Exchange ActiveSync Considerations When Using Windows Phone 7 Clients

Exchange ActiveSync Considerations When Using Windows Phone 7 Clients


This Exchange TechNet Wiki page contains information about using Windows Phone 7 based Exchange ActiveSync clients in an Exchange enterprise environment.


note Note

If you look for information around what EAS policies are supported by non-Windows Phone 7 devices, see the Exchange ActiveSync comparison table.





Supported Exchange ActiveSync Policies

Its important to note that Windows Phone 7 devices only support a subset of the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) policies available with Exchange 2003 SP2, Exchange 2007, and Exchange 2010. Currently, Windows Phone 7 supports the following EAS policies:

  • Password Required (this is the only policy available on Exchange 2003 SP2) 
  • Minimum Password Length
  • Idle Timeout Frequency Value
  • Device Wipe Threshold
  • Allow Simple Password
  • Password Expiration
  • Password History

The following policies will always return "TRUE" (see table later on this page):  

  • Disable Removable Storage
  • Disable IrDA
  • Disable Desktop Sync
  • Block Remote Desktop
  • Block Internet Sharing

If you want to use EAS policies not on the above list for other mobile devices in the Exchange organization, you have the following options:

  • Create a dedicated Windows Phone 7 EAS policy and associate it with mailbox users that use Windows Phone 7 devices.
  • Set the AllowNonProvisionableDevices property to true in the default EAS policy already configured.
  • Re-configure the default EAS policy within the Exchange organization, so it only has the policies listed above configured.

Note
When using multiple EAS accounts with policies set, the policies will be merged to a most restrictive resultant set.

For specific error messages received when trying to synchronize a Windows Phone 7 device with an Exchange organization that doesn't respect one of the above options, see Windows Phone 7 fails to synchronize with error 0x85010013 or 0x8600C2B when connecting to Microsoft Exchange Server.


Supported Mail & Calendar features


Features in Windows Phone 7 RTM:
  • Exchange ActiveSync version 14.0
  • DirectPush
  • Multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts
  • Multiple Exchange ActiveSync policies
  • Exchange Autodiscover Service
  • Remote Device Wipe (by user or admin)
  • E-mail & calendar features
    • Colored calendars for easy overview of appointments (personal/work/etc.)
    • Pivot All, Unread, urgent or flagged(aka smart filtering)
    • Multi-message actions (delete or move multiple messages to a folder & flag or mark as read/unread)
    • Nickname cache sync (shared with OWA 2010 and Outlook 2010)
    • Tightly integrated e-mail and calendar

Features not in Windows Phone 7 RTM:

  • Conversation view & action
  • In-line replies/comments
  • Access to online archive mailbox
  • Synchronize SMS messages between device and mailbox (via ActiveSync)
  • Enable or edit Out of Office settings (OOF)
  • View free/busy information for other Exchange users
  • Search for e-mail message in mailbox on Exchange server
  • Warning when multiple bad PIN codes has been entered
  • PIN code phrase challenge
  • Support for UM cards (read a preview of a voice mail)
  • Integrated voice mail player
  • IRM support  
  • Synchronize Outlook notes (you can synchronize OneNote Notes though)
  • Different Peak/Off-peak synchronization schedules

Tip
Did you know you can access your mailbox using the OWA Premium version from Internet Explorer on a Windows Phone 7 device? To do so you need to enable "Desktop version" under "Website preference" on the Internet Explorer "Settings" page. The UI experience is actually quite good since you can zoom in on the navigation pane and specific settings in the Exchange Control Panel (ECP). It's easy to access the archive mailbox and enable or edit OOF settings etc.


Supported Exchange Server Versions

  • Exchange Server 2010
  • Exchange Server 2007
  • Exchange Server 2003 SP2
  • Exchange 2007 Online (BPOS)
  • Exchange 2010 Online (Office 365)

Important
Although Exchange Server 2003 SP2 is supported, there's currently an issue with searching the GAL from a Windows Phone 7 device against this Exchange version. Read more in the following KB article: You Cannot Search the Global Address List with Windows Phone 7 when connecting to Exchange Server 2003.


Why All These Missing Enterprise Features?

It's important to note that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) primarily was developed as a consumer device and not an enterprise device. As a result there of many of the enterprise oriented features we had in Windows Mobile 6.x aren't available in WP7. However, now that WP7 is out, the Windows Phone 7 team can focus on improving WP7 further and they already do. In addition, since it's now possible to push out updates via the new "Phone Update" feature, it doesn't mean that you necessarily need to buy a new device or wait for the service provider to release a new build in order to benefit from features added after you got a WP7 device.


What Features Can We Expect in Mango (WP 7.5)

New Exchange ActiveSync Policies:

  • Complex passwords (including alphanumeric passwords)

New e-mail specific features:

  • Lync Client
  • Office 365 integration
  • Pinnable e-mail folders
  • Conversation View
  • Server Search

  • Tasks synchronization

Exchange Server Comparison Tables

The following table lists the EAS policies supported when synchronizing Windows Phone 7 devices with each Exchange Server version:

 Exchange ActiveSync Policy Support

 EAS Policy:

Exchange 2003 SP2

Exchange 2007

Exchange 2010

PasswordRequired

Yes

Yes

 Yes

PasswordExpiration

No

Yes

 Yes

PasswordHistory

No

Yes

 Yes

AllowSimplePassword

No

Yes

 Yes

MinPasswordLength

No

Yes

 Yes

IdleTimeoutFrequencyType

No

Yes

 Yes

DeviceWipeThreshold

No

Yes

 Yes

DisableRemoveableStorage

Always returns TRUE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support removable storage).

DisableIrDA

Always returns TRUE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t include infrared transmissions capabilities).

DisableDesktopSync

Always returns TRUE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support synchronization with desktop Outlook, only media sync via Zune).

BlockRemoteDesktop

Always returns TRUE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support remote desktop functionality).

BlockInternetSharing

Always returns TRUE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support network sharing from device).

AuthenticationReset

Always returns TRUE (optional)

MobileEncryptionRemovable

Always returns FALSE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support device encryption or removable storage).

MobileEncryptionEnabled

Always returns FALSE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support device encryption).

EnableDeviceEncryption

Always returns FALSE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support device encryption).

AllowUnsignedApplications

Always returns FALSE (applications must be signed and installed via MarketPlace)

UnsignedCABAccessRole

Always returns FALSE (apps must be installed via MarketPlace).

AlphanumericDevicePasswordRequired

Always returns FALSE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support alphanumeric passwords).

MinDevicePasswordComplexCharacters

Always returns FALSE (Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support alphanumeric passwords).

UnapprovedApplicationList

Always returns FALSE (apps must be installed via MarketPlace).

ApprovedApplicationList

Always returns FALSE (apps must be installed via MarketPlace).

AllowHTMLEmail

Always returns FALSE (Windows Phone 7 uses HTML for e-mail but plain text e-mail can be received and read).

SyncWhenRoaming

Always returns FALSE (Users have control over the synchronization options).

All other EAS policies not explicitly mentioned

Always returns FALSE


The following table lists the EAS features supported when synchronizing Windows Phone 7 devices with each Exchange Server version:

Exchange ActiveSync Feature Support 

 EAS Features:

Exchange 2003 SP2

Exchange 2007

Exchange 2010

Direct Push

Yes

Yes

 Yes

Email sync

Yes

Yes

 Yes

Calendar sync

Yes

Yes

 Yes

Contacts sync

Yes

Yes

 Yes

Remote wipe

Yes

Yes

 Yes

Sync multiple folders

Yes

Yes

 Yes

128-bit SSL encrypted transmission

Yes

Yes

 Yes

User initiated remote wipe

No

Yes

 Yes

Link Access

No

Yes

Yes

HTML Mail

No

Yes

Yes

GAL Lookup

  No 1

Yes

Yes

Follow-up flags

No

Yes

Yes

Meeting attendee information

No

Yes

Yes

Autodiscover

No

Yes

Yes

Bandwidth reductions

No

Yes

Yes

Reply state

No

No

Yes

Nickname cache

No

No

Yes

Block/Allow/Quarantine List

No

No

Yes

Allow attachment download

No

No

Yes

256-bit SSL encrypted transmission

No

No

Yes



1 Windows Phone 7 cannot resolve addresses within Global Address List (GAL) on an Exchange 2003 server. For more information see the following KB article: You Cannot Search the Global Address List with Windows Phone 7 when connecting to Exchange Server 2003.



See Also

 


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