Android App Review: Exchange by TouchDown

Publisher:Т Nitrodesk

Price: 5 day free demo, $19.99 for the key

Description:

With TouchDownт„ў, your office email, calendar and contacts are available right at your fingertips. You can choose how long to retain your email on your phone. You can choose to download ALL your exchange contacts to TouchDownт„ў any time you want, but get all changes automatically every time you check your email.

You get quick access to your dayтЂ™s agenda, optimized for viewing on your phone. You can choose to dismiss past events to simplify the view. (Taken directly from the TouchDown website)

Introduction:

While AndroidтЂ™s integrated corporate E-mail and calendar functions will be sufficient for most users, in our organization we found them to be lacking in a few areas. First, there was no task syncing with the Exchange server. Second, E-mail attachments were unable to be downloaded to our handset. This led to some searching for alternatives. ThatтЂ™s when we came across Exchange by TouchDown.

After installing from Android Market, and starting the application, just click the gear button to access the setup wizard. If youтЂ™re your own IT department, you should know all of the answers right away. If not, contact your IT department. Т Once setup, Exchange by TouchDown will handle all of your corporate E-mail, calendaring, contacts, and tasks. Т If youтЂ™ve had E-mail and calendar setup on your handset previously, youтЂ™ll either want to disable them or remove them completely.

Pros:

E-mail, task, contact, and calendar syncing

Supports syncing by Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, ActiveSync, and USB to Outlook

Downloads E-mail attachments

Easy to use once setup

Four widgets (universal, E-mail, calendar, tasks)

Cons:

Price (while most companies that can afford an Exchange server wonтЂ™t notice the hit, users purchasing the software themselves will)

Setup can be difficult if youтЂ™re not aware of the settings

Would like more widgets with more size options (I find 3У—2 annoying)

FeaturesТ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

UsabilityТ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

SetupТ Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

WidgetsТ Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Final Thoughts:

While this application was nice while I tested it, I found that I personally didnтЂ™t need the extra features. Т IтЂ™ve uninstalled it. Т Out of the four users in our organization, only one runs TouchDown. Т That being said, for 25% of the DROID users in our organization, there was a need, and TouchDown met it with flying colors

Add your comment:

Your name:
Site Address:	http://
Your message:
Enter todays date, 2 digits (spam):