Many people whom have worked in or around businesses that have to deal with large quantities of information in regards to the internet have likely already heard of Microsoft Exchange. But for those that have not, here is the basic premise: Microsoft Exchange is a calendering, information managing and e-mail server software program developed by, who else, Microsoft. It’s primary functions are quite varied and it’s secondary and teriary functions, even more so. But, in brief, it acts as a relay point for your emails, this is the most common use for the program and the reason for it’s name – Exchange.
Microsoft Exchange can also act as a backup relay storage point which will, in the event of a power outage or server malfunction, keep all your email safe and secure and ensure that you are still able to both send and receive mail online. This function makes it tremendously powerful to businesses whom have to deal with heavy incoming and outgoing mail traffic, as it lightens the load on company servers and protects their information from corruption.
Ancillary features of the program include things like, a built in, calender that can be shared to anyone in your email chain, virus and male-ware filter protection systems, 16 GB storage sized database and various ID and spam/junk filters. Unified Messaging, another feature of Exchange, and a relatively new one, allows a individual to codify all their informational outputs into their mailbox. Unified Messaging let’s a individual receive voice mail, e-mail as well as faxes – in addition, it will also allow the person to access these feature on their phone or mobile device provide it is compatible with the software program.
New models of Microsoft Exchange also feature a new and improve administrative center online, referred to for convenience as EAC (Exchange Administrative Center). New models also feature enhanced data loss prevention methods that are all based around the regulatory PII and PCI standards for data loss prevention policies. Microsoft Exchange is a hosted service and can be bought from a number of different and similar providers. It is a licensed program so one will need the appropriate license to be able to use it. One final thought when it comes to Exchange is the idea of monitoring and whether or not it’s important. If you have Exchange server monitoring in place, you can be notified if something happens where one of your servers goes down and people aren’t able to access their email.