP3 mailbox.

Once he connects to the Exchange server one of two things happen
depending upon the option he has chosen in the "Deliver new email to
the following location" drop down list.

If he opts to "Deliver new email" to his Personal Folder any mail in
his Office Exchange Inbox or any mail that arrives while he is online
is transferred to his Personal Folder Inbox and is then no longer
accessible when he is in the office.

If on the other hand he opts to "Deliver new email" to his Exchange
Mailbox then the opposite happens. Furthermore when he is offline at
home and is using his POP3 account any incoming mail arrives in the
Exchange Mailbox Inbox and any mail he sends out goes into the
Exchange Mailbox Sent Folder rather then the equivalent Folders in his
Personal Folder.

I have tried to get round this using "Rules" and this works quite well
for the Inbox with mail addressed to his personal email address being
moved to the Inbox in his Personal Folder. Unfortunately, I have not
found a way of doing the same for sent items as the Rules in Outlook
do not seem to cater for moving "Sent" items to a particular folder
they only allow items to be copied. As a result copies of his
outgoing personal mail end up in his Office Exchange Mailbox sent
Folder.

Which brings me back the original problem which is that he would like
to be able to go online via the VPN and update his Exchange Mailbox
Contacts and Calendar without his Office mail being transferred to his
personal Folder or Visa Versa.

Thanks again for the help - any further thoughts would be greatly
appreciated

Michael

 

[Brian Tillman]

Ideally, he would like to have access to his Office Contacts on his
home machine so that he can use the email and other addresses in his
email and other correspondence. The idea being that he could log on
to the office server from time to time via his VPN and update the
contacts folder and calendar without collecting his email.

If he has a VPN and is accessing the Exchange server through that with an
Exchange account (not a POP account), then he's NOT "collecting" the mail.
He's just accessing the mailbox on the server and has identical access to
all the folders he does at work, since he actually is referencing the
folders at work. You can't access non-mail folders via POP or IMAP
accounts, so it'a apparent that he's not using those account types.
Consequently, why does he care whether or not he can see the mail folders as
well?

 

[Michael]

Apologies for the date stamp on the previous message - I had the
temporarily adjusted the date on my computer and forgot to put it
back.

Michael

If he has a VPN and is accessing the Exchange server through that with an
Exchange account (not a POP account), then he's NOT "collecting" the mail.
He's just accessing the mailbox on the server and has identical access to
all the folders he does at work, since he actually is referencing the
folders at work. You can't access non-mail folders via POP or IMAP
accounts, so it'a apparent that he's not using those account types.
Consequently, why does he care whether or not he can see the mail folders as
well?

Brian - Many thanks for the considered response.

I will try and explain the problem in a little more detail.

You are entirely correct that he does access the Exchange server via
the VPN and as such can see his work Contacts, Calendar and Inbox etc.

The problem arises because his home computer also has an Personal
Folder (Outlook.pst file) which he uses to handle his personal
correspondence via a personal email address and a POP3 mailbox.

Once he connects to the Exchange server one of two things happen
depending upon the option he has chosen in the "Deliver new email to
the following location" drop down list.

If he opts to "Deliver new email" to his Personal Folder any mail in
his Office Exchange Inbox or any mail that arrives while he is online
is transferred to his Personal Folder Inbox and is then no longer
accessible when he is in the office.

If on the other hand he opts to "Deliver new email" to his Exchange
Mailbox then the opposite happens. Furthermore when he is offline at
home and is using his POP3 account any incoming mail arrives in the
Exchange Mailbox Inbox and any mail he sends out goes into the
Exchange Mailbox Sent Folder rather then the equivalent Folders in his
Personal Folder.

I have tried to get round this using "Rules" and this works quite well
for the Inbox with mail addressed to his personal email address being
moved to the Inbox in his Personal Folder. Unfortunately, I have not
found a way of doing the same for sent items as the Rules in Outlook
do not seem to cater for moving "Sent" items to a particular folder
they only allow items to be copied. As a result copies of his
outgoing personal mail end up in his Office Exchange Mailbox sent
Folder.

Which brings me back the original problem which is that he would like
to be able to go online via the VPN and update his Exchange Mailbox
Contacts and Calendar without his Office mail being transferred to his
personal Folder or Visa Versa.

Thanks again for the help - any further thoughts would be greatly
appreciated

Michael

 

[Brian Tillman]

Once he connects to the Exchange server one of two things happen
depending upon the option he has chosen in the "Deliver new email to
the following location" drop down list.

If he opts to "Deliver new email" to his Personal Folder any mail in
his Office Exchange Inbox or any mail that arrives while he is online
is transferred to his Personal Folder Inbox and is then no longer
accessible when he is in the office.

If on the other hand he opts to "Deliver new email" to his Exchange
Mailbox then the opposite happens. Furthermore when he is offline at
home and is using his POP3 account any incoming mail arrives in the
Exchange Mailbox Inbox and any mail he sends out goes into the
Exchange Mailbox Sent Folder rather then the equivalent Folders in his
Personal Folder.

The best thing to do in theis situation, in my opinion (and it's also what I
do) is to have two mail profiles at home. One profile has delivery to the
Exchange server and one has delivery to the PST. The former connects only
to the work Exchange server (i.e., doesn't contain the PST in the profile)
and the second doesn't have the Exchange account (i.e., is only for personal
mail). Outlook is configured to ask which profile to use when it starts and
the user picks the home profile when not on the VPN and the work profile
when connected.

You can have variations on this, like including the PST in the work profile,
so that you can manually copy any new appointments or contacts to the home
PST. In my case, I also have a PDA that I sync with the Outlook Exchange
account at work so that I have all my contacts, calendar, etc. on the PDA.
However, I don't sync the Inbox. If I was to see that at home, I use the
work profile, which doesn't access my home profile's PST. I also sync the
PDA at home with the home mail profile so that my home profile, which
contains my personal mail in a PST, also contains my work calendar,
contacts, tasks, etc, but NOT my work Inbox - only my personal mail. This
adds my personal contacts, calendar, tasks, etc, to the corresponding
folders at work, but I find that acceptable, since it's not that much data.
Al my messages, however, are completely distinct.

 

[Michael]

The best thing to do in theis situation, in my opinion (and it's also what I
do) is to have two mail profiles at home. One profile has delivery to the
Exchange server and one has delivery to the PST. The former connects only
to the work Exchange server (i.e., doesn't contain the PST in the profile)
and the second doesn't have the Exchange account (i.e., is only for personal
mail). Outlook is configured to ask which profile to use when it starts and
the user picks the home profile when not on the VPN and the work profile
when connected.

You can have variations on this, like including the PST in the work profile,
so that you can manually copy any new appointments or contacts to the home
PST. In my case, I also have a PDA that I sync with the Outlook Exchange
account at work so that I have all my contacts, calendar, etc. on the PDA.
However, I don't sync the Inbox. If I was to see that at home, I use the
work profile, which doesn't access my home profile's PST. I also sync the
PDA at home with the home mail profile so that my home profile, which
contains my personal mail in a PST, also contains my work calendar,
contacts, tasks, etc, but NOT my work Inbox - only my personal mail. This
adds my personal contacts, calendar, tasks, etc, to the corresponding
folders at work, but I find that acceptable, since it's not that much data.
Al my messages, however, are completely distinct.

Brian - Thanks again

You seem to be confirming my own findings that there is no simple
solution to the problem.

Your solution with the PDA is exactly what we want to achieve (i.e.
what is in effect a common Contacts folder but separate email).

It just seems unfortunate that one has to buy a PDA to achieve such a
simple objective.

Anyway thanks again for your help.

Michael

 

[Brian Tillman]

Your solution with the PDA is exactly what we want to achieve (i.e.
what is in effect a common Contacts folder but separate email).

It just seems unfortunate that one has to buy a PDA to achieve such a
simple objective.

Well, my suggestion of including the home PST in the work profile but
keeping the delivery location on the Exchange server comes close, since you
can enable the PST's Contacts folder as an address book and then see its
contents as well as the Exchange Contacts folder when you click To and
manipulate the "Show Names from the" drop-down.