iMExchange

I am unfortunately employed with a company that will not allow iPhones to be used in their corporate environment.  Never mind their reasoning, I just can’t seem to make them see the light.  I had lived for years with the poor integration of Outlooks task management system on my Blackberry and searched high and low for an alternative.  After several weeks of disappointment with other todo apps and their efforts to thwart out the Blackberry’s plans of global business domination, I happened to find iMExchange by RERLSoft.

I was surprised to see that I could use my company’s Webmail front-end to manage my tasks and notes, something I had not thought of previously.  The setup was pretty straight forward as it was nearly identical to the setup of a mail account on the iPhones native mail app.  For those of you with Exchange 2007 environments, iMExchange will provide connectivity as well.  Be sure you check the option when configuring your account.

While other todo apps either focus on looks or a massive list of features, iMExchange focus’s on true productivity by providing just the right amount of features with quick data entry as a primary goal.  The standard Low/Medium/High priorities are available and would likely suit most.  However, I needed just a bit more detail in my particular use.  iMExchange supports Outlooks “Category” feature, which can place a label on a task and allow you to group tasks based on these categories.  With a little planning on my desktop version of Outlook, I was able to devise a more detailed list of “states” that my tasks can be in such as “New,” “Done: Needs Ticket,” or “Pending Parts.”  These are the various stages that my trouble tickets go through at my job so it helps me stay organized when I go to my web-based ticketing system and reflect back on my day.

Now most task manager apps I’ve tried have relied on a WiFi connection to sync changes, which to me, makes very little sense.  If I am near a WiFi hotspot, I’m more likely to make the changes on my laptop than on my iPhone. iMExchange gives you the ability to sync your task changes anywhere by using your phones 3G connection to contact your Exchange server via Outlook Web Access. Lovely! No more asking a coworker if I can use their computer so I can update my ticket or bust out old school with a pencil and pad of paper.  Yeah, they still exist.  So do wall mounted pencil sharpeners.

Not only will iMExchange manage your tasks, it will also give you full access to your Notes and Global Address List – all without having to setup an Exchange email account which would likely require approval from your IT department.  You are able to call right from your list in the app, which is very nice and efficient.  The Notes utility has helped me recall important login credentials and other job specific details like how to unlock the combination lock at our Demarcation room.

It is highly recommended that anyone who is contemplating purchasing iMExchange, first download iMLite Viewer, a free read-only version of the app.  This will allow you to test connectivity to your company’s Exchange environment before investing in the full app.  I cannot stress this enough as it will save you the headache that will surely follow when you blindly attempt to connect to your Exchange servers.

iMExchange does sport a very native iPhone-like interface which to be honest, leaves me wishing for just a little bit of eye candy.  I mean this is the iPhone after all.  Let’s spice it up a bit!  Give us a bit of color, some snazzy icons, or themes to choose from.  Aside from that, the app does a superb job of keeping you in arms-reach of total task control.