Microsoft Exchange 2010

Here at EarthLink we recently rolled out an update our own mail server to Microsoft Exchange 2010. Exchange 2010 brings with it many new updates and enhancements, especially for you corporate users who may have skipped 2007 and are still on version 2003. One of the largest leaps forward is enhancements made to the Outlook Web App (OWA) feature.  Outlook Web App, or OWA, allows you to access your Exchange 2010 e-mail features from your browser. This helps eliminate the need to be tied to your personal computer configured with Outlook web client.

One major improvement for OWA is the multiple browser support. Previously an Exchange user of OWA would have to use Internet Explorer. In version 2010, OWA is now supported for not only Internet Explorer, but Firefox, Safari and even Chrome.

Click the thumbnail above. You can see that OWA is completely functional in the Google Chrome browser.

Another new feature for OWA is the conversation view. The new conversation view allows you to group multiple threads from a single conversation together. This will make your inbox management far more efficient. If you’re a user of Google’s Gmail email system, you’re very familiar with how this works and probably quite excited to see it come to your corporate email system.

Click the thumbnail above for an example of conversation viewing.

A personal favorite new feature of mine is the shared calendar interface in OWA. In previous versions, you had limited accessibility to viewing calendars. Now with 2010, it’s as if you were on your PC working with the Outlook application. You can even enable sharing with people outside your organization allowing for increased collaboration.

Click the thumbnail above for a better view of OWA calendar sharing.

Finally, as more and more enterprise organizations are looking to outsource their IT needs, additional features are becoming available to allow this to become easier every day.  In the past you were restricted to access your Exchange application through OWA or connecting via VPN. Now with Outlook Anywhere, you can use Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007 or 2003 to connect to your Exchange server outside your corporate network without hassle.   Benefits of using Outlook Anywhere allows your users to have remote access to the Exchange servers from the internet while using the same URL and namespace that you use for OWA and ActiveSync. Also, there’s no need to purchase an additional secure certificate either. You can use the same SSL that you use for OWA and ActiveSync.  For additional information on the long list of benefits configuring and managing Outlook Anywhere and Outlook 2010, contact one of our Sales Engineers today.