Exchange Messaging Outlook
|
|
|
Greetings! Welcome to Vol. 8, No. 13, of Exchange Messaging Outlook,
a newsletter about Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook.
The advent of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, with its multiple options for remote access to user mailbox data, reflects a growing interest in how to give mobile users enough access to their data so that they can do their jobs anywhere. In this special issue of Exchange Messaging Outlook, we'll take a look at the top Outlook-related mobility issues, suggest selection criteria for mobility solutions, and run down Exchange 2003's mobility features. The goal is to get you well along the way toward being able to evaluate potential mobility solutions for your organization. We last examined this issue in June 2001, when Windows MVP, television engineer, and Exchange administrator Hal Hostetler looked at the Blackberry device, various tools for synchronizing personal digital assistants (PDAs) directly with Exchange, and utilities that could deliver Exchange data to the relatively new Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) phones. The main changes since then have been the proliferation of even more mobile devices, the availability of wireless 'hotspots' in many locations, and Microsoft's embrace of mobile technology, first in Mobile Information Server, and now in Exchange 2003. Today's highlights:
Defining your mobility issues To define the key mobility issues in your own organization, start by asking questions like these: Who needs mobile access? Why? Do some people need full interactive access to all their data? Can some people get by with minimal read-only access (to look up phone numbers, for example)? Where do people need to connect from? What connectivity options are available in those locations? What mobile devices does your company supply to its employees? Are you willing to support mobile access for employee-owned equipment (such as home computers)? Another strategy is to develop profiles of your common types of mobile users. For example, you might have highly mobile decision makers who demand instant notification of new entries in their mailbox, have a low tolerance for connection and bandwidth problems, and travel to many places. Another group might be the sales or service representatives who need to look up contact information and check today's appointments and to-do list. True teleworkers probably need full data access that duplicates the office environment. Key managers might need new mail notifications, so they can be alerted to situations that need immediate attention. And, finally, there's the casual (or occasional) mobile user who may not even know that there's more in the Exchange mailbox than mail messages. From such profiles, you can probably answer most if not all of the questions above. Over the years, Outlook has given rise to some sticky mobility issues of its own -- including offline access, access to multiple contacts folders, spam, and limited bandwidth. Before embarking on a mobile solution, you should determine the extent to which these issues are present in your organization. For example, you shouldn't even think about a mobile solution unless you already have good server-based, anti-spam filtering. Spam can easily represent a large percentage of the messages addressed to each user. You don't want to be pushing that junk to mobile users, especially if they're using a solution with any kind of usage metering (such as SMS notifications or wireless access). Limited bandwidth presents its own challenges, but there are a growing number of solutions. Outlook Web Access is one, although you'll want to note that the 'premium' and 'basic' versions of OWA in Exchange 2003 put different demands on bandwidth, the richer interface that mimics Outlook 2003 taking more resources. Outlook 2003 users can work with the new 'cached Exchange' mode to gather headers first, then new message bodies as bandwidth is available. For email-centric users, POP access to Exchange may work well. Users synchronizing Outlook with an Exchange mailbox may want to invoke the 'large messages' rule, which puts messages over a certain size in a separate folder, which the user might read only when in the office and connected directly to the network. Or the user might download only headers for the Large Messages folder and mark the most important for immediate download. Another solution for limited bandwidth situations is to use compression to reduce the number of bytes being transmitted. You can get tools to compress attachments on the server, so that users retrieve smaller messages, and there are also client-side compression utilities to make the messages being synchronized back to the server smaller. See http://www.slipstick.com/addins/compression.htm for an extensive list of both types. The combination of Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2003 also has some compression built in. Offline access may be the most challenging of these issues, because it is so device-dependent. The mobile device must be able to store the user's data so it can remain available when the user is no longer connected to the network. The most common devices have been laptop computers using Outlook with an offline folders file and PDAs that synchronize either directly with the server or with Outlook running on the the user's office desktop machine. To a lesser extent, mobile telephones may also contain data such as contact phone numbers synchronized from a user's mailbox. One unique approach comes from Seaside Software (http://www.seasidesw.com), whose HiPerExchange or XKey products provide an offline store for browser-based access to Exchange. HiPerExchange provides a browser client that users can access from any PC. From an airport kiosk, for example, it would give the user an experience similar to OWA, but with some compression added to speed it up. On the user's own laptop, though, the user could have browser access suitable with low bandwidth environments plus an offline data store. XKey is a USB keychain drive that stores both the user's Exchange data and the application logic needed to work with it, regardless of the connection state. You can plug it into the USB port of any machine. If that machine is online, XKey will make a connection to the Exchange Server and update its data. If that machine cannot connect to the Exchange Server, you can still use the data on the XKey, then take out the device when you're ready to move on to a new location. Because the data is all on the USB drive, you don't need to worry about leaving traces on the machine you borrowed to plug it into. Refining your selection criteria Once you have a better picture of the needs within your organization that a mobility solution should address, you can start evaluating the available solutions against those needs, comparing their scope, cost, coverage, security, manageability and scalability. Don't forget that you might want multiple solutions: A high-end availability solution with offline data access for executives and teleworkers and something more modest for the person who just needs to check mail once in a while. For example, a basic solution that gives mobile access to all workers could be browser-based or even based on text-to-speech techniques for access by telephone. Users need no special equipment, and browser and voice solutions generally require minimal training. For mobile users with more intense needs, you might look into a wireless solution for their main roaming areas with dialup access for wider areas, both with offline data access. Ease of connectivity becomes more of an issue when users have multiple connection methods, so you may want to configure and provide the equipment and do more training so that users know how to switch between wireless and dial-up access. When looking at cost, make sure you consider both acquisition and ongoing costs. If you're opening up your Exchange server to outside access for the first time, you may encounter additional security costs related to setting up a front-end/back-end configuration. Training is essential to the success of any mobile solution launch. Some solutions, particularly those that depend on wireless access or SMS notifications, may have ongoing connectivity charges beyond what you'd normally incur for external access to Exchange via the Internet. One way to balance productivity, immediacy, and connectivity costs may be to use a notification service to let users know about important messages and reminders, but require them to use a low-cost dialup solution for full data access. Don't forget the special needs of those who travel internationally and may have to make more complicated changes to their Windows dialing properties to connect with a local dial-up access point. The Internet café has become ubiquitous, even in some of the most out-of-the-way places, so you may want your international travelers to become skilled at using OWA to check their mailboxes. Security, of course, is a primary concern that goes well beyond mail access. Microsoft's ISA Server is one way to 'publish' Exchange content securely for Internet access, as discussed in detail at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/isa/deploy/isaexch.asp. Some interesting authentication devices for OWA users are also available, including Digipass (http://www.vasco.com) and e-Gap Webmail (http://www.whalecommunications.com). Naturally, you'll want centralized administration to allow you to monitor and control costs. Ask vendors how well their solutions will scale to more users and to more traffic per user. Exchange 2003 mobility features When you start looking at specific products that can deliver mobility solutions, you may want to begin with the features built into Exchange 2003. Mobility was a key design issue in Exchange 2003, which rolls in some functions previously offered in Mobile Information Server. Microsoft has published a white paper at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/outlook/MobileAccess.asp that explains the mobility options in Exchange 2003. For users who need full access to their mailbox and public folder data when working online or offline, Exchange 2003 expands the range of connection options. The classic connection via virtual private network (VPN) with offline folders is still supported, but users with Outlook 2003 (included in your Exchange 2003 client access license) can also work with a new 'cached Exchange' mode that maintains a local replica of the mailbox and Favorites folders, similar to offline folders, but automatically adjusts the data retrieval scheme depending on available connection speed. This makes it more suitable for low bandwidth or high latency connections. Exchange 2003 also allows you to do away with the VPN connection with a new RPC-over-HTTP transport for Outlook 2003 that doesn't need access to port 135, which many ISPs have now blocked for security reasons. Exchange MVP Paul Robichaux recently explained RPC-over-HTTP in an article available at http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=40018. Users who can be content with browser access to their mailbox have two different versions of Outlook Web Access available. The 'premium' version comes the closest of any OWA version toward duplicating the functionality of the desktop Outlook program -- adding access to the Tasks folder, signatures, marking messages read or unread, spell check, the two-line view and quick flags from the Outlook 2003 interface, and many other features. It requires Internet Explorer 5.01 or, preferably IE 6.0. The 'basic' version looks like older versions of OWA and should be more responsive in low bandwidth environments. A good comparison of the features available in each version is available in the white paper at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/IntroEx03.doc. Add-ins will be available to beef up basic with some of the features in the premium version. We've already heard from MessageWare that they plan several product releases and updates to enhance both the premium and basic versions of OWA 2003. We maintain a list of third-party add-ins for OWA at http://www.slipstick.com/exs/owa.htm#tools; expect more from some of the same vendors in the next few months. Another option for browser access is Outlook Mobile Access (OMA), one of the features moved over from Mobile Information Server. OMA supports many of the key browser techniques used on small-format wireless devices, such as Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) 2.0, XHTML, and Compact HTML (CHTML), as well as access by full HTML browsers. OMA allows users to work with mail messages, look up names in the Exchange Global Address List, work with contacts, accept meeting requests, and perform many other basic Outlook data management tasks. The last new mobility feature in Exchange 2003 is Exchange ActiveSync, which allows devices using the Windows Mobile operating system (such as Smartphone and Pocket PC devices) to receive notifications from and synchronize directly with the Exchange server. Exchange ActiveSync can synchronize multiple email folders and download just part of each item, leaving the client to download more later as needed. Attachment downloads are also optional. Exchange 2003 also continues to support some basic connectivity options that have been around for a long time -- Outlook over Terminal Services, POP3, and IMAP4. The latter two are really suitable only for more email-centric users, since they don't permit access to other mailbox data. You probably would also need to provide POP3 and IMAP4 users with access to the GAL, either via LDAP or by extracting the GAL addresses with one of the tools listed at http://www.slipstick.com/exs/portagal.htm. Other mobility solutions Besides the solutions mentioned so far, many other vendors have jumped in with their own servers that work with Exchange data, enjoying the business opportunity that arose from Microsoft's minimal attention to mobility features in versions of Exchange before 2003. We maintain a list of such solutions at http://www.slipstick.com/addins/mobile.htm and http://www.slipstick.com/addins/pager.htm#server, where you'll find links to the vendors listed below. We like to classify them into five different types -- text-to-speech, WAP, PDA sync, specialized devices, and SMS. Text-to-speech tools allow users to use a regular telephone -- landline or mobile -- to call in and hear their messages read back to them. Most of these tools also allow users to respond to email messages by recording an audio file over the phone, to accept meeting requests, and to perform some other basic Outlook Inbox chores. Since it requires no specialized hardware and is available from any location, text-to-speech access may be a good solution where you want to provide mobile access to many users and a backup access method for executives who might occasionally travel to sites without other good connectivity. Vendors of text-to-speech products include Adomo, Avaya, Captaris, Conversay, eTrieve (Nextel), iHello, and Vialto. The list of Exchange-to-WAP vendors with tools designed for various wireless devices includes Captaris, CompuCom, Equisys, Linkedwith, Mobile Airwaves, Sprint, Synchrologic, Visto, and WAN Global. These tools provide functionality similar to that in Outlook Mobile Access, but may be able to support more folders, for example, or handle attachments differently. Direct wireless PDA synchronization with Exchange data is a very attractive solution where your organization has made a decision to support a short list of devices. Since Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync does not support Palm devices (nor even all Pocket PC PDAs), there is plenty of room for tools from vendors such as Corsoft, Extended Systems, iAnywhere, NowSpeed, Pumatech, and Synchrologic. Look for the ability to handle Outlook categories well and to synchronize multiple contacts and calendar folders. Some tools even support custom properties derived from Outlook forms. Probably the best-known brand name in Exchange mobility circles is Blackberry, but it's not the only specialized device for Exchange data access. Another is the GoodLink device. Both of these provide up-to-date access to mailbox data and a lot of functionality. Devotees say it's hard to give up a Blackberry once you've had one. You'll want to weigh the advantages of the Blackberry or GoodLink features against the need to acquire the specialized hardware. SMS stands for 'short message service' and consists of text messages sent to a compatible wireless device, often with text 'compression' -- dropping words and letters to make the messages shorter without losing the meaning. Some SMS applications may also provide two-way communication. Each message is transmitted by the SMS carrier for a small fee, the carrier generally providing a per-message discount that increases with the number of messages purchased. Vendors with Exchange-related SMS products include m:science, Movensis, and Vialto. SMS gateways that allow users on your network to send SMS messages directly to other people are also available from vendors such as GFI. Summary By now, you've probably realized that there are many different ways to provide mobile access to Exchange server mailboxes and public folders. The first step toward designing your own ideal solution is to understand your users and their mobile access needs, including the geographic range from which they need access and the extent to which they need basic access or intense interaction with their data. Don't get so dazzled by the dedicated solutions like Blackberry or the cool tools like Smartphones that you overlook the potential of low-tech solutions like text-to-speech and web browser access. If you think you'll be moving eventually to Exchange 2003, check out its mobility features; you may be able to upgrade your mail server and add mobility in one operation. As you're figuring the cost of mobile access, don't forget to factor in the cost of wireless minutes or SMS messages. I hope this special report has been helpful to you. We'd like to hear your feedback, both about the content of this EMO issue and about other topics that you'd like to see treated in depth. Please let us know what you think by visiting our feedback page at http://www.slipstick.com/feedback.htm. |
|||
 |
|||
More Information |
Click here to subscribe to the Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter. Exchange Messaging Outlook Newsletter back issues ISSN 1523-7990 |
||
Updated Dec 14 2009
|
|||
|
Home
| What's New | Exchange
Server | Outlook | Utilities
| Bookstore Hosted by Intermedia.net
|
|||