Beginner’s Guide to MS Exchange Email

By now most of you must have exchanged a million mails, but when it comes to using MS Exchange email, there might be a lot of head-scratching. Well, you need not lose any more sleep, as this basic guide will take you to a better level of understanding the nuances of MS Exchange email.

What is MS Exchange email?
MS Exchange email is an email account created for the Microsoft Exchange Server. It allows excellent mailing as well as collaborative services. Exchange allows greater control over information interchange and allows calendaring features as well. Remote access is one of the greatest flexibilities that are allowed by Exchange Server.

An Exchange email account can be easily created using Microsoft’s client program Microsoft Outlook. You can either install this program on your computer or use a web based application from your computer or a mobile device. Exchange email accounts not only have inbox/outbox abilities but also incorporate public folders that allow greater collaboration in a protected and controlled environment. Thus, an MS Exhange email is ideal for enterprises and large-employee businesses. Users can now share files, schedule dates and meetings and check on resource reservation within the company network.

Microsoft Exchange provides a personalized mailbox that gives a great boost to corporate personnel and can also be accessed remotely. This ensures a sense of privacy for the user as well as incorporates the seriousness of a business workplace.

Connecting POP and IMAP Clients to Exchange Server
Traditionally, Microsoft Outlook is all you would require to connect to an Exchange mail account. But as more and more remote clients try to access their accounts, it requires support to be provided for a wider array of client programs and platforms. A user needs the following information to program a POP or IMAP client.

1. The account type (POP3 or IMAP4)
2. Server address for incoming messages
3. Server address for outgoing messages
4. Username and password for the account
5. Web address of the account

The difference between POP and IMAP is that POP mail accounts only provides inbox and outbox facilities along with sent mail. IMAP on the other hand allows most of the features of Exchange Server including calendar and other contacts. The most important feature, Public folder, though is kept only for Exchange Server accounts.

Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is the client program that is used for handling the messaging operation of a MS Exchange Server. Although Outlook is mainly used as an email client program, it also features calendar, task manager, note taking, contact manager, journal as well as web browsing. It can be used as a standalone application, but its full potential is unlocked only when it is used in sync with a Microsoft Exchange Server.

Using this, multiple users of an organization can share files, contact information, meeting schedules, etc. Outlook can also be used to integrate with mobile devices like BlackBerry. Outlook 2007 consists of more additional features like in-built RSS reader, greater security features, adding pictures to electronic business cards, forwarding of emails and messages as text messages to mobile phones using Outlook Mobile Service.

Why is a MS Exchange email necessary?
In the present scenario of the corporate world, speed and time are of the greatest importance to businessmen, associates and other team members. So there is a need for a comprehensive messaging and collaboration program which keeps everyone in sync and allows them to share information on a fixed and secure network. MS Exchange is the most popular service that allows such assembly and also allows clients to use a mobile device such as BlackBerry or an iPhone to receive and answer emails.

MS Exchange uses push emailing service to instantly send a new message to a client on the move. Such an instantaneous service can be a crucial factor in making important business deals.

By Vince Buffon

Related posts:

1. Beginner’s Guide to MS Exchange email
2. What is Microsoft Exchange and How Does It Work?
3. Setting up remote email access
4. Our Favourite Email Features
5. Not all email is created equal: an introduction to POP3, IMAP4 and MAPI

Tagged as: blackberry or iphone, Microsoft Exchange Server, microsoft outlook, Microsoft’s client program Microsoft Outlook, MS Exchange email, POP and IMAP Clients to Exchange Server