What is Hosted Exchange?
You may have heard of ‘Hosted Exchange’ email and how it may or may not be good for your business. But what is it, exactly? And is it the right thing for your organisation?…
Hosted Exchange, also known as Exchange Online, is a cloud-based telecommunications solution that provides a server for clients to store their Microsoft email box. A business can effectively ‘rent’ Microsoft Exchange server space with the host managing their data for them on their own infrastructure.
The service is designed to centralise a business’ emails into a single database on the cloud. Clients will then benefit from having remote access to their emails, address book, calendar and shared documents. The service also includes a certain level of security protection as standard.
Hosted Exchange is implemented and configured via a service provider’s platform. The end user accesses it through a secure network, or VPN connection, and all processing is completed by the provider. As a SaaS (Software as a Service) or cloud-based solution, Hosted Exchange can be accessed over the Internet on any connected device.
What are the benefits of hosted exchange?
Whilst Hosted Exchange is, in principle, best suited to those who are short on resource or lack the required skilled workforce to host and maintain their own email server, it could be argued that it would benefit almost any modern business.
Let’s take a look at the key benefits:
- Price – Purchasing space from an email provider’s database is much more cost-effective than employing a skilled workforce to set up your own. This appeals to SMEs in particular as they are less likely to be able to afford or maintain a self-hosted system.
- No technical issues to resolve – When using Hosted Exchange, all those technical challenges that come with hosting an email server are taken care of by a dedicated offsite team. This means that you and your organisation will be faced with fewer technical headaches and can focus upon the job at head rather than extraneous IT issues.
- Flexibility – With most email servers you are restricted to a series of pre-set domain names e.g. @hotmail, @webmail. Using a Hosted Exchange server, however, allows you to fully personalise your domain name. In other words, you can use your dedicated domain name in your email address, for example, name@yourdomain.co.uk.
- Universal access – In contrast to email protocols POP3 (Post Office Protocol v3) and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), Hosted Exchange Mail allows you better access to your mailbox on the go, from a laptop, phone or tablet. This allows you to digitally empower your workforce and improve communication, regardless of your location. Furthermore, not only is Hosted Exchange often faster than these older forms of email management, it can also sync perfectly and in almost real time between devices.
- Better security – A Hosted Exchange mail service also offers more robust security services than you would normally get with a free webmail service.
- Advanced mailbox features – You will have access to the more advanced features of your mailbox such as mailbox rules, automatic responses, email forwarding and access to your archived mailbox.
- Bigger file transfers – You can send much larger file attachments compared to a free webmail solution.
Sound good? With so many benefits and features that will help to innovate your business, a Hosted Exchange could be the best option for you. Contact our software team today to find out more about how a Hosted Exchange could benefit your business.
