Oracle Calendar Syncing

Faculty and staff who have a smartphone or PDA, may be able to sync the device with IC's Oracle Calendar service. In order to do this, the device must have a data plan or the ability to wirelessly access the Internet.

myHome Web Portal

To view your meetings in Oracle Calendar using a smartphone, the best option is to use myHome@ithaca.edu portal. If you need to add, delete or see the meeting details, then another sync option will be required as described below.

NotifyLink On-Demand Service

NotifyLink On-Demand is an off-site hosting service providing "push" technology (i.e. automatic calendar and email synchronization at regular intervals without the need for manual intervention), as well as 24/7 support for mobile device syncing. NotifyLink On-Demand allows users to easily compose, reply, delete, and forward messages from a wireless device, allows for robust filtering, provides attachment support, provides "PUSH" notification and real time synchronization of e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks. NotifyLink On-Demand does not require an "always-on" desktop computer and allows users to enable or disable e-mail synchronization from the wireless device. NotifyLink On-Demand supports a variety of wireless carriers and networks

NotifyLink On-Demand costs approximately $180 annually and requires the installation of the client and a product key. Please contact the ITS Helpdesk to purchase a product key.

Sync Configuration Recommendations

ITS recommends one-way syncing (desktop to device) of calendar entries (meeting name, time, attendees, location) and day events. Note: the syncing of tasks and contacts may be technically possible but not recommended or supported by ITS.  Two-way syncing is possible, but not supported.

If specialized sync software is purchased, the follow configuration settings are needed: 

• Server url: https://calendar.ithaca.edu/ocst-bin/ocas.fcgi
• Username: Netpass username
• Password: Netpass password
• Events Path: ./calendar/events
• Sync Duration: please set a 45 day sync window for best performance i.e. 5 days before and 40 days after. A longer window is possible but the sync will take longer.

Specialized Sync Software

ITS has tested the devices below and recommends the wireless sync clients listed in the table. To use these clients, a license must be purchased from the vendor. Costs range from $20 - $40.

Oracle CalendarSync Wired Option

For older Palm and PocketPC devices, Oracle CalendarSync is an option but requires a cable to sync. Oracle CalendarSync is free of charge and must be installed by an ITS field service technician. Contact the ITS Helpdesk (4-1000) to request installation. Oracle is no longer supporting the CalendarSync product and it may not work with newer devices. ITS will be phasing out support for this software in the near future.  Current users of Oracle CalendarSync do not need to switch yet.

Known Issues

Password Reset

Devices are usually configured to remember the Netpass password. Every 120 days, when the Netpass password changes, the device password will also need to be reset or access to e-mail and synching will fail.

Blackberry Devices 

Automatic E-mail: Blackberry devices syncing using the Nexthaus client will send e-mails to meeting attendees automatically without prompting to send the message. To prevent this from happening, the CICAL entries in the Blackberry system configuration files must be deleted. Contact the vendor for instructions on how to do this. If you don't do this, many messages will be sent whenever synchronization occurs.

Slowness in Syncing

If the sync window is larger then the recommended 45 days, synchronization may take longer due to the large amount of data being transferred. Check the sync duration configuration setting on the device client.