Seven ways to push mail to the iPhone -- without Exchange

There are several options, if you know where to look

Icewarp

Icewarp produces a messaging and collaboration suite that includes modules for e-mail server, Jabber-based instant messaging server, a groupware server that is CalDAV compliant, Web and FTP server, rich WebMail interface and mobile services. In late August, Icewarp announced it would add support for the iPhone to its existing support for mobile devices with the release last month of version 10 of the Icewarp server.

NotifyLink

Unlike the previous solutions, which are all e-mail and groupware servers in their own right, NotifyLink by Notify Technology delivers sync and direct push functions to mobile devices by integrating with an existing e-mail/groupware server. That means it behaves much like RIM's Blackberry Enterprise Messaging Server, although it's not tied to a specific device. (RIM's messaging server is tied to the company's Blackberry devices.)

NotifyLink supports all major smart phone platforms, including the iPhone, the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm. As with other options I've described, NotifyLink relies on the iPhone's ActiveSync implementation to provide direct push, although some smart phone platforms rely on a client application. Detailed information about using the product with the iPhone is available on the company's support site .

NotifyLink's ability to integrate with existing e-mail and groupware solutions makes it particularly attractive, as does the breadth of server platforms it supports. They include : Exchange, GroupWise, Communigate Pro, Kerio MailServer, Zimbra, First Class, Meeting Maker, Sun Java Communications Suite, Mirapoint, Scalix, Oracle Collaboration Suite and Beehive, Google Apps, MDaemon, Courier Mail Server, Sendmail, Cyrus, UWash IMAP, and Eudora Qualcomm Worldmail.

Outsourced or hosted solutions

For smaller companies and organizations, setting up and maintaining a mail server might be a goal that simply requires too many resources: the costs aren't worth the rewards when there are only a handful of e-mail accounts. Typically in that case, a company relies on its Internet or Web hosting company for e-mail hosting through which it gets its POP/IMAP accounts.

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