Alerts with Outlook 2007, Exchange 2003 and Sharepoint Services 3.0
If you’re running Outlook 2007 against an Exchange 2003 server, and have alerts generated by Sharepoint Services 3.0, you will notice very strange effects within Outlook, namely MAPI Error messages, mails that are not openable, etc.
The problem is a bug in Exchange 2003 - there is even a hotfix available in KB930807. However, this Hotfix is not publicly downloadable. You will need to contact Microsoft PSS, in order to get the Hotfix.
And here is where it gets interesting. If you’re running a native language version of your Microsoft Software, Support is only available by phone, for the small sum of 450 US$ - this fee is usually waived though if you just request a hotfix. For original US-English language software, support is also available by E-Mail, for much more reasonable 150 US$.
I’ve tried requesting the Hotfix by E-Mail, and it worked fine (though they referred me to the Phone Support option). It worked fine, and Microsoft provided me with the appropriate Hotfix.
The good thing is, that these problems will be mostly over because both Vista and Longhorn Server are true multilanguage Operating Systems.
Ihsan Dogan:
What if you have a support contract with Microsoft? Do you have to pay then as well?
2. May, 2007, 19:55Lukas Beeler:
No, of course not.
Just to be clear (my post certainly wasn’t) - you don’t have to pay for hotfixes or real bugs. In this case, i got my 149US$ refunded to my company CC.
I’ve never seen smaller companies with Microsoft support contracts, probably because they are really expensive.
2. May, 2007, 20:04Rob van Meeuwen:
Hi Lukas,
As we are a small company, we don’t have a support contract :-(
Is it possible that you send me the hotfix by e-mail, because we are dealing with the same problem.
Many thanks in advance,
Rob
8. June, 2007, 11:52