Kerio Outlook Connector supports both modes, online and offline. Online mode is the standard MS Outlook mode which requires connection to Kerio Connect. Offline mode allows running of MS Outlook and working there without connection to Kerio Connect. This requires all email, events, tasks, etc. being stored in the local message store on the client station. Upon connection to Kerio Connect, it is possible to synchronize changes with the corresponding account in Kerio Connect.
The offline mode is helpful especially for users with notebooks who make frequent business trips and need their email accounts even when they are not currently connected to the Internet. Upon switching to online mode, all new messages, events and tasks are synchronized with the server's store automatically.
Kerio Outlook Connector informs of switching between online and offline modes and about current synchronization progress and status by a special icon in the systray's notification area (see figure 5.3 Synchronization status — online / synchronization / offline). The icon informs about the following situations:
Syncronization in progress — a blue right-pointing arrow is displayed at the icon.
MS Outlook is running in the offline mode — red down-arrow is displayed at the icon.
By default, the online mode is set in MS Outlook. To switch to the offline mode, click on Work offline in the File menu available on the main toolbar.
If MS Outlook loses connection to Kerio Connect, it is automatically switched to the offline mode.
If you closeMS Outlook in the offline mode, it will be opened in offline mode next time it is started. If you want to change this, disable the offline mode manually in the File menu.
Upon startup of MS Outlook, the currently opened folder is primarily synchronized.
Any folder saved in Kerio Connect can be synchronized in any of these two modes:
Full synchronization of the folder.
Synchronization of header and message body in plain text — this option concerns synchronization of smaller data volume. However, it is necessary to decide whether you will not miss possible attachments in your email. When connected online again, the attachments are included in corresponding messages anyway.
In default mode, synchronization of Kerio Connect and the Kerio Outlook Connector works as follows:
Inbox — whole messages are synchronized.
Other email folders — only message headers and body in plain text are synchronized.
Events — whole events are synchronized.
Contacts — whole contacts are synchronized.
Tasks — whole tasks are synchronized.
Notes — whole notes are synchronized.
Warning
Archive folders are not showed by the Kerio Outlook Connector (Offline Edition). Therefore, they are not synchronized either.
Default synchronization mode can be changed (adjusted) in properties of individual folders:
Right-click the selected folder and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
In the Properties window switch to the Folder Synchronization tab (see figure 5.4 Folder synchronization settings).
Warning
If you do not wish to synchronize the folder, disable the Enable synchronization of the folder option. However, any items already included in the folder will be kept synchronized.
Synchronization conflict occurs when a message, event or any other item is changed both on the server and in Kerio Outlook Connector in the time between synchronizations. In such cases, the Kerio Outlook Connector is not capable of recognizing which change is the wanted (later) one.
If a conflict occurs during the synchronization, the item saved on the server beats the other one. The winning item is saved in the corresponding folder. The beaten item is saved in a special folder called Conflicts. This folder is available only in MS Outlook. This implies that it is not available in Kerio WebMail or another email client.
Both items can be compared to select the correct one. If the server have primarily selected the wrong version (the older one), it is possible to move it from the Conflicts folder to the correct directory manually and simply remove the other version.
Each conflict is announced by a special message sent to MS Outlook. Its subject is Message in conflict!. Conflict information includes name of the message, event, contact or another item in conflict and its location in mailbox (folder). Local version of the item is moved to the Conflicts folder. If this version is up-to-date, exchange it with the version in the particular folder.