Exchange Server 2007 - Email Just Got Intelligent

If there is one major upgrade you plan on doing this year, then make it an upgrade to Microsoft Excahnge Server 2007.It’s already winning awards, so read on and find out how it can help reduce your workload and save your company both time and money.

Microsoft’s new Vista operating system and the latest version of Office are finally with us. There was an earlier launch back in December 2006, which only received a very small amount of publicity, but which is bound to have just as big an effect on IT Managers and end-users. The new version of Microsoft’s Exchange Server (MES) 2007 launched at the end of last year, and it’s already tipped to be the application of the year.

Computer Reseller News in the US pre-empted all this year’s awards by naming it software product of 2006 despite it only being available for a month.

Regardless of the the low-key launch, MES 2007 deserves a lot more publicity than it received, because the changes in the new version stand to benefit people’s lives just as much as the changes in Office and the productivity advances in Vista.

One of the key changes for users is in the way it handles access to the system. With MES 2007, employees get access to their email, voice mail, calendars and contacts from anywhere in the world and on practically any clients and devices.

Another key change is the way it works with your hardware and the ease of use. MES 2007’s redesigned front-end and kernel have increased the applications efficiency, so it gets even more out of the hardware you put it on, and it’s front-end has been redesigned to make administering the application much easier.

In addition there’s increased security throughout the application. MES 2007 offers built-in protective technologies to reduce spam and viruses, messaging and email are more secure, and there are tools to help your company meet regulatory guidelines.

But rather than dwell on MES particular functions, we thought we’d look at the top reasons to move to MES 2007:

Outlook everywhere
With MES, employees can access their email, voice mail, calendar, and contacts from virtually anywhere, at any time using their desktop, laptop or any device that will run an internet browser or their mobile device. With
the new voice recognition features, users are able to listen to as well as control their inbox and calendars from
an ordinary phone.

Unified messaging
With the new unified messaging (UM) you are no longer restricted to just emails. Employees can receive
their email, voice mail and faxes through one inbox. The ability to manage messages of all types means that you can now start to do things with voice that were only previously possible with email. You can filter voice mail, forward them, add text notes to voice mail, and even search for them using the built-in search.

Better security
There are also new integrated anti-virus (AV), anti-spam and antiphishing technologies. Additionally, Forefront for Exchange Server protects exchange servers from viruses and worms by enabling multiple anti-virus engines to be used simultaneously. So you can run a heuristic based AV package and a rule-based AV package simultaneously on both your incoming as well as your outgoing email.

Better and easier compliance
MES 2007 eases the burden of administrating user accounts. It’s now,a simple process to apply and enforce compliance policies, plus there’s no impact on the end user. In addition, other new features enable you to apply retention rules, scan and act on messages in transport, build complex logs and perform rich text searches across multiple mailboxes.

Powerful web access
The new Outlook Web Access (OWA) 2007 creates the exact same look in a browser and feels just like you were in front of Outlook on your desktop. OWA enhancements include a new Scheduling Assistant to help employees efficiently book meetings, fast server-side search, integrated UM, as well as new features to access documents and attachments with much more speed and ease from outside the office.

Better and faster administration
A new command line interface gives IT Managers precise control over exchange objects as well as the power to easily automate all types of operations with scripts. In addition, the graphical management console has been completely updated, with a more intuitive user interface, improved discoverability and a toolbox work centre that has the ability to integrate diagnostics and monitoring. There are also new and useful troubleshooting tools such as the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer and the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant.

If you are still uncertain about moving to MES 2007, speak with your Account Manager today.