Exchange Messaging Outlook Volume 11, Number 9

Exchange 2007 beta 2 is now available to the public, both as a download or shipped on DVD for a small shipping and handling fee and includes Forefront Security for Exchange Server Beta (formerly Antigen). Exchange 2007 beta is available in both x64 and x32 versions, however, the x32 version is for test environments only.

Exchange 2007 beta 1 was difficult for many administrators to use because it lacked a GUI for many of the things an administrator would want to do, leaving them to use the Exchange Management Shell to script what should be simple tasks. Fortunately, beta 2 has a GUI so those administrators who are more comfortable using point and click to configure Exchange can do it easily, until they get a better handle on scripting.

Exchange 2007 has a new interface - system manager is gone, replaced by the management console GUI and shell. It's definitely different than the Exchange System Manager we're used to. The console is a bit slower than ESM, so you'll want to learn the script commands and syntax and create a library of frequently used scripts. The GUI displays the scripts used for commands, making it easier to learn the commands and administrators can copy the scripts to their script library for future use.

Exchange 2007 has a lot of new and improved features, including much requested improvements to Out of Office Assistant. OOF messages can be scheduled to begin and end on specific dates and times, eliminating the need for a user to remember to set up the OOF assistant before leaving the office and users will be able to set or disable Out of Office messages using a mobile device.. Also supported is a different out of office message for external recipients.

Improvements to Exchange ActiveSync makes it easier than ever for mobile devices to sync with the mailbox. Exchange 2007 supports unified messaging, delivering voice mail and faxes to user's Inbox. Users will be able to call in from any phone to listen to their email or appointments and if they are at their desk, can listen to voice messages through a telephone handset, instead of computer speakers.

Outlook Web Access (OWA) users can schedule Out of Office messages, search the Global Address List (GAL) and use the Scheduling Assistant to book meetings. LinkAccess provides access SharePoint documents from OWA using RPC over HTTPS and eliminating the need for a VPN or tunnel. WebReady Document Viewing allows users to read attachments in HTML even if the application that created the document is not installed locally.

Outlook 2007 clients can use AutoDiscover to configure Exchange account, meaning users only need to know their email address and password when setting up a profile.

Exchange 2007 Beta 2
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/preview/default.mspx

ForeFront Security for Exchange Server
http://www.microsoft.com/forefront/serversecurity/exchange/download-beta.mspx

Exchange Server 2007 Scripting Contest
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2007/scriptcenter.mspx
Enter and win a trip to the Exchange 2007 launch.

This week's feature is the Out of Office Assistant. The Exchange team heard the complaints about the out of office capabilities loud and clear. Yes, you can now schedule Out of Office Assistant to run at a specific time, down to the minute you'll leave and return, setup or disable OOF using OWA, and send a different out of office message to external recipients. You can even choose to send OOF only to your contacts.

The best news? It's supposed to work with Outlook 2003 too.

One frequent complaint about Outlook's calendar is the limited number of All Day events you can see in Day and Week views. If you have a lot of all day events, such as in a group schedule, you need to switch to a table view to see all of them. Exactly how many events are visible is based on the screen size - both in resolution and Outlook's window size. Using high resolution screen settings and turning off Outlook's toolbars and the status bar displays more events, but it is not practical to keep changing the settings and disabling the toolbars.

Another problem, also most common with group schedules, is that you are limited to seeing 6 appointments in any time period. Unlike the all day events problem, there is no workaround you can use to see more than 6 (other than using a table view). Six is the maximum and it's set in stone.

Outlook 2007 addresses both of these issues. The first was solved by adding a scroll bar to the Events section at the top. You can still control how many are shown without scrolling by tuning off the toolbars and increasing the screen resolution if you want, but it's no longer necessary, just scroll down the list. The 6 appointment limitation was removed completely; you can see all of the appointments in any time period. You may not see much of the subject, but at least you'll know how many appointments are scheduled.