Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook for Webware

User Reviews

• An unpolished and inferior alternative to MS Exchange

  June 28, 2010

  Pros

  When it works, it is a thing of beauty. Fast syncing. Updates in Outlook reach GMail contacts or Android phone almost instantly, and vice versa. E-mail sync works well. Outlook add-on does not consume many system resources. Inexpensive $50/yr price.

  Cons

  Unreliable sync and duplicated/missing contact and calendar items. Difficult installation. Horrendous, hard to reach customer support relays inquiries to other levels of staff, leading to delays or no resolution of problems.

  Summary

  Google Apps Sync would be an outstanding alternative to Microsoft Exchange if it worked properly, but unfortunately it usually does not. I have used this product for about a month now in order to sync my Outlook 2003 calendar, contacts, and e-mail with my Android phone. Originally I got it because it seemed like the best way to keep my familiar Outlook interface without buying a third-party program like Missing Sync or Companionlink. I was also intrigued by the fact that Google Apps sync has the ability to sync via the Internet, which would free me having to use a USB cable for syncing. All in all, it appeared to be far more like a good Microsoft Exchange alternative than a simple syncing program. And at $50 a year, it seemed like a bargain. Until I actually started using it. Let the mysterious bugs begin. The first week I had it, it was the calendar. All of my old Outlook calendar items synced to the phone, but not would not appear in my Google calendar when I accessed it on the web. Every day just remained blank. My new calendar items (items added since I got Google Apps Sync) were a little bit better. They actually did sync, but the vast majority of them would duplicate. Enter one event on the phone, and the same event would appear twice in Outlook. Even more bewildering almost to the point of humor was the fact that events entered on the phone would appear in Outlook exactly one minute later. A 6:30pm-7:30pm appointment appeared as 6:31pm-7:31pm in Outlook. No big deal, right? But why? How can a business app from Google be trusted when it has these almost laughably unprofessional bugs? I asked Google, and got very few answers. It took me about 20 minutes to locate a phone number. When I finally did, they ultimately told me they'd get back to me via e-mail. After 3 or 4 e-mails spanning the course of a week, the calendar problems just suddenly stopped. This was likely a pure coincidence, as Google "engineers" never provided any solutions, and simply closed the case without any explanation when I told them the problem had worked itself out. And that was just the beginning. About a week later, I discovered that 1 contact I had added to my phone recently was mysteriously not in Outlook. Turns out, NONE of the new contacts I added to my phone since the day I got it were syncing to Outlook. Once again the bug was mind-boggling. It only affected new contacts being added on the phone. Existing contacts synced both ways properly. And new contacts added IN Outlook also synced properly. But in any given week, I might add 5 new contacts to my phone itself rather than in Outlook. So, unlike some of the other bugs, this one was no laughing matter. Again, I contacted Google. This time I didn't bother to use the phone, knowing that they'd just relay my issue back to their e-mail support system anyway. My first e-mail to them on this matter was June 3rd. I now write this review on June 28th, and the matter is STILL unresolved. I have exchanged about 4 e-mails with the same gentleman from Google who tells me in every correspondence that the "mobile specialists" are still working on the problem, and that he hopes they'll resolve it soon. While it has been nice to correspond with the same guy, this issue is no closer today to being solved than it was on June 3rd. His recent suggestions that I read Google's forums or try to export my contacts to a CSV file are just ludicrous given that it's been three weeks already. If I had been a large business, I would have been OUT of business by now, and back on an Exchange Server. As a result, this product cannot be recommended as a serious business application. Despite its low cost, it is an unpolished and unprofessional product that leaves you on your own to solve its many problems. Surely, a company with Google's reputation can do better.

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• this program does not work well, bad tech support

  cushgarFebruary 6, 2010

  Pros

  This is a great idea but with very bad execution on Google's part. Not many pros - too many flaws in the program for it to be a true replacement for Microsoft Exchange. If Google fixes the flaws I would try it again because I don't have Exchange.

  Cons

  Too many to list in 250 characters. Read my summary for more info.

  Summary

  The Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook product is not good. In fact, it is very bad! If this is supposed to be a replacement for Microsoft Exchange Server then Google has a very long way to go in order to match the functionality of Microsoft Exchange Server. My INITIAL complaints about Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook are as follows: ? There is no phone tech support. The Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook web site specifically says there is 24/7 phone support since I am a Premier customer (paying $50/year for my account). I searched all over the Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook web site for a phone number to call and couldn?t find anything. That shows that their dedication to customer service is really low on the totem pole. I finally found the phone number on an online forum but had to speak to people outside the USA and, even though they speak English, there was definitely a language barrier. ? Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook creates a whole new profile in Outlook and, accordingly, a whole new x.pst file for your data. This makes no sense to me at all. Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook should use the customer?s existing x.pst file so that all data resides in one x.pst file on your computer. ? Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook truncated the notes within my Contacts on the Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook side. At some random cut-off point of my ?Notes? the data on the Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook side, everything else is truncated out of the data. The Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook data is what syncs with the Google Android phone so that data never made it to my phone. My notes within each contact are very important to me and I need them on my phone. ? Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook does not appear to map each Outlook data field to a specific and corresponding data field in Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook. Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook should match every field that Outlook uses (including the corresponding Outlook field ?description?) and make sure the data sync maintains data integrity. If this is supposed to also replace Lotus Notes, Gold Mine, etc. then Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook also needs to match all the fields in each of these programs and make them available in Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook. ? Most of the time accessing the data within the Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook web interface is extremely slow. I was accessing my data from several different computers and on several different high-speed data connections (including a T1 line) and it seemed to take forever to refresh the web views. I can?t really speak anymore about the product because as soon as I saw all those problems I decided Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook, in its current form, was not the solution for me. Once I synced to my new Verizon Google Android phone there were more problems as follows: ? The calendar did not sync to my phone. Reading the online help links and forums, it sounds like I had to point my personal gmail account (the gmail account that you must have in order to activate the phone) calendar to my Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook calendar in order to perform the sync. If that is the case then it is completely ridiculous. How does that make sense ? you need both a gmail account and a Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook account in order to sync your calendar ? it seems totally redundant. ? On the Google Android phone, all my contacts were sorted by first name ? they were not sorted as I had specified within Outlook. In addition, I noticed that all my doctors (with ?Dr.? as their contact salutation) were sorted in the ?D?s?. This is very funky and doesn?t make sense to me. I would go as far as to say it is ridiculous ? everything should be sorted the same way it is in Outlook. That is the purpose of specifying how you want each contact ?filed as? within Outlook. Needless to say, I returned the new Verizon Google Android phone. Long story short, Google Apps Sync For Microsoft Outlook needs a lot of work to be a true replacement for Microsoft Exchange Server. The online instructions are not very specific and sometimes they are contradictory and very convoluted. If Google really wants to pull customers away from Microsoft Exchange Server then this should be a seamless integration for even least tech savvy people.

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• Not reliable

  Walter PlingeSeptember 13, 2009

  Pros

  Free. [This is a filler.]

  Cons

  Doesn't work reliably -- some appointments not synced from Outlook to Google Calendar. Google to Outlook is fine. This is a known issue with no solution at present.

  Summary

  Won't be a viable solution until it can sync from Outlook reliably.

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• i would like to achieve the cost saving

  jamax786August 20, 2009

  Pros

  i like to achieve the cost saving instead of microsoft excahnge

  Cons

  i don't like about this product 'i don't want to use the interface

  Summary

  i like the security and reliability of google apps<br /><br /><span class='notifyMsg'> Updated </span>on Aug 20, 2009<p/>that will be great<br /><br /><span class='notifyMsg'> Updated </span>on Aug 21, 2009<p/>that great i apreaciate for

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