Secure Contact Sync without Google or Exchange

Posted on May 5, 2017 by Wayland Bruns

This week brought us news of a clever phishing scheme using Google Docs. People received a realistic email from a trusted business associate. The email contained a link to a Google Doc. Opening the document required you go through Google OAuth and entering your Email and Password.

Fortunately, Google OAuth is secure, so the password was not stolen. Unfortunately, the phisher obtained a token that allowed them to access your gmail account, allowing them to send an email to all of your professional contacts.

This attack underscores a weak point in data security. When your email and contact information is stored on a public cloud server, the server becomes a target for obtaining your valuable information. Instead of targeting the billions of computers that are used to store business information locally, phishers target the “big three” who collect the data in complex systems that allow others access to it.

Notwithstanding the phishing attack, Google, Microsoft and Apple reserve the right to farm your data and re-sell it. Google will scan your data and target advertising to you. If you send an email about an Acapulco vacation, you will soon find your browsing full of offers for cheap resorts. Microsoft and Apple are more circumspect about their data scanning. But they still store and mine the data, and work to derive profit from it.

CompanionLink provides a secure alternative to storing your company’s data on a highly public server. If you use our USB, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth Sync, your data is not stored at all. We offer a secure cloud service called DejaCloud. This service is significantly different from Exchange, iCloud and Google Sync. With DejaCloud, we do not derive income from mining and selling the data. Our source of income is product sales and subscription service, and that’s all. We are not a public company and do not have to split our loyalty between our customers and our shareholders.

I remember years ago how proud I was as my customer list grew from 500 contacts, to 600, and then over one thousand. At that time I was using Goldmine, and we sold Add-On products for Act! and Goldmine. Today we have 1.8 million entries in our various databases, and I’m still proud that this list has never been hacked, and will never be stored in a public database.

How to Sync Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes with iPhone 6s

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Wayland Bruns

There seems no end to sync solutions for iPhone. The problem is; they all devolve into Apple-like simplicity.

Face it. We use Outlook because it is fast, effective, and the whole world supports it. It is forced on us by our business, it runs our mail, it runs our appointments, and the less time we can spend there, the more we can do our jobs.

With iPhone, the best known solutions are feeble, at best. With Apple iCloud, you need to create a different Outlook folder and move your data to it. You need to put up with problems with it, with mail and other things. And then, when it gets to iPhone, you have no Tasks any more just reminders.

With Office 365 and the Outlook App you have a different set of problems. It all gets to the phone ok (except for tasks again) but the only thing that is marginally good with the Outlook App from Microsoft is the email. Hello Microsoft: Email is NOT a problem on the iPhone.

So that’s what CompanionLink and DejaOffice are here to do. Synchronize Outlook Contacts, and Outlook Calendar, and Outlook Tasks to the iPhone. Not only to move them, safely and securely, but DejaOffice provides an Outlook-like ecosystem on the iPhone and Android so that you can continue to do Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes just like your PC. So if you want to schedule an appointment, or make a task for a contact, you can do that in one App on your phone. If you have Recurring Tasks, CompanionLink and DejaOffice is the only solution available that supports them on all platforms.

CompanionLink also works for Outlook for Mac 2011 and Outlook for Mac 2015.

Here’s how to sync Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Memos:

On your PC or Mac; Download the CompanionLink for Outlook 14-day trial
On your iPhone or Android phone, download DejaOffice for Outlook
Set up USB, Wi-Fi or DejaCloud sync

That’s it! You’ll have your data on your phone. For more information here’s our info page for CompanionLink for Outlook.

How to sync Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ to Outlook

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Wayland Bruns

Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ are the newest additions to the Wide World of Phablets. The Edge+ is the first Phablet phone to feature the curved edges which can show information while the phone is turned.

DejaOffice for Outlook App is made for these large screen phones, giving a maximum of functionality. Only DejaOffice offers:

* Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes in one app, and you can link them together
* Category colors, use the same categories across all conduits.
* USB, Wi-FI and Cloud synchronization options
* Private records, view them only when you enter a pass code
* Onboard encryption. Even if your phone is lost, your data is safe

Setup Guide for Samsung Galaxy Outlook sync

Install CompanionLink on your PC. Click here to download it.
On your Galaxy Phone, launch the Google Play Store. Search for DejaOffice and install it.
Configure CompanionLink. Your configuration steps will depend on the sync option listed above that you choose.
1. Setup guide: Galaxy S6 to Outlook USB sync
2. Setup guide: Galaxy S6 to Outlook WiFi sync
3. Recommended: Galaxy S6 to Outlook DejaCloud sync (automatic)
4. Setup guide: Galaxy S6 to Outlook using a Google account
5. With DejaCloud sync, the synchronization will begin automatically within a few minutes. If you selected USB, WiFi, or sync to Google, you need to click on the Sync button in CompanionLink on your PC to start the first sync.

Further help for Samsung Galaxy to Outlook sync

Call us at 503-243-3400 if you need further help. Support is free to everyone with a Galaxy S6 phone, regardless of whether you do or do not own a license to CompanionLink . You can also access our setup guides online. If you want an advanced configuration help, we offer a $49 RunStart package where our experts will log in to your PC and Galaxy S6 to configure the sync for you. This gives you the peace of mind that your Galaxy S6 to PC sync is fine-tuned to match your needs.

Windows 10, Misery and Magic

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Wayland Bruns

Having been in this business 27 years gives me some experience. But nothing in my experience matches what Microsoft is attempting; a free OS update for more than 500 million computers.

Do I have a prediction? Can Microsoft handle the server load? Will everyone be impressed but the support? I don’t say so. However, I will predict that whether Microsoft is successful or unsuccessful, we will all remember August 1, 2015 as the date that Windows changed the World, for better or worse.

What I’m anticipating is a combination of people successful in the Windows 10 transition, looking for help with the new OS and how to do things. I also predict a certain percentage of failed updates. Even a 1% failure rate means 5 million computers that no longer boot. So I would predict that more PC hardware will be shipped in August 2015 than in any month of the last four years.

So many people, reinstalling apps, looking up licenses, switching to newer versions.

We also look with some interest at Microsoft’s “Phone Companion” software, which will “magically” keep everything in sync. Since Windows 10 preview is out, and Phone Companion is not in it, I definitely think magic is what they need now. I think it will be good for CompanionLink (thank you Microsoft for naming your feature) to continue to do what we do – simple and dependable phone sync. There’s nothing they will introduce in two weeks that can match the features and dependability of CompanionLink and DejaOffice.

Demystifying the versions of Office Outlook for PCs, Phones, and Tablets

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Rushang

Microsoft is unleashing a bevy of names and editions of the next version of Microsoft Office Outlook. It’s hard to understand which version of Outlook you will need on PC, Mac, phones, and tablets.

Here are a list of known platforms on which the next version of Outlook will be available.

PC – desktops and laptops running Windows 10
Phones – iPhone, Android, Windows-based phones
Tablets – iPad, Android tablets
Special Tablets – Surface tablets, other tablets running Windows OS 10

Next, let’s list every brand name that Microsoft has used so far to describe the next version of Office Outlook.

Outlook 2016
Outlook for Mac 15
Outlook Mail for Windows 10
Mail for Windows 10
Windows 10 Mail app
Outlook for iOS
Outlook for Android
Outlook Web App for Office 365

Outlook 2016

This comes as part of the conventional Office productivity desktop suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) that we have used in the past. Outlook 2016 has a refreshed UI, tight OneDrive integration for cloud document management, and a machine-learning algorithm that learns how to “de-clutter” your inbox.

This suite is for people who want the full Outlook experience (Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, and Categories working seamlessly together) on their desktops and laptops like in years past. Pricing tiers are unannounced. Availability is Fall 2015 with no specific date yet.

Outlook for Mac 15 (aka: Outlook for Mac 2015, New Outlook for Mac)

This is the Office productivity suite for Mac users. It is designed to take advantage of Retina displays and Full Screen views available in modern Macs. Microsoft is promoting this version as a convergence in feature-set with the PC Office 2016. The prior version (Office for Mac 2011) took a public beating because it failed to do things that its PC counterpart could do.

Availability is scheduled for the second half of 2015.

Outlook Mail for Windows 10 (aka: Mail for Windows 10, Windows 10 Mail app)

This is a basic and feature-lite version of Outlook. It comes pre-installed on phones and tablets running Windows 10. These are Microsoft’s phones, Surface tablets, and other small tablets designed by other manufacturers that will support Windows 10. This lite version of Outlook gives you Mail and Calendar functionality. There are no Contacts, Tasks, or Notes in this feature-lite version. Support for Categories is unknown. The UI is streamlined when compared to Outlook 2016 for desktops. You can connect to EAS, Office 365, Gmail, and Yahoo accounts.

Here’s a video that shows the app.

Outlook for iOS (iPhone and iPad)

This app is available from iTunes App Store for free. It handles Mail, People (ie – contacts), and Calendar. People is limited to view-only data. This means you can search and view contact details of people in your address book, but you cannot add, edit, or delete records. There are no Categories or sort options.

Outlook for Android

This app is available from Google Play Store for free. Like its sibling iOS app, it handles Mail, People, and Calendar. People is view-only, no Categories, and no sort.

Outlook Web App (aka: OWA, OWA for Office 365)

This is the online version of Outlook that can be accessed from any desktop or mobile browser. If you have Office 365, you navigate to a web page to log in. If your organization used Exchange, they would provide you with a URL and credentials to log in to the Exchange Server.

The web interface handles Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks. Categories and Notes do not work.

Microsoft also released native apps for iOS and Android called Outlook Web App. This was Microsoft’s recommended method to access Outlook on mobile devices prior to their recent native Outlook apps for iOS and Android. Page This ZDNet article claims Microsoft is planning to sunset these OWA apps in favor of the new Outlook apps for iOS and Android.

“…Microsoft plans to “sunset” Outlook Web Apps and the Outlook.com app for iOS and Android by summer, officials said.” (Source)

If you have heard of any other names used to describe the next Office Outlook, please share that with us in the Comments section.

The Ultimate Outlook Sync for Santa’s Phone and Tablet

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Rushang

PRESS RELEASE BY COMPANIONLINK SOFTWARE, INC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Advanced features like category management that supports Outlook color-coding, handling of Outlook custom fields, and sort options for Outlook’s File-As field, offer a complete two-way sync utility with the most secure and direct sync options.

DejaOffice, the #1 independent Outlook sync app for Android^® and iOS^®, offers complete two-way synchronization for Microsoft^® Outlook^® calendar, tasks, notes, contacts, categories, and journal entries. It supports all the latest phones and tablets that Santa has delivered this holiday season.

Available for Android since 2008, DejaOffice is designed for Outlook power-users who cannot afford to shortcut support of key Outlook data. DejaOffice holds important Outlook contact details that are missing in the native Phone apps such as custom fields, multiple email addresses, and full contact notes. Advanced features like Private memos, Calendar templates, Location and Date pickers make DejaOffice uniquely convenient for people who want to integrate their mobile schedule with their PC Office.

“There is a huge gap between Desktop PC programs like Microsoft Outlook and the native phone list and calendar on Android and iOS devices,” says Wayland Bruns, CTO for CompanionLink Software. “The DejaOffice App spans the gap and brings the Outlook contact, calendar, and task management experience to phones and tablets. Business professionals do not want a lite version of Outlook on their phones; they demand complete client information, notes and history of interactions, and desktop schedule management features on a mobile form factor.”

A visual tour of the many advanced Outlook features in DejaOffice can be found at www.dejaoffice.com/tour.html. DejaOffice is a free app on Google Play marketplace. CompanionLink’s synchronization software starts at $14.95 per user and can be found at www.companionlink.com/android/outlook. Reviewed by leading journals like USAToday.com and Forbes.com, CompanionLink’s apps have proven over time to be the most complete sync utility for those who demand the full Outlook experience on their Android.

CompanionLink cures Google Calendar Sync Error 2016

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Rushang

Multiple reports starting the afternoon of Monday, August 5 confirm the much-rumored demise of the Google Calendar Sync utility. People who were able to sync Monday morning report getting Error 2016 later in the day. It appears Google has left the building for MS Outlook Calendar sync for free Gmail accounts.

People are turning to 3rd-party apps to fill the void. The right app for you depends on which specifics you value and the total cost of ownership.

Some things to factor in your decision:

will one license purchase allow install on all of your PCs
- CompanionLink allows install on 3 PCs
what are the support options (forum, email, phone, chat) in case you need help
- CompanionLink offers phone and email support no cost
how long has the company been in business
- CompanionLink has supported Google Calendar sync since 2006 and in business since 1988
is there a free trial
- CompanionLink offers a free 14-day trial
is there a no-questions-asked refund policy
- CompanionLink has a 90-day no-questions-asked policy
what is the software update policy
- CompanionLink offers free software updates
what other fields are synced
- CompanionLink sync Google calendar, categories, contacts, tasks, and contact photos
price
- CompanionLink is $39.95 after discount code ALTGCS is applied

The most complete alternative to the sunset Google Calendar Sync utility

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Rushang

Multiple reports are in that Google Calendar Sync will become sunset on August 1, 2014. People are receiving an email from Google’s “The Calendar Team” as follows:

Important Announcement about Google Calendar Sync

Almost two years ago, we announced that we ended support for Google Calendar Sync. Starting on August 1, 2014, this app will no longer sync events between your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

You can continue to access all of your Google Calendar events at calendar.google.com or on your mobile devices. Follow these instructions to uninstall Google Calendar Sync from your computer.

– The Calendar Team

Google’s notice appears to imply more than we are not going to support this product. It means the sync functionality may cease due to a change at the API level (programmatic). Google appears to be forcing a shut down of Calendar Event sync between Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar.

This gives existing users 20 days to scramble to find a solution. There are many on the market. Choose one that matches your needs for features, use on multiple PCs or in a household scenario, and technical support options. Don’t overlook the support options. Many business users don’t have time to post questions on forums and moderate answers. They want the ability to pick up the phone and talk to an expert to get answers and their Google integration working. Support is a valuable consideration to the business community.

CompanionLink for Google is our product that comes with free telephone support and handles two-way sync between Google Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Groups and Outlook contacts, calendar, tasks, and categories. The product can also sync multiple Google Calendars to Outlook. Members of the same household can use one license, and business users can install the product on their home and work PCs. Updates are always free.

Gmail, Google, and all Google Apps accounts are supported. Outlook 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, and 2000 are supported. The product is available as a one-time license for $49.95. Enter ALTGCS on the order form and save $10 on your purchase. If you wish to purchase 20+ licenses for your organization, email us to get a volume purchase discount.

Here’s a full list of data CompanionLink synchronizes.

Calendar

Google Calendar syncs to Outlook Calendar
Full event details
Recurring and all-day events
Alarms/reminders
Accepted meeting invites (with attendee list)
Sync to multiple Outlook calendars (requires upgrade to CompanionLink Professional)

Contacts

Google Contacts syncs to Outlook Contacts
Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses
Google Groups sync to Outlook Categories
Contact notes
Birthdays
Contact photos
Up to 9 custom fields in Outlook

Tasks

Outlook Tasks sync to Google Tasks or Google Calendar (you choose)
Task priorities
Recurring tasks
Due dates

Groups/Categories

Google Groups sync to Outlook Categories

Sync to People and Calendar apps in Microsoft Office Online

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Rushang

Microsoft rebranded their online Office app suite as Office Online. It was previously the product known as Office Web Apps. They introduced a new home page with tiles of the apps you have access to online – People, Calendar, Email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and the new OneDrive document and file storage service.

This rebranding does not change CompanionLink’s two-way sync with the People and Calendar apps for Office 365, Outlook.com, and Office Online accounts. The only difference is that People and Calendar are now accessible tiles in the Office Online interface.

Sync to People and Calendar apps in Office Online

Connect Outlook 2010, 2007, and 2003 with Office 365 and Office Online

For people running desktop MS Outlook 2010 and prior, CompanionLink offers the missing connection to Office Online and Office 365 accounts. These versions of Outlook have no way to automatically integrate desktop contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes with Microsoft’s cloud. CompanionLink for Outlook is a plug-in that automates the integration between Microsoft’s cloud and Outlook 2010, 2007, and 2003. Here is a setup guide that shows you how to configure PC Outlook to Office Online and Office 365.

USATODAY.com review votes DejaOffice and CompanionLink as best Android Sync app for Outlook

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Rushang

We are thrilled to share a raving review about our Android Sync products. Marc Saltzman, writer for USATODAY.com, stumbled upon CompanionLink when his frustration with other Android to Outlook sync solutions came to a peak. He found other products to sync incomplete Outlook data or have complicated setups.

Then, he found our Android Outlook app, DejaOffice.

“DejaOffice was able to accomplish what others could not: smooth, reliable and quick syncing between Android and Microsoft Outlook.”

“You don’t need a degree in computer engineering to set it up.”

Marc hits squarely on a sensitive topic for people who used legacy phones and PDAs like BlackBerry and Palm. Traditionally, Outlook sync was an afterthought for mobile users because Outlook integration was bundled with their device purchase. Palm shipped a CD with Outlook sync software. BlackBerry included their reliable Desktop Software companion with every device.

Android buyers weren’t so lucky. During Android’s toddler years, no manufacturer bundled software for Outlook integration. Samsung, for example, has since developed a tool called Kies to address the uproar by Outlook users. However, upkeep of the tool has proved difficult and fragmented as Kies updates often break Outlook integration. The reliability of these tools also vary from device to device and are inconsistent with the Outlook fields they support because every device has different pre-installed PIM apps.

The CompanionLink and DejaOffice platform for Android really shines because it works and looks the same across all Android devices and restores reliable Outlook integration that people expect to come with their device. People are free to choose the security of USB connected synchronization or the flexibility of Cloud synchronization through CompanionLink’s secure DejaCloud service, Google or other cloud services. This allows people to customize their experience to their business requirements.

Marc’s review emotes the frustration millions of Outlook users face when they realize their $300 phone investment doesn’t integrate easily with desktop Outlook. CompanionLink agrees that reliable Outlook synchronization should come in-the-box with your phone purchase. Until then, CompanionLink has a product that millions, like Marc, can use to turn their $300 investment into a productivity tool that works with Outlook.

Newkia can thrive by filling the business feature void on smartphones and tablets

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Rushang

Newkia, the new Singapore-based endeavor with plans to siphon Nokia’s Finnish talent to build Android devices, has its heart in the right place. Had Nokia heeded popular advice and supported Android OS, they would probably still be around as a company that builds phones. They chose to become the near-exclusive manufacturer of Windows Phone, a decision that earned Nokia’s C-brass a fortune in the Microsoft acquisition while thousands of employees and avid followers were stranded. Not to mention the hit on the economy in Finland (here’s another great article on that topic).

Smartphones are remarkably dumb with business functionality

CompanionLink has long championed the message for the need for a smartphone with business features. We even built our own business-focused mobile app because we saw this gap. Android and iPhone operate exceedingly well with video, social media, and web browsing. But they lack advanced functionality that business users relied on with legacy Palm Treo devices. For example: an address book that shows more than 8 contacts per screen; a notes app that intelligently links to people in the address book; a task manager that fits productivity philosophies like Getting Things Done and Franklin Covey; and full integration with PC apps like Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes where business people spend 50% of their day.

OPPORTUNITY ALERT FOR NEWKIA: build business productivity into the fabric of your product roadmap. If you need help with this when building your PIM applications, please call us. We’d love to help.

Business users held tremendous hope that Palm webOS would fill this void. The first Palm organization defined mobile productivity. When that failed, business people refocused their hopes on BlackBerry 10. Q3/2013 sales showed BlackBerry sold more legacy devices than phones running on the new OS 10 platform. Yikes! The Address Book, Calendar and Apple-inspired Remember apps weren’t anything like what business users expected from their BlackBerry.

Newkia appears to have taken a giant leap in the right direction by acquiring a CEO, Urpo Karjalainen, who understands the business of mobile business. Mr. Karjalainen served as BlackBerry’s head of business operations for Asia and worked another 20 years at Nokia.

Why CompanionLink is the perfect alternative for Kies 3 problems

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Rushang

User reports (here and here, for example) outline the Kies 3 problems when synchronizing Microsoft Outlook with Note 3, Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, and Android 4.4 and Android 4.3 devices. This thread reports the Outlook Calendar and Contacts synchronization tab is entirely missing in Kies 3.

“I want to let you know how great your product is and how you bailed out Samsung! The KIES software that comes with Samsung devices not only does not work, it corrupted my Outlook files. If are serious about managing your business contact database, CompanionLink is the only solution.”

Cary Chavet

The Kies home page on Samsung’s US website has no mention of Outlook Calendar or Tasks. It is unclear if this means Kies no longer supports Outlook Calendar and Tasks sync, or if this is an oversight by the marketing of website team.

CompanionLink is a great Kies alternative because it synchronizes more Outlook fields like Outlook Notes, Tasks, Journal, Birthdays, and Meeting Invites, and supports Outlook Categories with matching colors. You can also work with multiple Outlook Calendar and Contacts Folders.

CompanionLink lets you choose how to sync – USB, WiFi, or automatic Cloud sync.

CompanionLink is backed by US-based telephone support at no cost. CompanionLink never pushes updates on their customers, so the software you purchase is guaranteed to be the same unless you change it.

Read more about CompanionLink for Outlook here. A full license costs $49.95, one-time. Enter code K3ALT in the Affinity Code field on our order form to save $10.

Small Business Productivity, Tools and Tips – Android and iPhone Sync

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