Understanding Mobile Devices

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

Mobile devices that are enabled for Exchange ActiveSync enable users to access most of their Microsoft Exchange mailbox data any time, anywhere. There are a variety of different devices that are enabled for Exchange ActiveSync. These include Windows Mobile powered devices, Nokia devices, and Palm devices. This topic provides an overview of these mobile devices.

Exchange ActiveSync Enabled Devices

Exchange ActiveSync is a communications protocol that enables mobile access, over the air, to e-mail messages, scheduling data, contacts, and tasks. Exchange ActiveSync is available on Windows Mobile powered devices and third-party devices that are enabled for Exchange ActiveSync.

Exchange ActiveSync offers Direct Push technology. Direct Push uses an encrypted HTTPS connection that is established and maintained between the device and the server to push new e-mail messages and other Exchange data to the device.

To use Direct Push with Exchange 2007, your users must have a mobile device that is running Windows Mobile 5.0 with the Messaging & Security Feature Pack or another mobile operating system that is designed to support Direct Push.

Exchange ActiveSync Features

Exchange ActiveSync provides access to a variety of features. These features enable you to enforce device security policies. By using Exchange 2007, you can configure multiple Exchange ActiveSync policies and control which devices can synchronize with your Exchange server. Exchange ActiveSync enables you to send a remote device wipe command that wipes all data from an existing device in case that device is lost or stolen. Users can also initiate a remote device wipe from Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access.

For more information about Exchange ActiveSync, see Overview of Exchange ActiveSync.

Devices Enabled for Exchange ActiveSync

Users can take advantage of Exchange ActiveSync by selecting mobile devices that are compatible with Exchange ActiveSync. These devices are available from a variety of manufacturers. Most of these devices do not support Direct Push. However, they do support synchronization with Microsoft Exchange. For more information, see the device documentation.

Some of the devices that are compatible with Microsoft Exchange include the following:

• Nokia   Nokia offers Mail for Exchange on their Eseries mobile devices. E-mail, calendar, and contact data can be synchronized over a cellular network or a wireless LAN.

• Sony Ericsson   Sony Ericsson offers Exchange ActiveSync support on several of their newer smartphone devices. They also support Direct Push through a third-party program.

• Palm   Palm offers two smartphones that have the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. These devices support Direct Push. Palm also supports Exchange ActiveSync on the Treo 650 and 680 series smartphones. These devices do not support Direct Push.

• Motorola   Motorola has its own synchronization framework that enables over-the-air synchronization through Exchange ActiveSync on a variety of its devices.

• Symbian   Symbian Limited licenses Exchange ActiveSync for use in the Symbian operating system. This operating system is an open standard operating system for mobile telephones.

Windows Mobile Software Feature Matrix

Mobile devices that have a version of Windows Mobile software as their operating system offer the greatest functionality when synchronizing with Exchange 2007. Table 1 illustrates some of the features that are available with the different versions of Windows Mobile software.

Table 1   Windows Mobile software feature matrix

For more information about how to manage Windows Mobile powered devices, visit the Windows Mobile Center Web site.