Contact sync options

[dwlovell]

Can someone shed some light on the various options for contact sync?

I have a home outlook setup with just a local PST and contacts. Ideally I wish to just have them sync'd to the phone manually whenever major updates are made. I would like to avoid sending them into a cloud somewhere just to have them on my phone. I don't use Exchange Server at home and wouldn't setup somethign that large for this purpose.

Is this possible? If not, what are the cloud options available with the WP7 platform?

 

[jimski]

You can get Hotmail Connector (Bing it) that will add a folder to your desktop Outlook. Any contacts you copy to this folder will sync with Windows Live, assuming you have a Hotmail account. Live will sync with your phone. You never really have to interact with Windows Live contacts. Its sort of just the conduit from Outlook to your phone.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[dwlovell]

You can get Hotmail Connector (Bing it) that will add a folder to your desktop Outlook. Any contacts you copy to this folder will sync with Windows Live, assuming you have a Hotmail account. Live will sync with your phone. You never really have to interact with Windows Live contacts. Its sort of just the conduit from Outlook to your phone.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

If that is the only option, it will do I suppose. I just dont like having my personal contacts on any system. I trust MS/Hotmail more than Google, but would still rather keep them local.

If I did type them all manually into the phone, are they clouded by default similar to the Palm Profile such that if the device has to be reset, they are auto re-downloaded? Or is Hotmail essentially that option?

 

[VernonEL]

Old Windows Mobile MyPhone Device Back-Up

I am not aware of a Windows Phone device back-up besides the servers such as Live (Hotmail).

The Zune software will sync up all of your media, but I'm not sure about personal contacts. I use Live, and I feel it does a good job backing them up.

In my opinion, MS didn't invest in a local contacts back-up feature because most pelople will just use Live, Google, or Facebook. That's a pretty big demographic right there. Also, all media is easily synced with Zune, so all something like Windows MyPhone for Windows Mobile would have to do is save just a few contacts for a few people.

I was really disappointed when I first found out WP7 didn't have a MyPhone app, but honestly, once I began using my Quantum I have actually not even thought about it again until today!

 

[onemadrssn]

On this note: Is it possible to make new contacts on the phone go to Google rather than LIVE?

 

[dwlovell]

On this note: Is it possible to make new contacts on the phone go to Google rather than LIVE?

The HTC Arrive user guide seems to indicate you choose the account to sync with when adding a new contact. I dont know for sure because my "Arrive" arrives later today.

From: http://support.sprint.com/global/pdf/user_guides/htc/arrive/htc_arrive_ug.pdf
Page 50 under "Adding a New People Entry"

Adding a New People Entry
1. On the Start screen, tap People.
2. In all of the People Hub, tap (+)
3. Select the Account, for example, Windows Live. This
determines which account the contact will sync
with.
4. Enter information by tapping an item.
5. Tap (the save icon) when you?re done.

 

[onemadrssn]

Yes, I see it now. Thanks!

For some reason I did not think that was a selectable button before; still getting used to this UI.

 

[jimski]

And dwlovell, that answers your question. If you manually enter contacts on your phone they will sync with Windows Live. Same as if it pushes them up from Outlook. I was uncomfortable with this at first, but it's the direction things are going so might as hop on to future train. And I agree, wouldn't do this with Google but gotta trust somebody.

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