4Team Corporation ShareO.

Byline: Alan Stevens

4Team Corporation ShareO

Share Outlook folders using email with this add-in

If you want to share Outlook folders without having to buy into Microsoft's Exchange Server, there are plenty of products available, including Softalk Share Server which we reviewed in the December 2007 Business Section. ShareO, from the 4Team Corporation, is a little bit different in that it doesn't require a server at all. Instead, it uses email to synchronise folders on a peer-to-peer basis.

The mechanism involved is straightforward. You decide on an Outlook folder to share and the people you want to share it with. A ShareO add-in then converts the folder and its contents into a special email message and sends it to the selected users. The same add-in running on recipients' PCs then converts it back to a local folder with further emails exchanged to keep the contents synchronised when changes are made.

ShareO can be used to share almost any Outlook folder, including contacts and calendars, and free/busy information. It also lets you share other Windows documents, either by dragging into an Outlook folder or by setting up a link to a nominated folder on the hard disk. Any changes made to that folder will then be automatically synchronised, again, using email.

As an Outlook add-in, ShareO is easy to install and can be used with any version from Outlook 2000 onwards, although the latest service packs will be needed on early implementations. A new ShareO menu is then added to the toolbar and a Sharing option made available with a special management panel displayed when this option is selected.