Outlook Connector FAQ

Can I not include the body text of a reminder?

Yes. The body field option can be found in the Appointment tab of the 6Alert6 Options window.

What happens when I set "Send out first 0 characters"?

NONE of the Email body message will be sent out of your computer.

This filter works on the client side, not on the server side.

This filter is useful for protecting personal or other sensitive material.

You can use some network traffic monitoring tools to check the messages sent out of your computer. A simple and free tool is Chase IP. Another free tool is Microsoft Network Monitor.

What is the difference between Auto Sync and Appointment Alert? Which is better?

Both Auto Sync and Appointment Alert will let you receive phone and text reminders of upcoming appointments and meetings. However, they work differently.

Auto Sync saves a copy of your appointment into 6Channel6.com. It's just like setting up a reminder online. Your Outlook acts like a browser in this case.

Appointment Alert does not save a copy of appointment into 6Channel6.com. The appointment is only kept on your computer. When the reminder time is up and Outlook pops up an alert, the info will be sent to 6Channel6.com, which then delivers it to your devices.

Auto Sync allows you to turn your computer off once an appointment is saved, but takes more time to save to the website. Recurrences will also have limitations.

Appointment Alerts allow instant appointment creation, modification, and deletion, and offer privacy control. But, your computer must be on, and Outlook must be running.

Pick one depending on your needs.

I only have an Email account on Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, or AOL. I don't have Exchange or POP3 Email accounts. Will 6Alert6 still work? Does 6Alert6 require an Email account?

Email accounts of any kind (Internet, Exchange, POP3, etc.) are not required. You can use 6Alert6 without setting up any Email accounts in Outlook.

In sent alerts, your signup Email and name will be used.

I have multiple Email accounts in Outlook. Will this cause a problem?

No. You can choose a preferred Email to be used in sent alerts. To do so, go to the 6Alert6 menu, Options window, Alerts tab, Preferred Name and Email Address section, and choose from the Name and Email dropdown lists.

What are the limitations of 6Alert6?

Deleting an appointment through drag and drop may not work properly.
For Outlook 2003, in some computers, dragging and dropping an appointment to the deleted folder does not cause the appointment to be deleted from web site. We recommend using other ways of deletion, such as opening the appointment and then deleting it, or selecting an appointment and pressing the delete key.
When modifying or deleting recurring appointment, please modify or delete the entire series.
Although 6Channel6.com handles single occurrence, 6Alert6 does not do so.
When Outlook asks you to "Open this occurrence" or "Open the series", please select the latter.
There are also some compatibility issues. For more details, please see the topic How does 6Alert6 handle recurrence?.
Inbox alerts will not be sent if the sender's Email address is one of the Outlook's Email accounts. This is so that you don’t alert yourself and cause a never-ending alert chain.
After you add contacts, you need to close and re-open Outlook if you want to send alerts to them.

How does 6Alert6 handle recurrence?

6Alert6's recurrence is the same as the online one, which has these recurring options: daily, weekly, weekdays only, weekend only, bi-weekly, monthly, same week every month, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually.

Below is a list of Outlook's recurrence patterns and its equivalent in 6Alert6:

Outlook Recurrence Pattern	6Alert6	Fit In 6Alert6
Daily-Every 1 day(s)	Daily
Weekly-Recur Every 1 week(s)- select only one day from Sunday...Saturday	Weekly
Daily-Every weekday	Weekdays Only
Weekly-Recur Every 1 week(s)- select only Sunday and Saturday	Weekend Only
Weekly-Recur Every 2 week(s)- select only one day	Bi-weekly
Monthly-Day x of every 1 month(s)	Monthly
Monthly-The first...last day...Saturday of every 1 month(s)	Same week every month
Monthly-Day 1...31 of every 3 month(s)	Quarterly
Monthly-Day 1...31 of every 6 month(s)	Semi-annually
Monthly-Day 1...31 of every 12 month(s) Yearly-Every January...December 1...31	Annually
Yearly-The first...last day...Saturday of January...December	Annually	Selected

Why is the 6Alert6 menu not showing up?

6Alert6 may be disabled, or multiple Outlook connectors/add-ins in your computers is causing a conflict.

In Outlook 2003, go to Help->About->Disabled Items. If 6Alert6 is there, enable it and restart Outlook.

Steps to fix the problem:

Disable all other add-ins
Enable the 6Alert6 add-in (In Outlook 2007, the add-in name is SixAlertSix2007.)
Confirm that the 6Alert6 menu shows up
Re-enable other add-ins one at a time until the problem can be seen.

How to disable an add-in:

Outlook 2003

Go to Tools->Options->Other->Advanced Settings
Select COM Add-ins or Add-in Manager
Uncheck the add-ins you want to disable
Click OK

Outlook 2007

Go to Tools->Trust Center->Add-ins
Select the type of add-in you would like to disable in the Manage drop down
Click Go
Uncheck the add-ins you want to disable
Click OK

You may need to restart Outlook.

Administrator Rights

For some add-ins, you may receive the following error when trying to disable an add-in:

"The connected state of Office Add-Ins registered in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE cannot be changed."

This means that Administrative rights are required to disable the add-in:

In Windows Vista - Close Outlook, right click the Outlook shortcut in the start bar, select Run As Administrator, enter your credentials and follow the instructions above
In Windows XP - Log on to your computer as an Administrator and follow the instructions above

Why do I get the error "The form required to view this message cannot be displayed"?

The form's cache should be cleared.

Go to Click Tools->Options...->Other->Advanced Options...->Custom Forms...->Manage Forms...->Clear Cache.

Why am I not getting alerts?

First of all, make sure that your computer is on, that you are connected to the Internet, and that Outlook is open.

Then check if Alerts are ON from the 6Alert6 menu->Alerts. If it is not on, run 6Alert6->Alerts->Check Prerequisites. It will tell you what is missing.

For Appointment Alert, open the appointment in question, click the My Devices tab in the appointment, and check if you have selected any devices. If you have not done so, you will only be able to see a popup window on your computer. For Inbox Alert, check if you have filtered out the Email sender and the subject.

Also, check the alert status of the appointment from 6Alert6->Alerts->Alert Monitor, and look at the Result column.

Finally, check the delivery status of each device from 6Alert6->Alerts->Alert History, and look at the Status column on the left side and the Extended Status column on the right side.

My contacts have not received alerts. Why?

Please see the topic Why am I not getting alerts?.

For Appointment Alert, open the appointment in question, click the Contacts' Devices tab in the appointment and check that you have selected any devices. If you have not done so, no alerts will be sent to your contacts.
For Task Alert, first check the default contacts' devices from 6Alert6->Options->Contacts' Devices. If you have not selected any device, alerts have nowhere to go. If you have selected some devices, check that the contacts added to the task have the specified devices. Check your Outlook contact list if the contacts were added from there, or active directory if the contacts were domain accounts.

Will Email rules I create in Outlook affect Inbox Alert?

No. The Inbox Alert fires before Outlook rules are applied.

After 6Alert6 is installed, what will happen to my existing appointments?

Those appointments have not have devices specified. They will use default devices you have specified in 6Alert6->Options->My Devices.

When reminder times of those appointments are up and the reminders are fired by Outlook, if Appointment Alert is on, 6Alert6 will forward to 6Channel6.com the appointments info with the default devices.

When those appointments are opened for modification, two tabs will be attached: the My Devices tab and the Contacts' Devices tab. These tabs will have the device info from 6Alert6->Options->My Devices and Contacts' Devices tabs. Some of the devices may already be selected. You can change the selections there and save them.
When an appointment is modified and saved, the devices info and the devices selection will be saved along with the appointment info.
The device info and selection is only useful when reminder time is specified.

Can 6Channel6 not store the message?

We understand your concerns and we strive hard to protect your privacy. However, as a service provider, we have to archive every single message passes through our system, for use in cases like spam, harassment, disputes, and law enforcement requests.

This is a common practice in all big Internet service providers and phone companies.

After 6Alert6 is installed, sometimes Email won't send out.

The problem only occurs when you click the Outbox folder, stay there, then create and send a new mail. As long as the cursor is not on the Outbox folder, i.e., as long as the folder is not selected, sending email does not have problem.

Here is the work around:

Drag the mails from the Outbox into the Draft folder
Step out of the Outbox folder
Open and resend the mails

It is a bug in Outlook. Other companies had the problem too.

Do not go to Outbox. If you do, get out before you hit send button.