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What is Synkia?

Synkia is an easy to use information management service for your mobile phone. Thanks to Synkia you can store your contacts, text messages, notes and calendar events online. You can also view and edit your information in Synkia web application, restore it to your mobile and copy to a new device.

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Do I need any special software to use Synkia?

You can use Synkia on most mobile phones without installing additional software. Synkia is compatible with almost any handset from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, Motorola and other manufacturers.

Other phones require installation of additional software. Synkia has got it own application for Windows Mobile devices. In order to use Blackberry, Palm, iPhone devices, you'll need to install an application from a third party vendor. Please note that Synkia cannot take responsibility for these applications as they have not been developed by us.

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My phone is not in the list of supported handsets, is there a possibility that I can use Synkia?

To use Synkia you need a phone which has SyncML software. Most phones have this already preinstalled from the manufacturer.

If your phone is not on the list it might still work. We try to keep the list as up to date as possible, but new models are introduced with increasingly shorter intervals. If your phone supports SyncML chances are high that it will work, please sign up with a similar phone or contact our support.

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How much does it cost to use Synkia?

Click here to view current pricing info.

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Is Synkia safe to use?

Yes, Synkia is safe to use. To protect your data we use standard 256-bit encryption technology. First of all it is used on our website and web-application to prevent unauthorized access to your data transferred to a browser. Synkia is the first company to offer you SSL protection during the synchronization process between your phone and our server! If you want use it go to “Phones” section and follow the instructions.

Our servers and gateways comply with the highest industry security standards. Our backup procedures allow to restore all data any time when needed. We assure users that their information is secure at Synkia.

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What can I sync?

Synkia allows to sync contacts, calendar, notes and sms messages stored in a mobile phone or other applications and services.

Synkia service does not sync data stored on SIM cards.

Note that different phones can sync different sets of data. Check supported phones list to find out what data your phone can sync.

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Can I sync two phones with the same Synkia account?

Yes, you can sync as many phones as you want with the same account. If you are unable to synchronize next device, that probably means that you haven’t got active Synkia subscription and you need to make payment for the next period.

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Can I get all my contacts from my own phone on to a new one even if it's a different brand?

Yes, as long as your new phone is in our supported phones list, you'll be able to sync your data to a new handset.

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What is SyncML?

SyncML is Synchronization Markup Language.
For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SyncML

Synkia is transferring data between your phone and our server using the SyncML protocol. This protocol is developed by the Open Mobile Alliance, a global organization that facilitates standardization of products and services across manufacturers, operators and platforms. Standardization enables our server to work with all phones that have a SyncML client (preinstalled from the factory or installed by user).

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How does sync work?

When you set up your phone to use Synkia you are telling the phone’s synchronization software to connect to our server to exchange information.

The first time you connect the server you need to transfer all information from the phone to the server. The next time you sync, the server and the phone compare information and only the information that has changed is transferred both ways. This would be new additions, modifications and deletions. If you buy a new phone and set it up to connect to Synkia, the phone will be empty and the server full, so all entries from the server will be transferred to the phone.

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What do I need for syncing?

All you need is an account at Synkia and a SyncML compatible handset with data transmission enabled and with sync settings from Synkia installed.

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Why do I need data transmission enabled?

Once sync is initiated, your active internet connection (WiFi/WAP/GPRS) is used for data transfer. It is the same connection that is used for browsing internet, sending emails etc.

If you cannot connect with internet, go to your GSM operator’s website and find “Phone configuration” section. All network operators offer download of GPRS settings on their web page (remember that if you change network you also need new settings). You can also call your operator’s customer care and ask them to help you configure your phone.

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How do I set up my phone?

Some phones accept automatic settings. In such case Synkia will send configuration message to your phone when you sign up. Automatic sync settings can be also requested from “Phones” link in the web application.

For manual phone setup, we have detailed instructions for each supported phone. We display them during sign upprocess and in “Phones” link in the web application. You will need to enter the following information manually to use Synkia:

Server name: http://sync.synkia.com
Contacts data store (or contacts path): con
Calendar data store (or calendar path): cal
Notes data store (or notes path): note
SMS data store (or SMS path): sms

SYNKIA username: your username is your phone number including country code (ie. If you are from UK, your username will be 44123456789 not +44123456789).

SYNKIA synchronization password: you define it during sign up. In order to recover synchronization password please login to our web application, go to “Phones” section, choose “Manual setup” and then click “Send synchronization password” button. You will get an e-mail or SMS message containing your username and password.

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I entered my credentials properly but I get authentication error. What’s the problem?

Make sure that your credentials are correct.

Note that passwords for web application and for synchronization are independent. When you sign up, both passwords are the same but if you change the password for the web application, synchronization password remains unchanged. In order to recover synchronization password please login to our web application, go to “Phones” section, choose “Manual setup” and then click “Send synchronization password” button. You will get an e-mail or SMS message containing your username and password.

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I accidentally deleted some contacts, can you help?

If you delete any contacts on the phone or Synkia account and sync, they will be deleted on the other end as well, because this is how two-way synchronization works: "making data identical at both ends".

To restore your deleted contacts you need to:

• Login to Synkia account and go to "Contacts" page
• At the top of screen click "Trashcan”
• Mark desired contacts and click "Restore" button. Finally sync your mobile so that all the deleted contacts are restored to your phone

You can also use a “Snapshot Backup” tool where you are able to create and restore account backup manually.. In order to get more info, login to our web application and go to “Snapshot Backup” section.

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Some of my contacts are duplicated, what is wrong?

Duplicates should not occur during normal operations.

We have discovered the following reasons for duplicating data:

• If you sync Synkia account for the first time with a new device, application or service having similar, but not identical entries. In such case only identical data will not be duplicated. If you remove duplicates on one end and sync again, duplicates will be cleared on the other end too.
• After the first sync, if you add the same contact both on Synkia account and on your device – this contact will get duplicated on both ends.
• Outlook (and some devices like BlackBerry) support only 1 phone number of each type. If you have contacts with more than 1 phone number of each type in Synkia (i.e. 2 home numbers in 1 contact), only the 1st number will be transferred to Outlook. Synkia server ‘remembers’ such contacts to avoid duplicating them but in particular circumstances, it may happen, that such contacts get duplicated after some synchronization.

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I can only sync some of my contacts, why?

There can be a variety of reasons for this. If your synchronization attempts always stop at the same point (e.g. 50 of 100 contacts are synchronized and then synchronization stops), the most likely cause is some strange characters or data in the last synchronized item (contact, calendar entry etc). Editing such item, removing any special characters should suffice to fix the issue. If you are unsure, feel free to contact our support.

If however, your synchronization always seems to be interrupted randomly, this is more likely to be a connection issue. To synchronize with Synkia you need a functioning data connection (Wireless, GPRS or WAP). If the network coverage is low, it can be interrupted, causing the synchronization to be interrupted. We would therefore recommend synchronizing when you are in an area with better coverage.

If some of your contacts are stored on your SIM card then we will not be able to read it. If you want to back up this data you need to move it to the phone memory. How to do this is described in your phone's manual.

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My calendar shows all events at a wrong start time, why?

This is due to the Synkia server and your handset being in different time zones. Synkia needs to know in which time zone you are in, so that events can be shown at the correct time. If you are unsure if your account is set up correctly, click on Settings and edit your time zone.

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Confirugation instructions are incorrect for my phone.

Majority of our guides are based on original handsets purchased directly from the manufacturers. Some operators purchase handsets too and change the software on those handsets, generally in the case of subsidized phones. Due to this, you may have been presented with a guide that is correct for your handset, but as you have a branded phone, the guide seems to be incorrect. In this case, please contact Customer Support with the model name as well as your operator, and they will aid you in getting set up.

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I didn't receive the settings during set up, why?

Occasionally SMS messages don't get delivered, this could be due to network issues that are beyond our control. The best thing to do after waiting for two minutes is to check that the details you gave us such as your country, operator and phone number are correct. If so, go ahead and request the settings again. If it still doesn’t arrive, you can either choose to set up your phone manually (we will show you instructions on the website) or you can contact Customer Support.

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I get an error when I try to sync - what should I do?

Errors can be caused for many reasons and may be temporary problems or an issue that needs to be fixed.
Do any of these errors match yours?

1. Connection problems

Connection failed
Check connection settings
Subscribe to GPRS first

These errors are usually caused by not having GPRS set up correctly on your phone or with your network provider.

2. Dropped connections

Sync incomplete

These errors usually occur when you lose your signal during a sync. It's usually only a temporary problem. Try syncing again when you have a good signal and note that your sync may take slightly longer than normal.

3. Server errors

Server not responding
Invalid server response
Server busy, try again later
Remote server busy
Authentication failure
Incorrect username/password
Unable to synchronize with server
My sync fails whilst sending my contacts

You normally get this type of error when your GPRS settings are ok but your phone cannot connect to Synkia server.
If you have set up your phone manually make sure that the settings are correct.
Make sure that you have active Synkia account.
If the problems continues to occur, you're sure you have the right phone, you have correct settings or you have received automatic settings and you haven’t changed them, you have active account, then contact our support.

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My sync is taking a long time, should I wait or try again?

Usually synchronization takes a few minutes to complete. Depending on internet connections (KB/s from your phone to server) and the number of contacts, events, tasks, notes and sms messages you are transferring and on data transmission speed, the first synchronization may take even 30 minutes (in case connection is very slow and you have thousands of contacts and/or sms’es). Next synchronizations take shorter time because only updates are being transferred.

You should not interrupt synchronization as long as your phone displays ongoing synchronization status info. If your phone no longer displays status updates or you are sure that synchronization stopped, try again. If the problem continues, contact our support for further assistance.

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