Yes, I hate Lotus Notes with passion and would much rather use an Exchange based solution, but we are stuck with Notes and this system works exceptionally well.

It synchs Email, Calendar, Contacts and To Do.

Find me another app that does this across all these platforms. You won’t be able to.

We have a Fleet of 1000 users and 30% are on the iPhone and they love this app.

Let me know if you need further info or somebody to help you with the implementation.

Please note, this is not a cheap solution by any means.

I use their windows mobile client on my pocket pc and nothing else even comes close…

http://www.commontime.com

“MailMe Text” ($1.99)

It’s so simple. All it does is send a text message directly to your email in-box, the address is set by you in the configuration. I have it go to my work email – and through eProductivity all I do is process the “Text-message / action” directly into my system.

You open the app and it gives you a blank screen, type in the message real quick and hit send, done. I don’t worry about it again until I’m back in my office and process it.

It’s faster than trying to write it down, stuff it in my pocket (actually I would use my notetaker wallet) and then find it when I get back to process it, now it is sitting in my email inbox waiting for me.

If you treat Lotus Notes as if it’s “just email” and ignore the fact that email is just one use for Notes, it’s got the _second_largest_ user base. (for business anyway… not sure if that includes home usage)

Also, consider that people like David Allen love Notes.

Also, consider that independent (as opposed to vendor-paid) studies compare TCO of Notes vs others favorably.

Then factor in that most TCO studies don’t factor in the backwards-compatibility commitments that Lotus Notes has made and kept. While new features are being added, custom apps written in 1995 _still_ run, no code changes necessary.

Also, consider that most companies who are really in it to win aren’t interested in betas, or anything hosted that doesn’t make promises of availability (do you promise it will be up now?), continuation of service (do you promise it will be up tomorrow?), or control of data (do you promise you’ll expunge my information when I ask?).

The “few small developers” comment is unfounded as well.

If you haven’t seen Notes in a while, you might enjoy checking out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCciB9siOYc It’s not GTD, but it’s an example of Notes with the TripIt plug-in, and doesn’t even require a server for what’s shown.

My employer uses Lotus Notes, so I use Lotus Notes. But, I happen to like Lotus Notes so I put it on my home computer. My choice. I like (ok – I Love) my iPhone. My choice. I really like eProductivity, so I use it at work and at home. My choice.

Now, I know some might not consider me an average joe (not going to hint which way from average…), but if I like the above mentioned applications, there must be a lot more like me that do to. I figure someone will come up with a way to make it all work soon enough. My bet is on IBM and ICA (eProductivity). But, there are over 65,000 apps already in the app store for the iPhone, so this can’t be far behind.

I do think however, that discussions like this one will help to move it along. The more GTD’ers with iPhones and Lotus Notes are vocal, the faster a developer will see the market. And I agree that the discussions should be positive.

I know Lotus Notes is not for everyone (but what tool, software, color, flavor IS???) I do not think IBM is at fault here for not providing a To Do sync for something that does not even exist on the iPhone. I’m just looking for a good, secure GTD To Do sync solution that I know SOMEONE will create for me one of these days. I am patient…!

Meanwhile, I am appreciative of all of the tips and tricks people have mentioned.

Cheers, Kelly

Paul – linking to Bynkii is certainly not the way to get IBM or others to engage here. There are plenty of elegant Notes+iPhone apps from partners like iEnterprises and EBF, who definitely know the Apple platform. The issue in this case is plain and simple the lack of built-in support for to-do as a notion on the iPhone; NotesPro and HughesConnect have stepped in to fill that void (I think Sybase iAnywhere does, too).

That link shows that IBM has incorporated iPhone syncing into Notes for email, contacts, and calendar. As stated already above, it does not mention To Do’s.

My employer is in the process of upgrading to v8.5.1, it will take awhile though since there are still users running versions below 7.0 and have to be individually upgraded first. I really am interested in hearing from anyone that has used the v8.5.1 (Traveler) sync with an iPhone to find out how well it actually works. If it does then I will have something solid to look forward to.

The other question would be how well does it work if you are using the eProductivity mail template. As I stated in my previous post, using Notes Pro with eProductivity doesn’t seem to work to well, To Do’s and calendar items get messed up during the sync process.

I don’t have any expectations that Lotus or Apple should be the ones to create it–just would love something that allows me to see my To Do’s on the go.

Thanks all. Cheers.

I actually got Notes Pro (app for iPhone) working the other day and it does sync To Do’s. (along with calendar and email) But, I also use eProductivity with Lotus Notes. Contexts do not come through the sync process so all your actions/lists end up scrambled. (The To Do’s do contain the embedded emails through eProductivity though, thats a plus) I don’t know if it would work with the normal Lotus Notes To Do lists since I’m not willing to take eProductivity out of the mix.

I have started setting up my “Today” list in eProductivity first thing in the morning, take a screenshot of it, and pasting it into Evernote so that I have at least my daily list with me at all times. If I know I’m going to be out of my office I try to load the list with things that I can do while away from the office like phone, errands, etc.

I would really love an active way to sync with Lotus Notes that can be managed at all times.

http://bit.ly/wz3MH

http://bit.ly/jzeBh

I think that its IBM’s responsibility to support their users with a more robust iPhone Notes app, and at this point, it seems unlikely that anyone else will do it.

There is a 3rd party which has built an iPhone application to synchronize Notes/Domino to-dos. Find details at HughesConnect.com http://www.hughesconnect.com

The 2nd paragraph says:
“This extends Lotus Domino automatic synching for e-mail, contacts and calendar data to the iPhone,”

To Do is not mentioned.

Thanks,
Kelly

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/28564.wss

I don’t see To Do’s synching. Am I missing something? I am specifically talking about To Do’s not synching. I’d love it if I were wrong and Traveler really does this…

Kelly

But, the fact that Apple didn’t have a built-in task application to sync iCal tasks across my Macs and iPhone has been one of my biggest gripes. I use MobileMe and that syncs just about everything else imaginable, why not tasks???