Disabling Specific Options in Outlook 2010 through Group Policy?

Question

Alright, all research thus far has failed me, this must be a somewhat obscure problem. I think I am close but I need an answer as to whether or not what I am trying to do is possible so I don't waste more of my time if I am heading down a dead end.

Here is the situation. I have been asked by the powers that be to disable the "Mobile Options" in Outlook 2010 using group policy. I have looked through the Microsoft Control ID spreadsheets but haven't found the ID's to disable the options they options they are requesting. Here is what "they" (the powers that be) would like to have disabled for users:

Is there a quick way to determine what (assuming they exist) these control ID's would be?

I have been able to disable the button on the ribbon, but that's as far as I've gotten.

Can anybody help me out with this or point me in the right directions?

Solution 1

I finally found a specific solution for this problem and wanted to post it in case anybody else runs across this in the future. Inside the Office 2010 template in GPO Management there is an option to "prevent adding the Outlook Mobile Service".

This option was located at:

User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Outlook 2010 -> Miscellaneous -> Prevent MAPI services from being added

In this specific option I added MSOMS as the service to disable.

Finally, in the Outlook options screen the Mobile options I was looking to disable now appear grayed out.

Solution 2

Use the Office 2010 Administrative Templates. The "Outlook" one (outlk14.admx) contains GPP's for diabling the "Mobile" options.

The options will probably still show in the outlook options panel, but the GPO will disable the underlying functionality.

Comments

[jmreicha]

Thank you for the response. Do I need to edit the outlk14.admx file manually? Where are these options located? Just to clarify, so far I am able to use Group Policy to disable the ribbon button by its Control ID.

[Mathias R. Jessen]

Add the templates, and they'll show under Policies/Administrative Templates when you edit the GPO in GPMC. Check out this technet article on manageing domain-based GPO templates

[jmreicha]

Yes I have done this step already. That was how I was able to disable the "Forward as Text Message" show in the second screen shot. Can you tell me where to find the settings for disabling all the mobile options in the template? Thank you, I appreciate it.

[jmreicha]

Do you want me to update my question with a screen shot of the Group Policy screen I see to help?