Exchange ActiveSync vs. CB Exchange Server Sync

You have more than one email account… who doesn't? But now you are thinking it would be so much better if you could have everything in one place and you are wondering… how do I sync my email?

This article compares the two most popular approaches if the email accounts you want to sync are Exchange accounts. Both approaches can be used to sync Outlook email across multiple devices. They will also work for Apple Mail in case that is what you are using. The important thing is that the accounts you want to sync are Microsoft Exchange accounts.

How can you tell if your account is an Exchange account? If you use company email, and your company uses a Microsoft Exchange server, then your accounts are Microsoft Exchange accounts, and this article is for you.

Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) is a protocol built by Microsoft for low-bandwidth mobile scenarios. It is used to sync email messages, calendars, tasks and contacts on mobile devices.

Is Exchange ActiveSync an acceptable solution for the "how do I sync my email?" question? Yes, if you are only concerned with Android email sync, that is if you only want to synchronize on your Android smartphone or tablet. For example, you can use it if you want to sync email on a Samsung tablet or phone.

It is also a solution if you are only concerned with synchronization in iOS-based mobile devices, that is if your question is how to sync email on your iPhone or iPad.

But that is how far Exchange ActiveSync will take you… not further than that.

This is because Exchange ActiveSync synchronizes on the mobile device alone, not on the Exchange server. Using Exchange ActiveSync means the synchronization only works on the mobile on which you set up EAS in. When you go to your desktop, it is simply not there. EAS doesn't work for any desktop email clients, so it does not work for Outlook, Thunderbird, or Apple Mail on your desktop. Also, when you move to another mobile device, you need to start from scratch and set it all up again.

These limitations are very annoying. After all, what is the point of getting your professional email, calendar, tasks, and contacts in one place, if that will only work on your mobile?

CB Exchange Server Sync

CB Exchange Server Sync works on a different level: the server level. It enables you to automatically synchronize your emails, calendars, tasks, and contacts. It will even synchronize your folders and notes. The folder synchronization is particularly useful, especially if you regularly organize your emails into folders. What's more, as CB Exchange Server Sync does the sync at server level, it works across devices.

CB Exchange Server Sync can synchronize multiple Exchange accounts. It works even across domains or servers, and with different Exchange server versions.

You can use any email client you want, such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail. You can use that client in the device you want. It doesn't matter if it is your smartphone, your tablet, your laptop, or your desktop computer, it will work. The reason why it doesn't matter is that CB Exchange Server Sync does all the synchronization on the server, not the email client.

CB Exchange Server Sync is a paid tool by Connecting Software, but the pricing is very reasonable. If you are only syncing two accounts (one pair), the pricing can be as low as $4.99. Other pricing options are available, both for SaaS and self-hosted implementations of the tool.

The setup for CB Exchange Server Sync is simple. You choose the two or more accounts you want to synchronize, and that is it. CB Exchange Server Sync does the rest for you.

CB Exchange Server Sync provides an automated but fully customizable synchronization of your multiple accounts, no matter what device you use and where you host the accounts. This versatile and flexible solution allows you to be aware of all your information and commitments at all times.

What else can I use CB Exchange Server Sync for?

There are several scenarios in which CB Exchange Server Sync can be the perfect tool. Let's have a look at some of those.

Merger and acquisition email migration projects

During a merger and acquisition, the different entities initially have separate Exchange servers, probably even different versions of Exchange. If using the cloud, they will be on different tenants. CB Exchange Server Sync can handle the migration for different servers, tenants and versions. It will be a smooth process with no downtime involved.

You can migrate in a single point in time, or you can keep the accounts for both entities running for as long as you want. If you choose to keep both accounts for a while, the end-user won't complain. Everything will show up in Outlook as usual (or the email client of their choice). If this is a scenario you are interested in, there is plenty more information on the page about merger and acquisition email migration projects.

Calendar sync with Outlook - consolidate multiple calendars into one

To handle the booking of a shared resource, for example, the booking of meeting rooms, you can set up a central calendar with the room's availability and then sync everyone to that calendar. You can choose what to sync and how often to sync. Using CB Exchange Sync to handle the calendar synchronization is a great what to avoid conflicts and save time

Migrating Exchange to the cloud or from the cloud back to on-premises

The migration pattern of most companies these days is to move organizations to Office 365 and the cloud.  However, some companies want to stay on-premises or want to come back to an on-premises Exchange. In both these scenarios, the migration is not a simple task… but it can become much simpler by using CB Exchange Server Sync.

CB Exchange Server Sync supports the migration of complete user mailboxes, with no effect on user settings or data, and zero downtime.

In short - how do I get my email to sync on all devices?

Exchange ActiveSync can only help you with the synchronization on mobile devices. On the other hand, CB Exchange Server Sync handles all kinds of synchronization needs, across different devices and different versions.

To find more about its features, visit the product page for the CB Exchange Server Sync. You also can ask for a free trial or check out this product on Appsource.

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