Nokia’s marketing around the ability of their mobile phones to support Server ActiveSync-based Push Email when used in conjunction with a Microsoft Exchange 2003 SP2 or Exchange 2007 Server (in exactly the same way as a Windows Mobile device) has not been extensive – but they can!

All you need is the Nokia Mail for Exchange software, which is now preinstalled on the newer Nokia E Series range of handsets and enables push-based bi-directional synchronisation of Email, Contacts, Calendar and Task folders.

The software can also be downloaded from the Nokia For Business web site: http://www.businesssoftware.nokia.com/mail_for_exchange_downloads.php

The setup procedure is similar to Windows Mobile, and the same pre-requisites apply. If the Exchange Server has a ‘root-trusted’ certificate on it, then ignore the next few paragraphs, but if like me you like to save a few pennies here and there then read on.

I have written elsewhere about how to use a ‘self-signed’ certificate on the Exchange Server, thus saving a couple of grand every few years, but doing so does require a bit or work on both the server and client-side.

Read here about how to configure Exchange 2003 SP2 to use a self-signed certificate.

If you are using a self-issued certificate on the Exchange Server, rather than a purchased, root-trusted certificate, then you will need to install the corresponding client certificate on the Nokia handset before you will be able to synchronise with the Exchange Server.
This involves saving a copy of the certificate to the handset. The easiest way to do this is to connect the handset to a PC with the Nokia PC Suite software installed on it.
PC Suite is included on the CD that comes in the sales package with the Nokia handset, or can be downloaded from the Nokia web site. Once installed, connect the Nokia handset to the PC. Windows will detect the new hardware automatically and install the phone as a modem and a USB storage device.

The Nokia phone will also be added as a drive in Windows Explorer:

Copy and paste the certificate to a folder on the phone.
Once copied to the phone, on the handset itself, press the Menu button and browse to Office → File Manager. Browse to the folder where the certificate was saved to and select it.
You will be prompted to save the certificate, select Save.

You will be warned that the certificate may be insecure, select Save.

The label of the certificate authority will be displayed, select OK.

You will then be prompted to specify what service the certificate is securing (Internet, VPN, etc). Select Internet.
The certificate will now be saved to the device.

To set up the connection to the Exchange Server, select the option to Set Up Email from the Home Screen:

Select the option to Start Email Setup:

The Email Setup Wizard will launch, select Next:

You will be warned that the handset will need to connect to the Internet as part of the setup procedure, select Yes:

Enter your full email address:

What you see at this point will depend on which version of the E71 firmware you are running. If you are prompted to specify whether you're setting up a POP/IMAP account or a corporate account, select "corporate". You will then be prompted to install the Mail for Exchange client, after which the setup procedure will resume.

Enter your password for your email account:

Enter your username for your email account:

Again, what you see now may vary between firmware versions. If you were not prompted to install mail for Exchange earlier, you will be now, but you may first get an error message:

DON’T PANIC!

You will now be prompted to specify whether your email account is indeed a POP or IMAP account, or whether it is a Mail For Exchange account:

Select Mail For Exchange. You will be prompted to enter further account setting information:

Enter the Domain information for your Exchange mailbox (your network administrator will be able to provide this information if you don’t know – as a useful hint, if you log into Outlook Web Access with a username of ‘blabla\username’, it is the ‘blabla’ that need to go in this field.

Enter the address of the Exchange Server. Again, your network administrator will be able to provide this information if you don’t know. As a useful hint, if you use Outlook Web Access via a web address of ‘https://mail.domain.com/exchange’, it is the ‘mail.domain.com’ that needs to go in this field.

You will now be prompted to install Mail For Exchange, which is held in the Phone’s memory, but not installed by default:

You will be prompted to confirm the installation of the software:

You will also be warned that once Mail For Exchange is installed, you should no longer use PC Suite to synchronise with Outlook locally on your PC:

The software will then be installed:

Once complete, you will be prompted to define further settings governing synchronisation:

Specify which mailbox folders you want synchronised, and specify the ‘peak hours’ during which you want mail pushed to the handset:

A New folder will now be added to the default Inbox, alongside Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, etc for ‘Mail for Exchange’. Any mail in the Exchange mailbox (within the interval you specified in the push settings), will now be pushed automatically to the handset:

Enjoy Push Email functionality from now on!

If you want to edit any of the Mail For Exchange settings, press the Menu button and select the MfE folder:

The following options will be displayed:

Selecting Mail for Exchange will display the same settings screen that was displayed earlier in the setup process:

Selecting Sync Mode alows you to edit the Peak Hours during which you want mail pushed to the handset:

Selecting Content Synced allows you to specify which mailbox folders you wan tto synchronise to the device (options include Email, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks)

Finally, selecting Comp. Dir. from the main menu allows you to search the Exchange Global Address List (GAL) for contact information: