Review: 4Team Corporation ShareO office software

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.

From this you can choose recipients from your Outlook address book as well as set a variety of configuration options. For example, it’s possible to either include or exclude sub-folders and message attachments and either synchronise changes manually or whenever Outlook sends and receives messages. You can also choose to either ignore or apply any updates and decide on what to do when items are deleted by another user.

When a ShareO message is received, recipients are first asked whether or not they want to share the folder concerned then given the option of moving or renaming the folder within their local Outlook tree. They can either leave the settings alone or manage the share using the same management panel as on the sender’s PC.

We found it relatively easy to use, although you are presented with a lot of options which could be a little offputting for novice users. The documentation could also be made easier to follow. Another issue is the potential size of the messages created by the ShareO add-on.

When a large folder is first shared a lot of information needs to be exchanged, so you need to make sure there are no mailbox size limits on the server used which might prevent it all getting through. Likewise, you may have to edit anti-spam and other content filters to make sure the messages that need to be exchanged aren’t blocked.

On our test network management wasn’t a big issue. However, the more folders you share and the more users involved, the harder it will become to keep tabs on everything. Performance can also be an issue and synchronisation conflicts harder to resolve, such that on a large network you’re probably better off looking at server-based alternatives. But it worked well on our tests and if you keep it simple could be all you need to share Outlook information on your network.

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