I am the proud owner of a Android Galaxy S Epic 4G phone. But like me, most of you have (specially the ones coming from the Blackberry World) been struggling with email, notifications, invites , etc.
So I wrote this little guide with my experience, testing and results.
Currently I am very happy with my current setup, feels just like a darn Smartphone!
I am assuming most of us have a basic-moderate level knowledge of IT, so I will not details the how-to of the steps taken, but will be happy to reply to any post if you get stuck.
Issue#1 Push eMail for non-Gmail POP accounts
Other than Gmail account or Exchange servers, the android needs to poll emails out of the POP server on an scheduled time interval (From now on will call this POP Account ORG_POP; [username]@[mycompany].com). This is not efficient plus consumes too much battery, and we all need every bit!
Solution
1. Create a new Gmail account for your company POP mail. This will give you sync and push capabilities (Will call this NEW_GPOP); I named mine : [companyname].work@gmail.com
2. In the Gmail settings, tell Gmail to Check mail using POP3: specify your ORG_POP account
3. In the Gmail settings, tell Gmail to send mail as: specify your ORG_POP account.
For Android
Sync NEW_GPOP with Android. Note: adding a second account will sometimes create an error (cannot connect to server) on the Android, instead of adding the regular way, log in to YouTube from your Android phone with NEW_GPOP, this will create the new account. (don't ask me why!)
For Outlook
After you have your account setup in Gmail, go to Outlook and add a new email account that connects to NEW_GPOP. You can use the automatic changes. After all is done go to 'More Settings' and under the General tab, specify the reply email to be ORG_POP.
You can still sync with ORG_POP if you like, just remember to leave a copy on the server from NEW_GPOP.
I will recommend not adding LABELED filters to ORG_POP if you also want Outlook to retrieve the message. Not sure, but I am under the impression that Outlook will not retrieve it if it is sitting in a labeled folder (unless you are using IMAP with outlook).
What you get:
1. Push capabilities on your ORG_POP email, no need to sync, poll or wait for emails. (all PUSH for android and outlook)
2. Ability to send email under your ORG_POP email from Gmail , android and outlook, showing your ORG_POP as the reply to address.
3. Ability to keep copies (or delete them) in any of the three clients.
NEW_GPOP will work as a 'transport' mailer. You do not need to reference this email to the outside world (only if you want to), this will only be your account to log and manage your POP(s) account(s).
Personal Note:
You can add multiple POP email address to NEW_GPOP account, to another existing Gmail account (filters with labels if you like) or create new email for each POP email address you want to sync. It all comes down to your organization methodology.
I am sure you could do this with any mail client on the Android, I prefer Gmail since I believe is it simpler and has better integration with Gmail.
I can now manage all my work emails in just one place. If I work for multiple companies and they assign me each one different email, I can compile them all together into my NEW_GPOP and label them individually (or not).
If I go for vacation, I go to Google and set an automatic response and any email from work will be auto-replied.
Since NEW_GPOP is POLLING the emails from ORG_POP this is not done instantly, depending on the server or how Gmail performs the scheduled polls, you will receive the emails between 1-5m (in my experience).
Another way to make the emails get faster to your NEW_GPOP is to log into your ORG_POP account and tell the server to Forward the emails to NEW_GPOP. This will PUSH the email from ORG_POP to NEW_GPOP instantly and then NEW_GPOP will PUSH it to your android or outlook. It might look redundant, but if you Forward and Delete, then NEW_GPOP will get the email (a few seconds in my experience) and will find nothing the next time it tries to POLL from ORG_POP. Then a few seconds later I get the email on my Android.
Issue#2 Receiving/Accepting meeting invites on your Android
If you did follow the setup for issue #1, every time someone send you an invite to NEW_GPOP (meeting invite to NEW_GPOP email) Google will automatically add it to your calendar. This is great if you are giving away your NEW_GPOP email address, but if you receive email via the ORG_POP address, Google will stop the Quick Calendar entry and wait until you manually create the entry.
For some weird and mystic reason, Google decided not to include meeting invites in their Gmail account other than meeting submitted to a GMAIL account. If you receive an invite and you open Gmail on your PC, you will see the invite as a calendar option and insert it into Google calendar. Yes, if you accept it on Gmail on your PC, it will sync with the Android and show in your Android calendar. So, why not do this automatically for the ORG_POP account on the Android or Gmail??! ... Easy fix!
Solution
1. On Gmail, click Settings, Google Account Settings.
2. Under Personal Settings>>Emails, click Edit and add your ORG_POP.
3. Confirm Verification. Done!
BTW: while you are in the account settings, select Multiple Sign-in. Will be easier to manage all your Google accounts.
What you get:
All your invites sent to your ORG_POP will AUTOMATICALLY be included into the Google Calendar. I tested invites from Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook Calendars.
This is because Gmail now recognizes that ORG_POP is now an email address that belongs to you. Regularly when invites are sent, it is addressed to many emails. Gmail will not include entries on your calendar because it does not recognize ORG_POP as part your account emails.
There is a catch! the entry will be recorded in your calendar using the NEW_GPOP address (yup, too good to be true). This means that if you reply or change the event the new reply-to address will be NEW_GPOP not ORG_POP. I think if you reply with GMAIL not GCALENDAR the reply will remain ORG_POP, but need to try this.
Personal Note:
I have only test the ability to receive them automatically into the calendar. have partially tested (with good results):
1. Replying Yes, No, Maybe from Gmail or Android
2. Canceling or moving to another time.
I guess they will all work well since it is already within Gmail, but will try this later.
I only see a problem with this. Outlook.
Some invites will arrive as emails with an ics attachment, This is not a problem, Outlook will not add it to your calendar at this point. But when you get an standard Outlook invite from another Outlook client, yours will receive it as an invite and add it to the calendar.
For some people this might be good or bad. for me is bad. If you don't have a Sync client like (CompanionLink - I am testing the Trial Version) you will want to keep it in outlook so you can see the invite. But if you have an Sync client, the sync client will send to your Gmail account another copy of the invite, hence creating multiple copies.
To overcome my problem was a 2 step solution.
1. In Outlook, go to Options>>email options>>tracking options>>uncheck all checkboxes.
2. Create a new rule: "which is a meeting invitation or update">>"mark it as read">>"delete it"
That took care of my problem.
Now when I receive invite, they will stay in Gmail, they will be added to my Gmail calendar and then my sync client will retrieve them (in 5min) and add them to outlook calendar.
Also when I send invites from outlook the process will be the same but in reverse order.
Initiating the invite in the android will not be a problem, but it has it drawback (read my conclusion).
Alternative
Download from the Market: ICS Bot. This application will present you with the option of adding the calendar into your Android phone when you receive an invite with an ICS extension as an attachment.
Issue#3: Not Getting Gmail notification on Labeled and skip Invoice emails.
Some of us have filters in our inbox to properly manage our emails and organize them so we don't clutter the inbox. Gmail for Android will not notify you if you receive any of the emails that follow this filter criteria.
Solution
1. Download from the Market Gmail Label Notifier ($1.50)
2. Setup each label individually with notification and ringtone.
3. Setup Gmail on your Android to SYNC the specific label you want to get notified.
Personal Note:
I tried other apps without good success, confusing menus and double notifications (icons and sound) and also was not happy with the look and feel. Gmail Label Notifier gave me exactly what I need.
Make sure you are NOT archiving really important email, since the notifier seems to use the SYNC feature to get the emails and not a push from GMAIL. This means that the email might take longer to pop in your Smartphone (but not long).
Conclusion
I have to say I am very impressed about Google Integration between their apps. Definitely an Android user MUST have all his account in Gmail or at least polled or pushed into a Gmail account. Even Google Talk will notify me if someone canceled a meeting!
But at the same time I am disappointed at not seeing most of these issues already resolved or at least a viable workaround from Google to determine how to overcome some of these basic necessity problems.
Other Notes:
Sending Invites from Outlook
When creating invites or meeting from Outlook, you get the same transparency you will get from your original server. The attendee will receive something like this:
From: ORG_POP
To: xxxx@yahoo.com
This is good if you are only using your outlook desktop client to create meeting and manage them, but sometime you are on the run, need to reply, cancel or create a new meeting from the Android or Gmail and this is where I ran out of options to figure out a solution.
Sending Invites from Gmail or Android
In Gmail, when you click on any appointment, and see the WHO, you will see that Gmail is matching the invitee with your NEW_GPOP account. This is where I don't like the address that is sending the invite, there is no option to select which account is sending the invite or no option to default to my ORG_POP. Attendee will get something like this:
To:
xxxx@yahoo.com
Who: (Attendees)
1. NEW_GPOP@gmail.com - organizer
2. NEW_GPOP@gmail.com - creator (or PERSONAL@gmail.com, I shared my Work calendar)
3. xxxx@yahoo.com
I need this to be corrected to the following:
To:
xxxx@yahoo.com
Who: (Attendees)
1. ORG_POP [username]@[mycompany].com
2. xxxx@yahoo.com
First, it is creating one extra entry too and it is not specifying the ORG_POP address. When xxxx receives the email they will see that came from Gmail not mycompany.com. Although replying to this email will results in properly updating calendar information, it more of a question of ethics of showing the right address.
This is the only problem I have not been able to resolve, I will play more with gmail and see if there are settings that could help. For the mean time I am creating and setting up, replying and changing my appoint ONLY in outlook, although I can see them on my phone and Google calendar. Thankfully at the moment I am not getting many meeting requests.
So I wrote this little guide with my experience, testing and results.
Currently I am very happy with my current setup, feels just like a darn Smartphone!
I am assuming most of us have a basic-moderate level knowledge of IT, so I will not details the how-to of the steps taken, but will be happy to reply to any post if you get stuck.
Issue#1 Push eMail for non-Gmail POP accounts
Other than Gmail account or Exchange servers, the android needs to poll emails out of the POP server on an scheduled time interval (From now on will call this POP Account ORG_POP; [username]@[mycompany].com). This is not efficient plus consumes too much battery, and we all need every bit!
Solution
1. Create a new Gmail account for your company POP mail. This will give you sync and push capabilities (Will call this NEW_GPOP); I named mine : [companyname].work@gmail.com
2. In the Gmail settings, tell Gmail to Check mail using POP3: specify your ORG_POP account
3. In the Gmail settings, tell Gmail to send mail as: specify your ORG_POP account.
For Android
Sync NEW_GPOP with Android. Note: adding a second account will sometimes create an error (cannot connect to server) on the Android, instead of adding the regular way, log in to YouTube from your Android phone with NEW_GPOP, this will create the new account. (don't ask me why!)
For Outlook
After you have your account setup in Gmail, go to Outlook and add a new email account that connects to NEW_GPOP. You can use the automatic changes. After all is done go to 'More Settings' and under the General tab, specify the reply email to be ORG_POP.
You can still sync with ORG_POP if you like, just remember to leave a copy on the server from NEW_GPOP.
I will recommend not adding LABELED filters to ORG_POP if you also want Outlook to retrieve the message. Not sure, but I am under the impression that Outlook will not retrieve it if it is sitting in a labeled folder (unless you are using IMAP with outlook).
What you get:
1. Push capabilities on your ORG_POP email, no need to sync, poll or wait for emails. (all PUSH for android and outlook)
2. Ability to send email under your ORG_POP email from Gmail , android and outlook, showing your ORG_POP as the reply to address.
3. Ability to keep copies (or delete them) in any of the three clients.
NEW_GPOP will work as a 'transport' mailer. You do not need to reference this email to the outside world (only if you want to), this will only be your account to log and manage your POP(s) account(s).
Personal Note:
You can add multiple POP email address to NEW_GPOP account, to another existing Gmail account (filters with labels if you like) or create new email for each POP email address you want to sync. It all comes down to your organization methodology.
I am sure you could do this with any mail client on the Android, I prefer Gmail since I believe is it simpler and has better integration with Gmail.
I can now manage all my work emails in just one place. If I work for multiple companies and they assign me each one different email, I can compile them all together into my NEW_GPOP and label them individually (or not).
If I go for vacation, I go to Google and set an automatic response and any email from work will be auto-replied.
Since NEW_GPOP is POLLING the emails from ORG_POP this is not done instantly, depending on the server or how Gmail performs the scheduled polls, you will receive the emails between 1-5m (in my experience).
Another way to make the emails get faster to your NEW_GPOP is to log into your ORG_POP account and tell the server to Forward the emails to NEW_GPOP. This will PUSH the email from ORG_POP to NEW_GPOP instantly and then NEW_GPOP will PUSH it to your android or outlook. It might look redundant, but if you Forward and Delete, then NEW_GPOP will get the email (a few seconds in my experience) and will find nothing the next time it tries to POLL from ORG_POP. Then a few seconds later I get the email on my Android.
Issue#2 Receiving/Accepting meeting invites on your Android
If you did follow the setup for issue #1, every time someone send you an invite to NEW_GPOP (meeting invite to NEW_GPOP email) Google will automatically add it to your calendar. This is great if you are giving away your NEW_GPOP email address, but if you receive email via the ORG_POP address, Google will stop the Quick Calendar entry and wait until you manually create the entry.
For some weird and mystic reason, Google decided not to include meeting invites in their Gmail account other than meeting submitted to a GMAIL account. If you receive an invite and you open Gmail on your PC, you will see the invite as a calendar option and insert it into Google calendar. Yes, if you accept it on Gmail on your PC, it will sync with the Android and show in your Android calendar. So, why not do this automatically for the ORG_POP account on the Android or Gmail??! ... Easy fix!
Solution
1. On Gmail, click Settings, Google Account Settings.
2. Under Personal Settings>>Emails, click Edit and add your ORG_POP.
3. Confirm Verification. Done!
BTW: while you are in the account settings, select Multiple Sign-in. Will be easier to manage all your Google accounts.
What you get:
All your invites sent to your ORG_POP will AUTOMATICALLY be included into the Google Calendar. I tested invites from Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook Calendars.
This is because Gmail now recognizes that ORG_POP is now an email address that belongs to you. Regularly when invites are sent, it is addressed to many emails. Gmail will not include entries on your calendar because it does not recognize ORG_POP as part your account emails.
There is a catch! the entry will be recorded in your calendar using the NEW_GPOP address (yup, too good to be true). This means that if you reply or change the event the new reply-to address will be NEW_GPOP not ORG_POP. I think if you reply with GMAIL not GCALENDAR the reply will remain ORG_POP, but need to try this.
Personal Note:
I have only test the ability to receive them automatically into the calendar. have partially tested (with good results):
1. Replying Yes, No, Maybe from Gmail or Android
2. Canceling or moving to another time.
I guess they will all work well since it is already within Gmail, but will try this later.
I only see a problem with this. Outlook.
Some invites will arrive as emails with an ics attachment, This is not a problem, Outlook will not add it to your calendar at this point. But when you get an standard Outlook invite from another Outlook client, yours will receive it as an invite and add it to the calendar.
For some people this might be good or bad. for me is bad. If you don't have a Sync client like (CompanionLink - I am testing the Trial Version) you will want to keep it in outlook so you can see the invite. But if you have an Sync client, the sync client will send to your Gmail account another copy of the invite, hence creating multiple copies.
To overcome my problem was a 2 step solution.
1. In Outlook, go to Options>>email options>>tracking options>>uncheck all checkboxes.
2. Create a new rule: "which is a meeting invitation or update">>"mark it as read">>"delete it"
That took care of my problem.
Now when I receive invite, they will stay in Gmail, they will be added to my Gmail calendar and then my sync client will retrieve them (in 5min) and add them to outlook calendar.
Also when I send invites from outlook the process will be the same but in reverse order.
Initiating the invite in the android will not be a problem, but it has it drawback (read my conclusion).
Alternative
Download from the Market: ICS Bot. This application will present you with the option of adding the calendar into your Android phone when you receive an invite with an ICS extension as an attachment.
Issue#3: Not Getting Gmail notification on Labeled and skip Invoice emails.
Some of us have filters in our inbox to properly manage our emails and organize them so we don't clutter the inbox. Gmail for Android will not notify you if you receive any of the emails that follow this filter criteria.
Solution
1. Download from the Market Gmail Label Notifier ($1.50)
2. Setup each label individually with notification and ringtone.
3. Setup Gmail on your Android to SYNC the specific label you want to get notified.
Personal Note:
I tried other apps without good success, confusing menus and double notifications (icons and sound) and also was not happy with the look and feel. Gmail Label Notifier gave me exactly what I need.
Make sure you are NOT archiving really important email, since the notifier seems to use the SYNC feature to get the emails and not a push from GMAIL. This means that the email might take longer to pop in your Smartphone (but not long).
Conclusion
I have to say I am very impressed about Google Integration between their apps. Definitely an Android user MUST have all his account in Gmail or at least polled or pushed into a Gmail account. Even Google Talk will notify me if someone canceled a meeting!
But at the same time I am disappointed at not seeing most of these issues already resolved or at least a viable workaround from Google to determine how to overcome some of these basic necessity problems.
Other Notes:
Sending Invites from Outlook
When creating invites or meeting from Outlook, you get the same transparency you will get from your original server. The attendee will receive something like this:
From: ORG_POP
To: xxxx@yahoo.com
This is good if you are only using your outlook desktop client to create meeting and manage them, but sometime you are on the run, need to reply, cancel or create a new meeting from the Android or Gmail and this is where I ran out of options to figure out a solution.
Sending Invites from Gmail or Android
In Gmail, when you click on any appointment, and see the WHO, you will see that Gmail is matching the invitee with your NEW_GPOP account. This is where I don't like the address that is sending the invite, there is no option to select which account is sending the invite or no option to default to my ORG_POP. Attendee will get something like this:
To:
xxxx@yahoo.com
Who: (Attendees)
1. NEW_GPOP@gmail.com - organizer
2. NEW_GPOP@gmail.com - creator (or PERSONAL@gmail.com, I shared my Work calendar)
3. xxxx@yahoo.com
I need this to be corrected to the following:
To:
xxxx@yahoo.com
Who: (Attendees)
1. ORG_POP [username]@[mycompany].com
2. xxxx@yahoo.com
First, it is creating one extra entry too and it is not specifying the ORG_POP address. When xxxx receives the email they will see that came from Gmail not mycompany.com. Although replying to this email will results in properly updating calendar information, it more of a question of ethics of showing the right address.
This is the only problem I have not been able to resolve, I will play more with gmail and see if there are settings that could help. For the mean time I am creating and setting up, replying and changing my appoint ONLY in outlook, although I can see them on my phone and Google calendar. Thankfully at the moment I am not getting many meeting requests.
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