CompanionLink provides solution for reluctant Cloud users like Chi Onwurah

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Rushang

CompanionLink is humbled to read about our customer Chi Onwurah, Labour shadow Cabinet Office minister and MP for Newcastle Central, UK. In her article “Reluctantly and unhappily moving to the cloud,” Ms. Onwurah writes of her experience moving from Palm devices to Apple and Android.

The points raised are valid, and we note two things:

All cloud services rely on passwords stored on the device. Any stored password is subject to loss of the device and hacking into the cloud vendor’s online database.
Cloud vendors may use your stored data for advertising, or they can share your data with outside firms, government agencies, and even foreign governments. Ms. Onwurah notes that because she is a UK Cabinet Minister, storing her contacts in the cloud may violate national standards since some cloud databases are now known to be sharing information with governments like USA.

CompanionLink urges Ms. Onwurah to continue using the CompanionLink synchronization that she has used for her prior phones. We continue to support cloud-free synchronization for every new phone and tablet on the market, including new iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices. We supply secure USB sync for these devices, just like the old Palm Hotsync. With connected sync, your data is not shared or stored with any cloud server, and no password is needed.

In addition to USB Sync, CompanionLink offers two options for encrypted wireless sync.

CompanionLink Wi-Fi sync uses AES-256 bit encryption, the strongest allowed, even for data moving from your PC to your device in the same office.
CompanionLink Secure Wireless Sync transfers data to your device over-the-air without storing your data on a cloud server.

Both of these technologies are password-based, but the password that is used is local to you, and is used solely for passing the data in a stream that discourages decryption.

CompanionLink is a proven provider of synchronization systems, having supported Contact and Calendar devices since in 1988 and Casio BOSS, the first connected organizer.

We thank Ms. Onwurah for using CompanionLink in the past, and we encourage her to continue using CompanionLink with her new phones, whether they are Apple, Android or whatever comes next. CompanionLink will keep providing secure ways to stay mobile, without forcing anyone to share their contact and calendar information with unknown or unaccountable systems and parties.

How to sync Samsung Galaxy Note3 with Microsoft Office Outlook

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Rushang

We’ll show you how easy it is to sync Samsung Galaxy Note3 with Microsoft Outlook. It takes less than 10 minutes to set up. Get your full Outlook data set to your Note 3; contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, categories, journal, alarms and reminders, and contact photos.

CompanionLink automates the sync process with three simple configuration steps.

How to sync Note 3 with Outlook

First, make sure our software is right for you. CompanionLink is right for you if you are looking for:

Complete Outlook data. We sync Outlook contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, journal, categories, alarms and reminders, and contact photos.
USB, WiFi, or Cloud sync. We let you choose how to sync Galaxy Note 3 with Outlook. Some prefer the security of cloud-free USB or WiFi sync. Others prefer the convenience of Cloud sync. We let you choose.
Plug-and-play experience. Just connect your Galaxy Note 3 to your computer. The sync should begin automatically once CompanionLink is configured.
No drivers required. Our sync does not require downloading of messy ADB drivers, hard resets of your Note 3, duplications, switching to Mass Storage Mode, or lost data during the sync.
Outlook-like experience on Note III. We offer a free app for Note 3 called DejaOffice. It is designed to hold all Outlook data in one app (contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, alarms, reminders, categories, journal, and contact photos). Our app encrypts this data so no one can access it even if your phone is lost.

Samsung devices ship with free software to sync Galaxy Note3 with Outlook. Many users report frustration with this option and problems with Outlook data corruption. If you don’t want to risk this with your data, CompanionLink is for you. We even offer free US-based phone support if you ever need help or have questions.

An additional level of security we offer for business customers is through our $49 RunStart package where our team of experts handle the setup for you. This is a wonderful service for people short on time or those unwillingly to risk losing many years worth of valuable data.

Steps for Outlook to Galaxy S3 sync:

Install our CompanionLink for Outlook product to your PC. It is free to download and try for 14 days. Or, just buy it for a low one-time cost of $49.95 for uninterrupted sync. We offer a full money-back guarantee if you don’t like it.
Download our free DejaOffice app for Outlook on your Note 3. It is available from the Google Play store. Our app holds the Outlook data that you synchronize.
Synchronize using CompanionLink. Choose from Direct USB Sync, WiFi Sync, or our DejaCloud wireless sync with AES 256-bit encryption. All three sync options are secure.

That’s all there is to it! Yes, it’s really that simple to sync Microsoft Outlook to Galaxy Note 3. Give it a try and please share your feedback below.

Outlook app on Android

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Rushang

People who rely on Microsoft Outlook to manage their business life and clients are often dismayed at the poor Outlook-integration options available for Android devices. If you have an Exchange Server, integration of contact and calendar is easy. You are still stuck with Notes and Tasks. If you are a small business and working with a standalone version of Outlook, then you are really stuck because there is no Outlook app for Android.

There are disjoint tools available on Google Play that handle one kind of data really well – such as a great calendar app or a reliable tasks app. However, business people don’t want to juggle between contacts, tasks, notes, and calendar apps built by different vendors. They want a single Outlook app for Android that allows data to work intuitively together, so calendar appointments and notes are linked to people in their contact list; category colors match up between PC Outlook and Outlook on Android; and notes on clients made on their Android sync up nicely to Outlook on their PC. This type of workflow matches their use of Outlook on the PC.

DejaOffice is best Outlook app for Android

DejaOffice CRM is an app suite built to replicate standalone Outlook on Android devices. It does everything that Outlook supports – multiple calendar, categories, reminders, contacts, notes, journal entries, and multiple task lists with priorities. It doesn’t do email; that is still handled by your Android’s email client.

The app is a free download from Google Play. It comes with a tablet-mode setting for dual-pane views that utilize the larger screen space.

Advanced Outlook features are now available on Android

Here’s a list of some advanced features that DejaOffice supports that power Outlook users will appreciate.

Link contacts to calendar appointments, tasks, notes, and journal.
Color categories that match Outlook on your PC.
Sort contact list by File As setting in Outlook.
Group by Company
Search by any Outlook field – contacts, contact notes, address, phone number, email address, etc.
Day, week, month, list, and year views with recurring patterns that match Outlook
Task list with priorities that match Outlook (High, Medium, Low). You can also use other styles like Franklin Covey, Getting Things Done, Take Back Your Life, and Palm Desktop.

How to sync Nokia Lumia with Outlook – Cloud, USB

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Rushang

You have three popular options to sync Outlook with Windows Phone devices:

Use a Microsoft Exchange Server or service.
Use Hotmail Outlook Connector to sync to the Microsoft Cloud (for Outlook 2010 and below)
Use CompanionLink to sync using a USB cable (works for Outlook 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, and 2000)

Options 1 and 2 use the Microsoft cloud service; also known as a Microsoft account. Nokia has an FAQ article about how to set this up.

Options 3 gives you the security of a direct secure sync between PC and Lumia. Your contacts and calendar are not stored in anyone’s cloud. This offering rides CompanionLink’s core value that people and businesses should not be forced to store client contacts and notes, calendar meetings, and task and project lists in the cloud.

Yes, people should be able to choose if that’s something they want to do. The cloud is an option for those looking for convenience and integration of data across multiple devices. The cloud eliminates synchronization, which is a major step forward for convenience.

But what about people looking for data security? What about people who do not want their data hostage to some garage hacker across the world, or government agencies that mine data, or Search Engines like Google and Microsoft that scour your personal data and profit on it? These people need a cloud opt-out switch.

CompanionLink offers this opt-out switch for those who want to restore data security.

How to set up PC Outlook 2013 from Office 365

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Rushang

Takeaways:
+ Office 365 offers both Cloud and PC Install options
+ Office 2013 PC Install is available to Office 365 subscriptions

When you purchase an Office 365 subscription, you automatically get a license to the Office 2013 PC Install software with Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This means you do not have to store your data in the Office 365 Cloud. You can pay for an Office 365 subscription, download the Office 2013 PC Install, and set up your existing email provider instead of the Office 365 email account that Microsoft creates during sign-up.

Learn how to download Outlook 2013 PC Install from your Office 365 subscription: https://www.companionlink.com/secure-office365

CompanionLink now synchronizes Act!, GoldMine, and Salesforce CRM direct to both Office 365 Cloud accounts and Outlook 2013 PC Install. PC Outlook includes features not found yet in Office 365 Cloud such as calendar with linked contacts, notes, and better control over categories/groups.

Office 365 Pricing versus Office 2013 Pricing
Table: Pricing options – Office 365 subscription, Office 2013 one-time license

Windows Phone USB sync with Outlook

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Rushang

Great news for Windows Phone users who wanted the security of USB synchronization of business data. The latest version of CompanionLink for Outlook has USB Sync to Windows Phone 8 devices like Lumia, Ativ, Ascend, and HTC 8X/8S.

You need two components for USB Sync:

CompanionLink PC software (paid)
DejaOffice app for WP8 (free)

CompanionLink synchronizes Windows Phone with standalone Outlook contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes. (Support for Outlook Categories coming in a few weeks!) Our USB Sync is designed to restore the traditional wired sync feature that shipped with older Windows mobile handhelds. Just connect your Lumia, Ativ, or HTC Windows Phone to your PC and CompanionLink handles the rest.

The synchronization works with our free DejaOffice app for WP8 that integrates with WP8’s People app. The Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and Notes that DejaOffice holds work with phone features like Caller ID, email, maps, and text messaging.

Understanding Office 365 vs Office 2013

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Rushang

The difference is bigger than you think, especially for your pocketbook.

Office 365 is a subscription service that gives you a license to download Microsoft Office 2013 to your desktop or laptop. Your PC Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint) can be set up to automatically update your Office 365 Cloud account that comes with the subscription.

Office 2013 is the desktop Microsoft Office suite for the traditional one-time cost. There are no subscription fees because you are not using the Office 365 cloud account.

Your Best Deal

The following guidelines are based on our understanding of common use cases. Your specific needs may mean there is a better deal than our guidelines.

The best deal depends on a few general things:

Are you a single user, or do you need Office for multiple users or multiple PCs?
Do need or want the Cloud to access your Office applications?
Do you upgrade every time a new version of Office is released?

Choose Desktop Office 2013 (one-time cost) if…

If you are a single user and do not upgrade Office often (historically, new versions have been available every 3 years), Desktop Office 2013 for a one-time cost starting at $219 per person is the best deal. You will save on annual subscription fees.

If you are a small business and do not upgrade your version of Office often and do not need the cloud, Desktop Office 2013 for a one-time cost starting at $219 per person is your cheapest option.

Choose Office 365 subscriptions if…

If you are a single user and upgrade your version of Office every time a new version is available, Desktop Office 2013 one-time cost starting at $219 per person remains your best deal. However, for about $75 more over the span of three years (the average time to a new version), you may enjoy the convenience of Office applications and data in the Office 365 cloud and Exchange email service.

If you are a household with multiple computers, Office 365 Home Premium subscription is your best deal. For $99 per year, your entire household gets Desktop Office 2013, Office 365 Cloud, Exchange email service, and free upgrades to future versions of Office.

If you are small business that upgrades often or needs the Cloud, the Office 365 Small Business Premium subscription is your best deal for $150 per user.

Integration with Phones and Tablets

Office 365 subscriptions are set up as Microsoft Exchange accounts. This means you can set up an Exchange Account on any mobile device and get your Office 365 Email, Contacts, and Calendar.

If you need tasks, notes, and categories on your mobile, or if are looking for an Outlook-like app for your phone or table, use the DejaOffice app available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. It integrates your mobile device with Outlook 365 and Desktop Office Outlook 2013.

For documents, users of Apple iPhone and iPad can download the Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers app (iPhone/iPad, Android). You can access Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

JUMP! needs the Cloud to jump-start new devices

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Rushang

People using JUMP! will need an efficient way to move personal and business data from one device to another. A cloud-based data hub like Google (currently free, ad-supported), Outlook.com (currently free, ad-supported), or DejaCloud (currently free, no ads) is the answer because they enable calendar, address book, notes, and task lists to move from one device to another with just a username. People who are averse to hosting data in the Cloud can opt for CompanionLink’s USB software to move their data.

Why JUMP! changes everything

On July 11, 2013, T-Mobile announced a radical change to how often people can upgrade devices. Their JUMP! upgrade program allows existing customers to swap devices two times in 12 months for the same low price that new customers receive. For example, if you own an iPhone 5 and want to switch to a Samsung Galaxy S4, JUMP! allows this for the same price (currently $99 on T-Mobile’s website) that new customers receive. Essentially, you can trade-in for a new smartphone every 6 months for about $100.

Wow, talk about a game-changing move.

This raises the bar for other wireless carriers and reinforces how people yearn to consume new mobile hardware. With the pace of new devices increasing (Moore’s law on steroids), T-Mobile is simply offering a way for people to rent their device instead of owning it for waiting archaically long (two years) to upgrade.

Who benefits the most from JUMP!

Business professionals and consumers who want to frequently upgrade devices or use the latest-and-greatest will love JUMP!. The plan allows them to “lease” devices instead of being locked into the ownership of one device every 24 months.

T-Mobile’s offer appears to be a win-win because customers get to switch phones at a low price while T-Mobile still carries customers for a 2-year term, which resets with every phone upgrade. History points to win-win situations sticking around for a long time, and changing the game.

Disposable devices just got one step closer to reality.

CompanionLink supports the invasion of Samsung Galaxy S4 Devices

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Rushang

Samsung has announced or launched four Galaxy S4 devices in the past 60 days: Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S4 Zoom, and Galaxy S4 Active. While there is little or no common denominator from a design perspective, you can’t blame Samsung for trying to capitalize on their marketing dollars devoted to Galaxy S — the most popular Android brand. CompanionLink supports synchronization with the entire line of S4 devices. CompanionLink can synchronize one device to another, sync PC applications like Outlook with S4, or sync cloud applications like Salesforce CRM, Highrise, and Zoho CRM.

The Galaxy S4 is the flagship phone. Samsung markets it as a Life Companion to emote new fun features like Dual Shot for simultaneous front-and-back pictures, S Translator for spoken language translation, and Smart Pause for intelligent pausing of video when you look away.

The Galaxy S4 Mini is a smaller version of the Galaxy S4. It’s screen is 4.3-inch compared to the S4’s 5-inch screen size. Other specs on the S4 Mini are RAM also different than the S4. Here’s a full list of differences.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom sports a 16MP camera and optical zoom lens.

The Galaxy S4 Active is a certified water-resistant and dust-resistant device marketed as the perfect companion for the beach, pool, camping, or people on the go.

Samsung spent more on marketing their mobile devices than Apple last year, and they are reaping the benefits of extending

Salesforce Android App

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Rushang

The future of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) lies in the Cloud. Google, Microsoft and many other prolific tech companies offer Cloud storage as well as related web-based business solutions. Salesforce is clearly the leader in purely Cloud based CRM solutions. They offer a professional, communication oriented solution tailored for the information age, free from bloatware and lengthy software install procedures. A quick glance through their website will reveal the prominently displayed slogan “No Software!” It should come as no surprise, then, that Salesforce’s entire business model is web based. The drawback of this is obvious: the Salesforce Android app is not particularly robust or as functional as the Salesforce website. DejaOffice, the free mobile CRM app from CompanionLink, is a great alternative for Salesforce users seeking a solution custom tailored for the Android experience.

How Does DejaOffice Compare to the Salesforce Android app?

The DejaOffice advantage is clear. The first thing presented to you upon launching DejaOffice for the first time is a user-friendly Setup Wizard. Compare this with the ominous license agreement you see as soon as your open the Salesforce Android app, and you’ll see that DejaOffice is designed to be easy to use and intuitive from the very beginning. Additionally, the Salesforce Android app demands that you enter your passcode every time you launch it, which quickly becomes a tedious ritual. Finally, the Salesforce Android app is only free for 30 days!

DejaOffice for Android Syncs with Salesforce

The DejaOffice Advantage

DejaOffice synchronizes and integrates with the native Android address book
No required fields during the creation of contacts and events
Multiple calendar views are available
No mandatory passcode that you must enter, upon app launch
DejaOffice has free technical support via phone and web, even without a license

If you want a mobile CRM which seamlessly syncs with Salesforce and takes advantage of all that the Android platform has to offer, look no further than DejaOffice.

Sync Gmail with Outlook

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Rushang

Email accounts (and related services) are all about communication. Companies both large and small depend on contact lists, calendar entries, and tasks within programs such as Microsoft Outlook for effective communication and time management. It is essential for this communication to extend beyond one application – and even beyond computers as a platform. In this day and age, smartphones, tablets, PDAs, and phablets have become essential tools of communication with customers and co-workers, thanks to companies such as Google. So, how do you sync Gmail with Outlook?

All Syncs are Not Created Equal

For users who prefer a free, albeit very limited Google to Outlook synchronization process, there are a few solutions. It is possible to set up a new IMAP account within Microsoft Outlook, which can be connected with a Gmail account. However, this does not support full synchronization of existing Outlook data. Instructions for this process can be found here. A free program named Contacts Sync also exists, but “it appears to ignore Gmail entries without data in the last-name or e-mail fields,” according to Dennis O’Reilly of CNET. Neither of these free work-arounds appear to be a viable solution for business-oriented environments, in which data integrity is of critical importance.

Additionally, Google recently discontinued its free offering of its App Sync, which has left many people wondering what the best way is to sync Gmail with Outlook. Though this option is still available for paid users of Google Apps for Business, this may be cost prohibitive at $50 per year for every user.

CompanionLink Syncs Gmail with Outlook

Sync Gmail with Outlook via CompanionLink

CompanionLink was designed for professionals who require functionality, reliability and performance.
No changes to your existing Outlook account are needed.
CompanionLink for Google offers a fully featured method to sync Gmail with Outlook data (PST files) — Contacts, Calendars, and Tasks are supported.
Your license is a one time fee; there is no expensive recurring cost.
Sync Gmail with Outlook free for two weeks, when you start your trial.
Free, detailed setup guides are also available for this process.

These facts and more make CompanionLink for Google the clear choice for your sync!

BlackBerry 10 wants you to manage Tasks with Priorities

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Rushang

Q: What’s a task list without priorities?
A: Just a list.

Let’s just say the late Dr. Stephen Covey might not approve of this.

BlackBerry 10 ships with an app called Remember that nicely organizes notes and tasks in one slick app. Think “Evernote meets [plug in any of the millions of Tasks apps available]”.

But the Remember app misses the mark on one key principle of any task management philosophy – prioritizing tasks!

The Remember app groups things into notebook icons. Each “notebook” can hold items like photos, lists, tasks, and web links. But the treatment for Tasks is like a plain text note – there are no task-focused features like priorities, recurring tasks, or task alerts.

Microsoft Outlook users will especially find this confusing because Outlook ships with task-focused features out-of-the-box. In fact, these features are what makes “task management” philosophies work because they require you to take a large set of things to do and organize them by priority. Task management = prioritization.

If you want a Task Manager that works lock-step with your Outlook Tasks – including Task Priorities, Categories, and Alarms – download the free DejaOffice app for BlackBerry 10.