1. How do I verify OMA is functioning?

You can verify Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) is functioning from a desktop machine running IE 6.0 Assuming that SERVER1 is running Exchange 2003:

1. From a desktop PC running IE6.0, navigate to http://server1/oma

2. Enter the logon credentials for an existing mailbox which resides on server1

3. Click the OK hyperlink when you receive the warning about your device being unsupported

4. Welcome to OMA!

2. I have an Exchange 2003 server on a member server that I promoted to a DC, what happened to my OMA, it no longer works?

Amongst other problems, the ASP.NET account changes which causes OMA to cease functioning.

3. I have just upgraded and I can not use OMA, why?

The setting to enable/disable OMA Browse is actually set during ForestPrep. Exchange 2003 ForestPrep will no longer enable OMA Browse by default. Exchange 2003 ForestPrep/Reinstall will keep it enabled if it was already enabled. This means that OMA Browse WON'T be enabled when running ForestPrep to upgrade from Exchange 2000. You can find OMA Browse settings in ESM, under Global Settings -> Mobile Services -> Properties

Note: ActiveSync and AUTD remain unchanged.

4. Which devices are supported by Microsoft to be used with OMA?

Device support for Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) Browse is dictated by the Device Update package installed on the Exchange 2003 server. When you run Exchange 2003 Setup today, the DU2 package is silently installed as part of the installation.

Approximately, every 6 months, new Device Update packages are released. This will add support for more devices to your Exchange server.

The current Device Update package is DU4. The full list of devices and which DU package they are included in is available here.

5. What is the OMA?

Outlook Mobile Access and Exchange Server ActiveSync features, formerly found in Microsoft Mobile Information Server 2002, are now built-in with all Exchange Server 2003 Standard installations.

Complementing the Outlook 2003 and Outlook Web Access mobile improvements, Outlook Mobile Access and Exchange Server ActiveSync help enable secure corporate e-mail on a range of mobile devices including browser-based mobile phones, Microsoft Windows Powered Pocket PC, and Microsoft Windows Powered Smartphone devices.

Adding this functionality to the core Exchange Server 2003 product reduces the need to deploy additional mobile server products in the corporate environment, thus lowering the total cost of ownership.

6. Can I deploy OMA in a mixed environment?

In a mixed Exchange environment, you must use Exchange 2003 for both the front-end and back-end servers to gain access to mailboxes through Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) and Exchange ActiveSync. For mailboxes on Exchange 5.5 and 2000, you need to deploy Microsoft Mobile Information Server.

7. What are the new OWA Hot Keys?

* Ctrl+N: New Mail (or Post, if in public folders)

* Ctrl+R: Reply to currently selected mail in view

* Ctrl+Shift+R: Reply all to currently selected mail in view

* Ctrl+Shift+F: Forward currently selected mail

* Ctrl+U: Mark currently selected message(s) as unread

* Ctrl+Q: Mark currently selected message(s) as read .

8. How do I disable potions of the OWA interface?

Exchange 2000 SP2 introduced the concept of OWA segmentation. This is where you can selectively enable/disable certain features in the web client. Exchange 2003 extends the segmentation options found in Exchange 2000. You can either set global (per server) segmentation via a registry parameter, or set the msExchMailboxFolderSet attribute on user objects. A bit mask determines the functionality available to the user.

9. How do I activate session timeouts for OWA users?

Outlook Web Access user credentials are now stored in a cookie. When the user logs out of Outlook Web Access, the cookie is cleared and is no longer valid for authentication. Additionally, by default the cookie is set to expire automatically after 20 minutes of user inactivity. See Logon Modifications for OWA Users for the instructions.

10. How do I stop users from going to a bookmarked /LOGON.ASP page after conversion to 2003 OWA?

After converting from Exchange 5.5 OWA to 2000 OWA, all the users had book marked the URL of mail.company.com/exchange/logon.asp, since in 5.5 OWA it automatically would pull the user from the root URL into a logon page (since it used ASP) but now the user only sees the same base URL of mail.company.com/exchange. So once the users used the book mark or in some cases the “autocomplete” feature in IE they would be pulled to a dead address.

Go into the front-end server that is hosting your OWA.

* Start up IIS admin and locate the /Exchange virtual directory

* Right click on the /Exchange directory and using the “wizard” create a new virtual directory called logon.asp. When it prompts where the content is located just put something like c:inetpubwwwroot

* Once the virtual root has been created, right click it, select properties then select the tab labeled “Virtual Directory”

* Select the “A redirection to a URL” and then in the “Redirect to” URL enter /exchange/

What happens is when the user hits the virtual root of /exchange/logon.asp it pulls the user back to only /exchange*

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