By default, every client machine will check the database for certain events, such as new incoming mail, pending notifications, overdue tasks and appointment reminders etc.
For larger workgroup sizes, this arrangement can lead to increased network traffic. OfficeTalk offers a solution to this by providing a polling service. The polling service checks the database on behalf of each client for such events. Since the polling server may be the machine which holds the OfficeTalk database, network traffic may be completely eliminated.
For more information on server based polling, see Polling the Database.
You can set up a machine as the polling server by checking the check box next to the Polling Database Service entry in the OfficeTalk Services dialog box and pressing the Settings… button. The Polling Service Settings property sheet is displayed.
Specify how frequently, in minutes, you wish this machine to check for database events. When the polling server finds a database event, it uses NetBIOS to inform the relevant OfficeTalk client. If the client machine is logged onto OfficeTalk, it will then respond accordingly retrieving the relevant data from the database.