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Accessing Sharepoint on Windows Mobile

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The need for accessing Sharepoint on Windows Mobile is becoming a huge ask and this week I'm going to take some time on the various ways you can get to your Sharepoint sites via Windows Mobile

1. Using new features in Exchange 2007 with Windows Mobile 6

What you need:

  • Exchange 2007 both CAS server and Mailbox Server
  • Windows Mobile 6
  • Sharepoint 2003 or 2007

You now have the option to publish Sharepoint Sites via  the new Exchange 2007 CAS server.  You can now send a user a link to a sharepoint document or UNC link in an email and the user will be able to click on it.  Instead of opening the link in Internet Explorer it will instead go to the Published Server and grab the document via Activesync and download it to the device.  Eg.  If you get a link in an email to https://sharepoint/teamsite/document/windowsmobile.doc  you can just click on it and it will open on your device in pocket word. 

Limitations
You only have access to documents that are sent as links in email, you cannot browse shares or sites. 

2. Using the new features in MOSS 2007

What you need:

  • No Exchange Dependency
  • Windows Mobile 5 or 6
  • Sharepoint 2007

With MOSS 2007 you now have the ability to view any site via a WAP browser. If you publish your Sharepoint site to the Internet via SSL (port 443) you can securely access it from any location, but the problem in the past has been that the site would not render well on a mobile browser.  MOSS 2007 will now render that same site for a Mobile Device.  Eg. If you'd normally go to: https://www.company.com/sharepoint/teamsite/  you can just add a "m/" at the end to render it for mobile viewing: https://www.company.com/sharepoint/teamsite/m/.

Once you do this you will get a mobile view of the same site. 

Limitations
This view is limited as all Webparts will not be rendered.

3. Using Outlook 2007 and RSS feeds (Offline Access)

What you need:

  • Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2007
  • Windows Mobile 5 or 6
  • Sharepoint 2003 or 2007
  • Outlook 2007 on the Desktop

With Outlook 2007 you now have the ability to subscribe to RSS feeds.  In addition Sharepoint allows for subscriptions via RSS feeds.  If you have a system sitting on your corporate system running Outlook 2007 and you setup RSS feeds you can then subscribe to any Sharepoint feed in your environment.  Outlook will then sync the RSS folders to your Exchange server and you can then use "Managed Folders" on your windows mobile device to view the contents of the sync' d RSS folder while you are on the go.