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Differences Between Offline Kerio Outlook Connector and a Native Outlook Exchange Connection

Author: Luis Fernandes

Overview

In order to initiate collaboration between Outlook and Kerio Connect, it is necessary to install the Kerio Outlook Connector. With this connector, we use a MAPI interface to manipulate Outlook in a way that very closely resembles a native Exchange connection; however, there are some differences that are noted by this article.

Delegation is supported since Kerio Connect 8.2.x: When sharing folders, the security options are limited to 3 permission levels: admin, editor, and reader. Separate permissions cannot be set for individual items of a folder.

Description

Differences in Behavior

  • Folder sharing: Although any folder can be shared, the interface and method for folder sharing contain Kerio specific dialogs.
  • Rules: The native rules and alerts can be used on locally stored messages. However, there is a custom Kerio dialog for managing rules on incoming email.
  • Synchronization: The Offline Kerio Outlook Connector uses the WebDAV protocol, which communicates over secure HTTP.
  • Local cache: The Offline Kerio Outlook Connector does store all data locally, however, it is stored in a proprietary SQL database. There is a custom Kerio dialog for managing synchronization settings, as well as a system tray icon to indicate the status of the server connection and synchronization.
  • Drafts folder syncing is not supported in EAS 14 due to protocol limitations. More information can be found in sync Drafts from server to client.

Unsupported Features

  • Advanced sorting views: Some specific, non-standard views will not work.
  • Rules on outgoing email: The Kerio-specific dialog for creating mail filter rules does not work on outgoing emails.
  • Recalling a message: If a message is sent by mistake, it is possible to locate the item in the Sent Items folder and perform an action to recall the message.

3rd-Party Integration

There are many external programs that manipulate Outlook in various ways. Many of these programs use the MAPI interface, while others are communicating directly with the local Outlook database. Programs that use the local database will not work, as the Kerio Outlook Connector uses a proprietary database. Other plugins may work with mixed results. We do not maintain a list of officially supported MAPI plugins. It is recommended to evaluate any other plugins with the Kerio Outlook Connector to verify that all necessary functionality will work without conflicts. If you identify a conflict, please contact Kerio technical support.

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