simultaneous Outlook reminders on multiple devices

Question

Disclaimer: This is not actually a programming question, but I feel the audience on stackoverflow is more likely to have an answer than most question/answer sites out there.

Please forgive me, Joel, for stealing your question. Joel asked this question on a podcast a while back but I don't think it ever got resolved. I'm in the same situation, so I'm also looking for the answer.

I have multiple devices that all sync with MS-Outlook. PCs, Laptops, Smartphones, PDAs, etc. all have the capability to synchronize their data (calendars, emails, contacts, etc.) with the Exchange server. I like to use the Outlook meeting notice or appointment reminders to remind me of an upcoming meeting or doctors appointment or whatever. The problem lies in the fact that all the devices pop up the same reminder and I have to go to every single device individually in order to snooze or dismiss all of the identical the reminder popups.

Since this is a sync'ing technology, why doesn't the fact that I snooze or dismiss on one device sync up the other devices automatically. I've even tried to force a sync after dismissing a reminder and it still shows up on my other devices after a forced sync. This is utterly annoying to me.

Is there a setting that I'm overlooking or is there a 3rd party reminder utility that I should be using instead of the built-in stuff?

Thanks, Kurt

Answer 1

At least for PCs, the fact that you dismiss an item does get sync'd, and fairly quickly for me. I'm not sure why phones don't seem to do it, though. Maybe the ActiveSync protocol doesn't offer that option.

Answer 2

I don't have an answer, but I feel your (and Joel's) pain every time my cell phone and my computer both buzz me within minutes of each other.

Answer 3

Thanks from me, too :)

Maybe it's because all your devices clocks are synchronized to a time server, so they all have the exactly correct atomic-clock time, and all the devices notify you within a couple of seconds of each other, so the "dismiss" synchronization just doesn't happen fast enough.

Answer 4

As a followup (and since this is a website for programmers), if anyone out there has any design or implementation ideas for a software solution that could fix this "feature" (i.e., bug) for us, we'd be happy to hear any ideas.

Answer 5

I'm assuming that the "client side" implementation is not standardized. For example, if your phone is already showing you a reminder-pop-up, the Outlook synch mechanism can't enforce removing that pop-up since it's device specific. The fact that it does so on "computers" leads me to assume that the protocol DOES support this, but some phone vendors just don't implement it.