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NOTE: Omni Mobile has been discontinued and is no longer available for purchase. This section is here for existing customers and for archival purposes only. Read More »

What's New With Omni Mobile 2.0

GroupWise Synchronization for PDAs and Smart Phones!

Based on user feedback and requests, Omni Mobile release 2.0 delivers the biggest addition of new features of any of our previous releases. The team has worked hard to bring all of these features into this new build. The major new features include:

1. Attachment support: This release provides document attachment support for Sony Ericsson, PocketPC, Windows Mobile devices (including the Palm 700w) and Palm OS devices. To read an attachment with this release, the user opens the attachment with the appropriate application after downloading it to the device. Version 2.0 leverages GroupWise WebAccess' built-in HTML converters and allows the user to view the HTML rendered version of attachments. Using the "Convert to HTML" option does not save the attachment on the device for off-line viewing. Click here to view a Quick Tour on attachment handling.

2. HTML email support: With this release, pure HTML emails are supported as attachments. To view an HTML email, users "download" the HTML attachment and view it with a browser. A future release will automatically launch the browser when you select an attachment that is an HTML file.

3. Poison Pill implementation: Version 2.0provides two options for the poison pill. Option one is to send the poison pill to clear the data and allow the device to reconnect to the server and set up a new account (or the same account for that matter). This option is called "Poison Pill then Enable". The second option is "Poison Pill then Disable". This will delete the Omni Mobile data and not allow the device to reconnect to the system.

4. First-time Run Wizard: The First-Time Run Wizard allows for over-the-air and cradle-based "On Device" account provisioning. This removes the requirement to have a workstation to provision the account's initial information (the PDB files). Keep in mind that workstation and cradle-based "On Device" account provisioning will always be MUCH faster than over-the-air "On Device" provisioning. We recommend cradle-based or workstation-based account provisioning for accounts that want to populate lots of email history or large address books (200 entries or more).

5. "Browser-based" Omni Mobile client installation: We now include information in the Administration Manual on how to set up the client installation files on your WebAccess server so the end-user can download the client directly to the device using a browser and install it without requiring a workstation. More information on this feature can in the Admininstrator Guide.

6. Over-the-air address book updates: Different address books can now be scheduled to be updated over-the-air at different times and intervals. Address books are synchronised from the GroupWise account to the device. Synchronisation from the device to the server will be available in a future release.

7. Email address auto-completion: Omni Mobile will automatically search the preferred address book for email address auto-completion in the To:, CC: and BC: fields when composing an item.

8. Preferred address book and sort order: Users can now select a preferred default address book and configure the field on which the device will sort email addresses and do lookups. This can be set on a per address book basis.

9. Open to Preferred View: Users can now select the top level tree view, a specific folder, or the address book as the preferred view in their Omni Mobile profile. Omni Mobile will automatically open to the preferred view.

10. Improved five-way toggle support: A number of menu and navigation changes have been implemented to allow for better five-way and enhanced button navigation for Windows devices and future support for toggle and jog-wheel navigation with other device platforms.

11. Multiple devices per account: Multiple devices can now be used with the same account. The device status will show in the General tab of the Omni Mobile account profile. A future release will allow multiple accounts to be available on the same device. (This option is currently supported if using an external storage card for each user.)

12. Intelligent Battery Monitor: When Omni Mobile detects there is under 10% battery available, it turns off the scheduled updates and sets the device to Offline mode. Users can still use the Manual Update option on a per folder basis to update their mailbox. The percentage of battery remaining for each device is indicated in the Omni Mobile General Tab Option.

13. Localisation of the Calendar: The calendar views will now respect the device local language settings for the names of the days and months and for the start of the week.

14. Added Accept/Decline of "Recurring" Appointments, Tasks and Notes: When accepting a recurring event, you can now choose to Accept All and Decline All.

15. Added Shared Folder icons: Emails can now be forwarded from shared folders. Please note that forwarding an item from a shared folder will only forward the email content. Attachments or email attachments that are associated with the email will not be forwarded. This is due to GroupWise WebAccess not supporting the forward with attachments option.

16. WebAccess interface changes: A number of changes have been made to the Omni Mobile WebAccess interface to support the new and modified options and multiple devices.

17. Accept shared address book: A user can now accept a shared address book notification. The accepted address book will not appear on the device unless the user modifies the Omni Mobile Address Book Policy in WebAccess to include the shared address book. .

18. Improved calendar day view: Addes appointment start times and provided improved subject view to the calendar day view.

19. Changes to posted appointments: Fixed a bug so that changes to posted appointments are now updated to the client.

20. Improved error handling: A number of improvements have been made to detect and recover from interrupted communications. Recovering from interrupted communication is much more robust.

21. GroupWise 7.0 Service Pack 1: Omni Mobile 2.0 is compatible with GroupWise 7.0 SP1.

What's Next?

Work has already started on porting Omni Mobile to support Nokia Series 60 and RIM BlackBerry devices. Yes, with future 2.x versions, Omni Mobile will support all platforms including BlackBerry devices WITHOUT requiring one or more Windows 2003 Servers or any new infrastructure! Based on customer feedback, all other major feature enhancements will be put on hold until after Nokia Series 60 and BlackBerry support is available. Then, work will begin on localisation/translation of the client, complete "On Device" data encryption and the Enterprise Management Module. Unless, of course, there are other priorities that are brought to our attention that are required by a large number of customers.

Why Choose Omni Mobile Release 2.0?

Omni Mobile provides more than just PIM synchronization provided by Novell GroupWise Mobile Server, NotifyLink, GWAnywhere, PDA Connect or other GroupWise synchronization options. Our clients tell us the most exciting feature about Omni Mobile is the fact that it is the only GroupWise mobile solution that does not require a Windows 2003 Server or any additional hardware or software to license, install, configure and manage. Omni Mobile is the only solution that leverages your existing investment in GroupWise WebAccess servers running on NetWare, SUSE Linux or Microsoft Windows - your choice!

Release 2.0 takes Omni Mobile to the next level of sophistication and robustness. Think of Omni Mobile as the ultimate GroupWise 6.5 and GroupWise 7 caching client for PDAs and Smart Phones with on-line and off-line access to your full GroupWise account.

Get mobile - get Omni Mobile!