9 ways to Synchronize Standalone Outlook to your Android Kitkat Phone

If you are like me, you depend on your PC Outlook for email, contact list and calendar.  It’s the only tool that does a decent job of meeting invites, colored categories and name lookups.  I’m not a big fan of online calendars because they are too slow!  When I need to schedule something, or make a task from an email, I just drag and drop it in Outlook and it creates almost by itself.  I’m not a fan of Office 365 because it slows down the load time of my Outlook.  My work day is for business, not for waiting for a slow loading app, or web site to feeds nibbles to my PC.

I love my Galaxy Note II phone.  It updated this spring to Android 4.4, and so I think it has almost all the features of a Galaxy Note III.  The larger screen size is great because I use it for my Kindle, and for browsing news and technology articles on the web.

CompanionLink provides nine different ways to move data from Standalone Outlook to your Android Phone.  Here is a rundown with some of the advantages and disadvantages.  CompanionLink has created an Outlook Style App for Android called DejaOffice.  This App is the only one on the market that supports Colored Categories just like Outlook.  This App is the only one that supports Tasks linked to your Outlook Contacts list.  Five of our seven system use DejaOffice as a destination, to make your Android phone more powerful.

1. USB Sync from Outlook to DejaOffice App on Android:  If you liked Palm Hotsync, USB Sync is the way to go.  Download DejaOffice on your device, and CompanionLink on your PC.  Set up a USB link.  Both programs have setup wizards to help you out.  The sync will run whenever you connect your phone to your PC.  This is a fully secure sync.  There is no stored data on the web.  As such it is fully HIPAA compliant.  With DejaOffice you will see your Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Notes and Journal all in one handy Android App!
2. Bluetooth Sync from Outlook to DejaOffice App on Android:  Just like Palm, CompanionLink offers the option to Bluetooth sync from Android to your PC.  Your PC will need a Bluetooth connection.  Most laptops have them built-in.  For desktops you can buy a USB dongle for just a few dollars.
3. WiFi Sync from Outlook to DejaOffice App on Android:  Wi-Fi uses your local Wi-Fi router to mediate a sync connection to your Android phone.  This is handy if you don’t like plugging your phone in all day, and don’t have a Bluetooth connection.  All you need here is a local Wi-Fi router that both your PC and your Phone are connected to.  CompanionLink’s Wi-Fi sync is fully encrypted, so even though the sync goes through an unsecured router, it is protected using a password and AES256 level encryption (very strong).  Most people consider this to be HIPAA compliant, but check with your compliance team to be sure.
4. DejaCloud Sync from Outlook to DejaOffice App on Android:  CompanionLink offers a very fast cloud sync system called DejaCloud.  There is an online app called DejaOffice CRM Live.  With this system, your PC and your phone both synchronizes to the online database.  With this system, you can be in-sync even when you are traveling away from your office.  Everything is live, so if you enter a note, and the drop your phone into Disneyland’s Tom Sawyer lagoon,  the note will be safely stored on your Outlook PC.  DejaCloud supports simultaneous sync to multiple phones and PCs, and is the perfect solution if you use a phone and tablet, or a PC and Mac.
5. CompanionLink Secure Hosted Wireless to DejaOffice App on Android: CompanionLink offers a HIPAA compliant secure system.  This system does not store your data online.  Think of it like an email system, when the email is received, it is no longer on the server.  In this case, when your phone gets the contact and calendar data, the server is wiped clean and empty.  Because the server is clean, each device needs a separate account.  So this is a point-to-point wireless system.
6. CompanionLink to Google, with Google Sync to your Android Phone:  If you don’t need categories or tasks to sync, then you can use Google Sync for Contacts and Calendar.  This is a lightweight solution for people who find the Android Contacts and Android Calendar sufficient for their Outlook needs.  Just set up CompanionLink to go to Google, and use Google’s onboard synchronization for the rest.  The best advantage here is that if you find you need your Categories or your Tasks, you can switch to one of the other methods for Free!
7. Office 365 Cloud to DejaOffice App on your Android Phone via USB, WI-Fi, DejaCloud or Google: If you don’t use Outlook on the PC, but only use Office 365 Cloud (formerly called Hotmail), you still have a number of options to synchronize.  The advantage here is that DejaOffice acts just like Outlook on your Android phones.  You have access to your Contacts, Calendar and Tasks, and you can easily create a Task from a Calendar event or Contact just as you would in Outlook.
8. Use DejaOffice Live to connect from Office 365 to DejaOffice App on Android:  You can set up DejaCloud Sync for your device (item 4 above) but connect it directly to your Office 365 Cloud data.  This sync run without any software on your PC.  So you can turn your PC off, make a change in Office 365, and see it on your phone within seconds.  DejaCloud Connectors work for other Cloud Apps like SalesForce and InfusionSoft.
9. Use DejaOffice Live to connect from Office 365 to Google:  A quick and easy Cloud-to-Cloud connector automates sync from Office 365 to your Google Android account.  Setup is entirely online, so you don’t even need to run CompanionLink on your PC.  It’s completely automatic, so you never have to think about hitting a button or connecting a cable.

CompanionLink works with any version of Outlook, including Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007.  For all of these solutions, you can get a two week free trial from CompanionLink to try it out.  If you choose to purchase the service it costs just $14.95 per quarter for a subscription, or $49.95 for a one-time  purchase.  Type in the Affinity code BLOG to get $10 off the one-time purchase, just for reading to the end of this blog.  Once you purchase, you can install CompanionLink on up to three of  your computers, and call our live US based telephone technical support.  CompanionLink also offers Premium Support (dedicated phone line and expert tech, for people with sophisticated synchronizing needs) and RunStart service where a technician logs onto your computer the set up what you need.