iPhone – To Do List and Notes from Outlook/Entourage

The iPhone is a great device with lots of applications and integrates very well into the Northeastern environment. I use it to help manage nearly every facet of my life – in particular my contacts, calendar, and communications.  But two important functions were missing that would complete my mobility needs – the ability to manage tasks and notes which I maintain in Exchange.

The Microsoft Exchange messaging system using Outlook or Entourage clients to manage email, contacts, tasks, personal notes, and calendar.  The native iPhone integration manages only email, contacts, and calendar.  Now there two separate apps to complete my messaging needs – iMTasks and iMNotes.

iMTasks

As mobile apps go, this app is about as complete as it can get.  It easy to setup, using the same information we used to setup our Exchange mail, calendaring, and contacts.  It has the ability to sort projects by: Start Date, Due Date, Subject, Priority, and Category.  It’s viewing options are adequate: Show Active Tasks Only, Due On or Before, Starts On or Before, and Categories.

Entering a new task is simple.  Set the start date, due date, priority, and category.  There’s even a progress bar.

Other Features:

• Tasks View: Allows you to keep on track of all your tasks and manage your objectives on the road. Reminders are not supported.
• Notes View: Gives you access to your Outlook notes in real-time.
• Out Of Office: Set your Out-Of-Office status and message remotely.
• Contacts View: Search your contacts and Global Address List remotely.

For $6.99, it’s an excellent iPhone app.  If you track your tasks in Outlook or Entourage and use an iPhone, this is a must have.  There’s also an iMTasks Lite that’s free – a read only version.

iMNotes

I use “Notes” in Outlook/Entourage to manage information outside of email, calendar, or task.  These are undated and informational notes – much like personal post-it notes.  For example, I’m in a discussion and a book title comes up, I’ll create a note with the title and author for future reference.  I’ll also create a Note with notes from a meeting or other reference material.

iMNotes provides access to these Exchange notes. Create, edit, view and search Notes in real-time. Create a note on the iPhone, press the sync button and and it shows up in Outlook or Entourage a few seconds later.  Create a note in Outlook/Entourage and it shows up on the iPhone.

The cost is also $6.99.  Because I use Notes fairly regularly, this was a must have for me.  There’s also a iMTasks Lite that free – a read only version.