Overview
Version 10.0 of VueMinder Ultimate adds the ability to sync events with Microsoft Exchange. The Exchange server could be local or could be hosted by an online service such as Rackspace or Office 365's Exchange Online. Exchange can sync with most mobile devices, providing an alternative to Google Calendar for users that would like to keep VueMinder and their mobile devices in sync. Syncing with Exchange can also be used instead of syncing through VueMinder Server, allowing reliable and seamless integration of calendar data between Outlook and VueMinder on a local network.
How to Sync With Exchange
To sync VueMinder with a calendar located on an Exchange server, click the "Add Microsoft Exchange Calendar" command on the File menu. Note, this requires an existing Exchange calendar, which can be created via Outlook.
After clicking the "Add Microsoft Exchange Calendar", a connection window will appear.
VueMinder can sync with any number of mailboxes, even on different Exchange servers. If the Exchange server is local, most users will simply enter their mailbox name, which is usually the same as their email address. The "Use default login credentials" box should also be checked. VueMinder will attempt to autodiscover the Exchange server details and establish a connection.
If the autodiscovery fails, or if the Exchange server is hosted by an online provider, uncheck the "Use default login credentials" and enter the login information. The "Domain name" field is optional. When connecting to a server that is hosted by an online provider, the domain name can be left blank. Click the "Connect" button when finished. It might take a few seconds for the connection to be established.
After connecting, the "Add Microsoft Exchange Calendar" window will appear, listing the available mailbox and public calendars. The current mailbox can be changed by clicking the "Mailbox name" drop-down.
A calendar can be added to VueMinder by clicking its name and then clicking the "Add Calendar" button. The sync direction and calendar appearance can also be modified prior to adding the calendar. When a calendar is first added, it might take several minutes or longer to initially sync. This is normal and the process has been as optimized as possible. The bottleneck is in the amount of network communication that needs to happen between VueMinder and the Exchange server to establish the initial sync. VueMinder will show a progress bar while the initial sync is in progress. Please do not exit VueMinder until the sync has completed.
After the calendar has initially synced, subsequent syncs will happen much more quickly - usually in under a second.
Calendar Properties
When a calendar is synced with Exchange, an Exchange icon will be shown to the left of the calendar's name in the list of calendars.
To modify the Exchange sync settings, double-click the calendar to open its properties and then click the "Exchange" tab.
Syncing will happen automatically. If this doesn't happen, the Sync Now button can be clicked to force a sync. The sync direction can also be modified to "2-way" or "1-way Microsoft Exchange to VueMinder".
Email Settings
VueMinder Ultimate can also be configured to send email (meeting requests, responses, reminders, etc.) through Microsoft Exchange instead of SMTP or a web-based email provider. To enable this feature, click the "Email Settings" command on the Options menu. Click the "Configure" button to connect to the desired Exchange Server and mailbox. A connection window will appear, as described above. After connecting to the Exchange server, click the "Send a Test Email" button to ensure the settings are correct.
