What are the advantages of migrating to Microsoft Exchange?

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Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 is a messaging and collaborative server. Exchange's major features consist of electronic mail, efficient anti spam, calendaring, contacts and tasks; support for mobile and web-based access to information; and support for data storage.

Currently enabled features:

1. Ubiquitous Access:
   • Users will be able to securely access their email from anywhere in the world. They will be able to access all of their email, calendars, contacts, tasks and can respond to any important inquiry at a moment's notice. All a user needs is a web browser with internet access.
   • Exchange Server is compatible with IE, Firefox and Safari Web Browsers and with Email clients like Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, and Entourage.
   • It provides Mobile access through active sync enabled phones like Apple Iphone, Windows Mobile and Nokia smart phones. We can also use IMAP SSL and SMTP SSL which means you can read or send email from anywhere and no longer required to tunnel your outgoing email.
   • Users will be able to access their data using Windows, Mac or Unix platforms.


2. Anti-spam and Antivirus:
   • Detected junk email is automatically delivered to your spam folder as it arrives, thus no need to wait for spam digests.
   • Users can block future mails from specific email ID's, by adding that sender's email ID/sender's domain in the Blocked List.
   • If an important mail is classified as junk e-mail, you can add that sender's email ID/ sender's domain to safe list, so that it is not treated as junk e-mail in future.
   • We will use Forefront Security for Exchange which provides 98% effective detection of viruses, worms, spyware and spam by integrating multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners.


3. Better uptime and IT Cost Savings:
   Improved monitoring capabilities quickly detect issues before it disrupts business thus simplifying administration and saving IT costs.


4. Data Replication and automatic fault tolerance:
   It keeps mail flowing and allows users to connect and reconnect to their account, even in the event of a server, site or catastrophic failure.


5. Meeting Planner:
   Exchange Server features a Meeting Planner that lets you select users for a meeting - checks each user's shared calendar to determine a free time, and then notifies each user and updates their calendars with the scheduled meeting.


6. Schedulable Out of Office:
   Users can now set their own "Out of Office" message. Out of Office (OOF) messages can also be scheduled to automatically begin and end on specific dates and times. You can set different OOF message for senders within your organization and senders out of your organization.


7. Confidential Messaging:
   • Each and every e-mail that goes and stays within the Exchange Server 2010 is encrypted so you need not worry about your privacy being compromised. The enhanced security in Exchange Server allows companies to feel confident that their email system is protected at all times.


8. Exchange Control Panel (ECP):
   With Exchange control panel, users can perform common tasks without having to call the help desk. Common tasks include:
   • Create and manage distribution lists.
   • Update their personal account information.
   • Set your own "Out of Office" message.


9. MailTips:
   • MailTips will flash warnings to users if they attempt to use e-mail in a way that could bite them later on, such as accidentally mass-sending an e-mail intended for only few recipients within an Organization.
   • MailTips can also warn about whether a recipient is currently out-of-office, or if the about-to-be-sent message will be rejected for some reason.


10. Miscellaneous:
    • Change your Password through easy to use Outlook web interface. This will also act as your Windows Domain password in the department.
    • An Ignore Conversation feature lets people remove themselves from an unwanted email or undesired reply-all threads.

Future planned features

1. Group Enabled Outlook Features:
   All of your employees are automatically added to the "Global Address List" which is available to all users. You can communicate with specific set of people in the organization by creating group aliases and decide who has permission to make changes to the group you made. Email can be restricted to certain users when sending to groups.


2. Secure Messaging:
   • "Do Not Forward" option restricts the sent mail from being forwarded to anyone else.
   • Integration with PGP and other PKI technologies.
   
   
3. Room Reservation Attendant:
   It enables resources, including meeting rooms or other equipments, to be automatically managed. Resources can auto-accept requests when available or decline and provide details explaining the decline. Permissions can be set on who is allowed to reserve resources.