Outlook Synchronization

[bkonia]

Ultra Recall should be able to sync contacts, tasks, datebook, memos with Outlook. The user should be able to map Item Attributes to corresponding Outlook fields.

Response from Kevin:

"When you say 'sync' do you mean a way to import them, or rather a way to keep them in both places and in sync? We currently are not using the Outlook libraries (users may nor not have Outlook installed, and many different versions exist, etc) which would be required to actually keep info synchronized between the two applications (and would introduce very tight coupling between the two products). Obviously emails can be imported now, but the other Outlook items are not currently supported (and are on the list for future implementation). Having Ultra Recall stay fully in sync with Outlook is probably not something we intend to provide any time soon..."

My response:

"Yes, I was suggesting full two-way synchronization. To me, the ultimate killer app is something that would integrate with Outlook and complement its weaknesses while avoiding duplicating its strengths. For example, Outlook is an excellent email client and has good task management and datebook functionality built in. However, it's terrible for organizing and managing data. UR is ideal for data management, but has very limited time/task management functionality and of course no email. Putting the two apps together, you have something that could literally manage your entire life.

While it's true that not everyone uses Outlook, it is without a doubt the dominant email and datebook application in the corporate world, which is obviously your biggest market. A lot of users, particularly corporate users, wont even consider purchasing a data management application unless it syncs with Outlook. The other benefit of doing Outlook integration is that since Outlook syncs with the Palm and Pocket PC, you indirectly get synchronization with those platforms. This greatly expands the marketability of the product, because now you can specifically target Outlook users, Palm users and Pocket PC users, which are three enormous markets. I also feel that UR is uniquely suited to Outlook synchronization because of the fact that it's object oriented and has user-definable fields. It would be very easy to establish a one-to-one correspondence between an Outlook object and a UR object."