SmarterMail 17.x BETA - Outlook Integration?

Problem reported by Jens Straten - 5/1/2018 at 12:14 PM

Resolved

We are currently testing the SmarterMail 17.x BETA and while most things seem to work OK, we have found that our Outlook contacts and calendars no longer sync up with SmarterMail. When I started to investigate this issue, I found that I am having trouble locating the Outlook sync feature. I am guessing that it has moved to a different menu, but I just can't find it.

Can somebody please point me in the right direction? Thank you!

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Employee Replied

5/1/2018 at 2:52 PM

Employee Post

Hi Jens. The "Add to Outlook" Sharepoint connector has been removed from SmarterMail 17, as Microsoft has ended their support for this technology. This is why we'll be introducing MAPI in the near future as a replacement.

Jens Straten Replied

5/1/2018 at 5:34 PM

Will MAPI be included as part of the existing Enterprise license?

echoDreamz Replied

5/1/2018 at 6:45 PM

It will not, Tim (the CEO) announced it would be licensed much like EWS is, $199 and it covers all users on the server.

https://portal.smartertools.com/community/a90490/how-will-the-prices-of-sm-v_17-change-with-the-mapi-protocol.aspx#102284

Jens Straten Replied

5/1/2018 at 8:27 PM

That's bad news. I am not very keen on replacing a feature that works just fine with one I have to pay for... Since it is still supported in the current release of Outlook, I fail to understand why it has been removed. Is that final, Rod?

echoDreamz Replied

5/1/2018 at 8:52 PM

I can see why it has been removed. They have spent many many many many many man hours investing into MAPI and doing some massive backhaul work to add it in, which has native integration into Outlook. Honestly $200 aint bad for a fully native experience and tight integration with Outlook 2013+. My only concern though with it being removed is, what about clients that are using older versions of Outlook such as 2010 that do not support the MAPI addon?

Jens Straten Replied

5/2/2018 at 8:55 AM

I am sorry, but this is extremely inconsiderate towards smaller clients. I mean it's fine to add a new feature like MAPI, but why would you just remove something that works and supports older versions of Outlook? We are a smaller company (less than 20 users) and so I have to justify licensing cost on a yearly basis against competitors (Zoho Mail, Office 365, etc.) who offer more business relevant features (e.g. conversations to keep emails on the same subject sorted). We will certainly not add MAPI as a paid add-on, but sadly it seems that it is time to start looking for a replacement if this is true.

Employee Replied

5/2/2018 at 4:57 PM

Employee Post

Jens, existing "Add to Outlook" will continue to work as is. No new "Add to Outlook" connections will be permitted. And we will no longer provide support with the deprecated Microsoft protocol. They have ceased providing us with the support we would need, therefore, its implementation won't get much attention.

Jens Straten Replied

7/3/2018 at 10:33 AM

We have opted to use CalDav Synchronizer with Outlook instead. It actually works better than Outlook integration for us and pretty much matches what we are doing on mobile devices. More information can be found here: https://caldavsynchronizer.org/

Proto Replied

7/6/2018 at 10:10 AM

I think that at $199 MAPI licensing is higher than I would have liked but not unrealistic if you look at the bigger picture. The kicker on a small scale if you are supporting the Enterprise market is that the typical user will have at least a desktop and a smartphone. If the desktop is Apple we need to license up EWS, if Windows we will need to license up MAPI so really if you have chosen SM Enterprise, whether it is built in and added to the cost or licensed separately, you are likely to need both of them. Then there are the smartphones. It would be nice if ST would elaborate a bit on how they see this unfolding in SM17. Recent Microsoft Technet documentation seems to suggest that Outlook for Android and Outlook for iOS will attempt first to use what seems to be MAPI although they don't describe it that way and then as a second choice if that connection is not successful, EAS which seems to be reaching a point that it won't be supported as a second choice, at least not on their platform.. Does ST expect that the MAPI implemenation in SM17 will elimiante the need for EAS licensing assuming current versions of Android and iOS? If so, the simplified blanket licensing without the need for EAS may make the numbers look OK at all but the smallest scale. SM17 needs to work, that goes without saying, it also needs to come in fully functional as an Exchange Alternative at a cost that does not surpass the cost of Exchange unless and until the Value Add's have a preceived value and wide enough adoption that it woudl command a price premium. If this poses some revenue line challenges for ST I think a competitively priced fully functional Exchange Alternative really needs to be the main focus and some of the neat additions that have been developed as an alternative to, or in lieu of, real Exchange compatibility might need to be licensed as the paid add-ons. That way the base can be mantained; hopefully expanded, and there is a tommor into which we can sell the additional feature or license them up as needed fi the server is used in-house. I've been an advocate of MAPI for several years. This is still all looking like it is going in the right direction to me. I'd appreciate a little clarification from ST on how they expect the SmartPhone connectivity to unfold.

SmarterMail(tm)

MAPI over HTTP - Let's flesh it out for Outlook with a full set of Exchange like features!

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