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Funambol Outlook Plug-In Installation and Setup

The Funambol Outlook Plug-In allows us to synchronize Microsoft Outlook with various data. Get the Funambol Outlook Client Plug-in that is listed under the CLIENT PLUG-INS section of Funambol's Download page.

After the download, follow the instructions given by its Window installation, but be warned that you must be logged in as an Administrator. Also, the software does not yet support multiple-user machines (this is scheduled to be fixed soon).

After completing the installation, you will see a new icon in your Outlook toolbar and a new icon in your Start menu. Load the client from the Start directory and you will see the Outlook Plug-in screen. Figure 6 shows the Main menu and the Synchronize button available on the Outlook Plug-in screen.

Figure 6: Funambol Outlook Plug-in screen

From the Main menu, select Edit-> Communications Settings. Figure 7 shows the Communications Setting screen.

Figure 7: Communication Setting screen

Type in the server name, username, and password you would like to use. These will be stored on the server on the first connect; therefore, make sure you make a note of what they are, and remember the username is case-sensitive!

Click OK and then press the Synchronize button. Once synchronization has finished, go back to the Funambol Administration Tool and refresh the users. You should see the user you just created, and also the devices, which should also show Outlook. Double-clicking your Users node will bring up a User Details panel, as shown in Figure 8, with some more options that you can fill in if you want.

Figure 8: Funambol Administration Tool's Search User Details panel (click image to enlarge)

The process should have also created a Principal to link your Outlook account and your user. Figure 9 shows a Search Principals panel.

Figure 9: Funambol Administration Tool's Search Principals panel (click image to enlarge)

Once this all works successfully, you will probably want to schedule Outlook to synchronize every few minutes. To access Scheduler Settings, select Edit->Scheduler Settings.