vB Easy Archive - Synchronize S56 with Outlook via Bluetooth

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Synchronize S56 with Outlook via Bluetooth
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Posted by: dale77095

I've searched high and low on the internet and have yet to find anyone clearly state whether an S56 can be synchronized with Outlook using BT. I've found software that makes it possible with cables, but I don't want to use any cables.

I spent some time on this forum looking for the answer and decided to join it because it appears that you guys are very knowledgeable on the subject...and I'm not...yet anyway.

I'd appreicate any help that I can get.

I have the S56, using Cingular, XP, etc. I easily paired to my Acura and have loved that capability. I now want to get the value of BT out of my PC. You will not insult me if you make the answer very simple

.

What software package do I need? What hardware (USB dongle - brand please) do I need? Any specific pits to avoid etc.

Posted by: Ack!

Dale -

It seems knowledge of BT and synchronization software is lagging, because I'd hate to think that the other explanation is that nobody wants to help. Although there does seem to be a preponderance of "look at my cool new phone" type of posts.

I've posted a few times the same challenge regarding the S56, but have not received a response, and still have problems. Perhaps we two can work on this together and resolve the challenges for the benefit of everyone here.

Please review my post below, and you'll get a sense of where I'm at.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...threadid=350534

The latest downloadable version of the Siemens Data Suite contains three main modules.
1) The OEM Siemens "Explorer/Synch" utility
2) Extend's syncrhronization utility
3) GPRS modem assistant

I have yet to get the SDS utility to work. It fails with an error that it cannot read from the phone's address book. However, the Extend utility reads it just fine. The other aspects of the SDS utility are nice, but are limited as a result of Cingular's lockout of certain functions. At this present time, I am looking to unlock my phone, now that I own it outright, and have migrated to Tmoble, but want to use the S56 on their network. If you stumble on someone that can help, kindly let me know?

I don't know if you have a laptop/desktop that you can 'experiment' with, but you might consider imaging your drive, installing the SDS software and using the Extend utility to see if you can at least get your Outlook contacts into the phone. That will save you hours-to-days of grief, from having to manually key in contacts.

The reason I suggest imaging your PC, is because it seems once the Extend software goes in, if you don't get it configured right, uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't help. Once it's broken, it stays that way. At least on my equipment.

Another thing that makes me nuts about the Extend utility is that it drops the hyphens from phone numbers in Outlook when going from phone to PC, that make them hard to read from a human standpoint. Just be ready to deal with that part of it.

Eventually, I'm sure that Siemens will figure out that there's a big market for their equipment, but it's not the hardware alone that drives a purchase decision, but functionality and support as well. As soon as they get that message through their thick German skulls, they'll have a better shot at growing their market share.

Posted by: dale77095

I'd be delighted to work on this with someone else, thank you for the generous offer. I've not read your post yet, but will do so shortly.

I bought the Kensington Bluetooth adapter last night. The phones paired fine, but I didn't have a lot of time to work with it so not much else at this point. I intend to give Kensington Tech Support a call and see if anyone there knows anything about this once I get a sense of what I know and what I don't know.

I'll read your earlier post now so we're both on the same page.

thanks.

Posted by: Ack!

Dale -

Expect a lot of "He went thataway" (with fingers pointing in opposite directions) when trying to chase down Bluetooth issues.

Per my post, I'm running a Belkin card , but let's see what your attempt brings.

Posted by: dale77095

Well, without much tinkering I was able to transfer all of my contacts to my cell phone. It was slow, but then I was wirelessly VPN'd to my office (Exchange server) - so I'm sure that contributed to the slowness. It may also be that the first sync takes longer than the rest.

I had to run an errand and so didn't get to see the entire process. When I got back, there was an error (OK button)message on my PC, but my phone looked normal.

I'll have to do a lot more testing to understand the process. I don't know why my calendar didn't get transferred over, which was my second priority (the contacts being the first). I'll probably test more when I get to the office - tomorrow - as I suspect that will improve the performance a bit.

I explored the installation CD that came with my Kensington BT adapter, and it had a pdf User Guide on it. I've copied it off, but haven't had a chance to look through it yet. If you want to 'private message' me your email address, I'll send the pdf to you. I know that you have the Belkin adapter, but perhaps this pdf will have something in it useful for you...??

Ultimately, I was hoping that this technology would allow my phone to act somewhat like a PDA. Like you said - there's not a lot of information out here (Internet) when it comes to how to make all of this work together.

Posted by: dale77095

Okay - so I tinkered a bit more. I installed the software on my home desktop. Again I was able to sync my contacts. This time only BT - no wireless VPN, no remote exchange server - just my local outlook file and my cell phone over BT.

This took a long time as well. 27 minutes to sync about 500 contacts...disappointing. Still no appointments made it over to my calendar, no notes either. I began a second sync to determine if perhaps it was just the first sync that was taking so long. I let it run about 10 minutes, and it appeared it would take just as long. I killed it because I didn't have time to let it finish. I guess ideally it would be best if I could specify which contacts I wanted to sync...thus reducing the time it takes.

Obviously I still have testing to do.

Posted by: Ack!

Dale -

The first synchronization usually does take some time, because of the amount of data going back and forth. Subsequent sessions are usually faster, because then the software is looking for "flags" or just the changes that have occurred.

That said, synchronizing 500 contacts is pretty hefty. Do you really need all those contacts, or is there a subset you can go with? This is why I think the Siemens software, rather than the Extend utility, is the way to go. It seems you're able to create 'sets' to synchronize.

Unfortunately, my laptop is having a hissy-fit right now, and I have to call IBM tech support today, so unfortunately I can't be of much help at the moment. But stay tuned, and PM me. My Email is also in my profile, if you want to contact me that way.

Posted by: dale77095

PM sent.

Posted by: Ack!

Dale, per your PM, although the software lists only the S55, my understanding is that the S56 is an S55 under the hood, but just marketed in the US as a dual-band (850/1900) rather than tri-band phone to conform to the needs of ATT and Cingular. All else is pretty much the same, if I'm not mistaken.

If you take a look at the SDS, it seems that you can synchronize either specific contacts, or by category. When I was using my Motorola Timeport 270c, the Starfish TruSynch software (which is MUCH better than the SDS, IMO) gave you the option to select which categories you wanted to synchronize. I had a subset of my contacts in Outlook that had "Timeport" as a checkbox in the categories, and that's what I used to decide which numbers I wanted to keep, and it left the rest behind.

The other REALLY nice thing about TruSynch by Starfish wa that you could backup and restore your phone settings and even the voice dial entries, so that if you blew them away, you didn't have to re-record them all. Obviously not an option with the Siemens software.

Anyway, keep us apprised of your progress!

Posted by: hermes56

Are you using the Siemens Data Suite for the S56, or the programs distributed for the S55? I have used the XTNDConnect PC software that is part of the S56 data suite over WinXP/Bluetooth with no problem. I haven't synched anything other than contacts, but the software seems pretty flexible as PIM transfer software goes (good options for field mapping, choosing folders other than the default Outlook folder for synching, etc.). http://www.my-siemens.com/com.apert...56datasuite.zip

Posted by: dale77095

Which BT adapter are you using? Kensington? Software/Firmware version?

Will I have to install the Widcomm drivers? If so, what version? I *think* the answer is that I'll have to install whatever drivers came with my BT adapter - in this case Widcomm.

Do you know what version of firmware your S56 is running?

I'm hoping that over this long weekend I will have some time to work on this.

Thanks for any input you have.

Posted by: dale77095

I got it to work. I'll post the specifics later today.

Posted by: dale77095

Software and Settings----------------
Under 'Phone Setup' > 'Phone Identity'
Phone - S56
P.-Date 2003-10-02
SW-Version 06
Sw-Date 2003-08-05
Variant A 200
Std-Map/SW 1/6
D-Map/Prov 1/3
Lang/T9 lg95/95
Codecs FR/EFR/HR
Audio-Par NfV27
Accessories none
----------Press Info button
CC-Monitor V1.06
A200 General
3CEO Setup
2CCO Network
7057 Battery
4135 Diagnostics
--------------------

Obviously you need to have the phone set to BT enabled. I don't think you can have more than one choice enabled, ie, not BT and IR for instance - just one or the other. You ought to have a BT name assigned on the phone as well.

BT adapter -------------
Kensington BT USB adapter - I don't see a model number.
When it's attached to my USB and I go to device manager I see:
MSI USB BT Device
Manufacturer Widcomm
Driver date 6/17/2003
Version 1.4.2.8 (though some places it says 1.4.2 Build 10)
Not digitally signed
--------------

Computer hw and sw ------------
Dell Latitude C840
Windows XP Professional, SP1
Office XP Professional, every update
I think I have every Windows Critical Update and most/all of the Recommended updates. Not that I think this matters, but I just wanted you to know that it doesn't matter. I'd check to see if all my updates are present, but I don't have my wireless NIC with me just now. It's worth mentioning that when I sync'd up, I was connected wirelessly across a VPN connection to my work exchange (5.5) server without any problems at all.
--------------

What I did:
1) Make sure that no BT drivers or sync software are installed - just used Add/Remove Software control panel
2) then rebooted
3) installed my BT software that came with the adapter - followed the instructions, not putting my adapter in the USB slot until it was asked for, etc
4) rebooted
4a) I did NOT do any configurations at this time and I only accepted the defaults during installation - typical, not custom.
5) installed SDS for S56. Got it from this site, http://www.my-siemens.com/MySiemens...da_DASD,00.html - it's a 68MB download - includes documentation which as of yet has not been needed
6) during installation, there was a complaint about not being able to find the device - no worries - I think it was because of step 4a above.
7) rebooted
8) configured a virtual serial port (com4 in my case) for my BT connection - this was done via the BT software I installed in step 3 - clicked on the BT icon in my system tray and configured a serial port - then right clicked on it and enabled/started it and got a message that is was the connection that would be used to talk to my phone.
9) configured SDS to use a BT connection, instead of the default IRDA
10) selected that I wanted my Contacts to Sync, gave the software permission to access Outlook, didn't do any mapping (yet), had to put in a pairing code someplace..?? Then did the same with my Calendar - haven't tried Notes or Email.

Other notes:
- the reboots may be excessive - doesn't take long with XP
- had to pair the devices, but don't remember when in the sequence it happened - after the Widcomm driver installation for sure.

Posted by: hermes56

Quote:

Which BT adapter are you using? Kensington? Software/Firmware version?

Will I have to install the Widcomm drivers? If so, what version? I *think* the answer is that I'll have to install whatever drivers came with my BT adapter - in this case Widcomm.

Do you know what version of firmware your S56 is running?

It sounds as though you've got it working, but fwiw, I am using a TrendWare BT dongle (TBW-101UB), with the WidComm drivers (ver. 1.3.2.7, or at least that's what it reports in the "My Bluetooth Places" help menu). Firmware v. 06/A200.

The one trick in getting things set up, which I had forgotten but now remember from reading your description (I hadn't needed to do this for other BT devices) was configuring the BT serial port. Oddly, it wasn't necessary to give SDS the location of the particular port chosen, just to have it set up.