Exchange Hosting Microsoft

Microsoft Exchange and Exchange Hosting

What is Exchange?
Exchange is Microsoft’s entry into the email/groupware server space. It makes it easy for users to communicate and collaborate over the Internet and/or Intranet using a variety of clients on various desktop operating systems.

What is Exchange Hosting?
Exchange Hosting is available for customers who have a need for the features available from Microsoft Exchange, but do not have the facilities and/or expertise required to host the system themselves. By subscribing with an Exchange Host provider, the customer can take advantage of all of the benefits of Exchange, without the additional hassle that is involved in maintaining such a system.

Who needs Exchange Hosting?
Organizations with a need for robust email and collaboration can benefit greatly by using for using the features of Microsoft Exchange within their business. Smaller companies that do not have the IT staff, or the facilities to create and maintain an Exchange network are perfect candidates for working with an Exchange host provider.

Is there a need to have my own dedicated Exchange Server?
That would depend on the your particular usage of the server. Normally, an Exchange hosting provider will set up several Exchange accounts for several companies on the same box, similar to shared web hosting. Customers with higher volume requirements, or who wish to be segregated from the other customers can opt for a dedicated Exchange server. This is nominally more expensive than shared Exchange hosting, but does have its obvious advantages. A dedicated Exchange server is usually suggested for any Exchange hosting account that exceeds 100 users.

What features are available to me when I use Exchange Hosting?
These features depend greatly on the hosting provider. Firstly, all of the functionality of Microsoft Outlook is immediately shared between your users. Calendars, Files, Folders, Tasks, Contact Lists, Address Books all become integrated and sharable among all users of Exchange. Advanced features such as Virus Scanning and Instant Message can normally be made available at an additional price.

Microsoft Outlook

 

Manage and Prioritize Your Communication

Organize information better to help save time and be more productive.

•	Manage all your e-mail in one place. Access, send, and receive e-mail messages from multiple accounts—including work, personal, or Web-based e-mail accounts such as MSN® Hotmail®—within a single view.
•	Print less, read more. Outlook 2003 makes it easier and more comfortable to read e-mail messages online, including long messages. The Reading Pane has been moved to the right side of the screen to display twice as much content and reduce scrolling when you read long messages online.
•	Save time and find messages faster. Find e-mail messages more easily by grouping messages by date, size, conversation, subject, importance, or other criteria.
•	Organize your Inbox. You no longer have to keep all e-mail messages in your Inbox to remind you of action items. Instead, use Quick Flags to flag messages by priority or time sensitivity and find them in whichever folder they reside.
•	Automatically organize messages and receive reminders. Enhanced Rules and Alerts organize incoming e-mail messages according to your preferences and can automatically trigger alerts to remind or alert you when needed—such as when tasks are due or meetings are about to begin.
•	Find messages easily. Save the results of commonly used searches as Search Folders instead of having to re-run common searches each time you need them. Search Folders provide an automated way to keep relevant e-mails together, without moving them to other folders. Search Folders require a connection to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Exchange 2003, or Exchange 5.5.
•	Access your Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks quickly. Use the new Navigation Pane (or click Go on the menu bar), to access your Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Folders, Shortcuts, and Journal and find the information you need to answer e-mail messages, schedule appointments, and finish projects.   Take the Microsoft Outlook Demo Tour

 

Microsoft Exchange Hosting Overview

 

 Unified Internet Messaging

More than just email, Exchange Server puts your email messages, calendar, contacts, and task lists all in one secure location. Access all of your critical information securely from Microsoft Outlook, any web browser, your PDA, even your web-enabled cell phone!

 

 Intelligent Calendaring

With collaborative scheduling, users in your organization can view each other's calendars, send meeting requests to schedule appointments, and more! Throw away your appointment book--let your secretary put appointments right on your Exchange calendar that you can access from anywhere! Schedule the utilization of important business resources too, such as conference rooms, multimedia projectors, shared equipment, and more.

 

 Business Contact Management

Quickly and easily manage dozens, hundreds, or thousands of business contacts and customers with Exchange Server. Easily generate address lists, share contact information with others, or group your contacts in a myriad of ways.

 

 Sophisticated Task Management

Task management allows you to create sophisticated task lists including task completion status, due date, and more. Also, you can assign tasks to your employees’ task lists and track their completion status.

 

 Share Information Securely

Public folders provide a central repository for information sharing within your organization. Use public folders to centralize the storage of documents relating to each of your clients, shared phone/address lists, company-wide memos, and more. You can store any kind of document in public folders from email messages, to Microsoft Word, Acrobat PDF, and many more. Organize your information the way it makes sense to you!

 

 Anywhere, Anytime Access

Exchange Server offers many ways for you and your co-workers to stay in contact. Access your entire body of Exchange information from the office or from the laptop at the hotel with Microsoft Outlook, from any web browser with Outlook Web Access, or from the anywhere with your PDA or web-enabled cell phone via Outlook Mobile Access. Use BlackBerry Enterprise Server to sync your BlackBerry from anywhere! Exchange is the perfect tool for a productive sales force!