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Exchange Messaging Outlook
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This issue sponsored by: Sherpa Software ♦ SonaSoft ♦ MessageWare ♦ Sirana Today's highlights:
Regular features:
Exchange 14 & Public Folders
Microsoft recently announced that the next major release of Exchange server will
support public folders, back peddling on announcements made at TechEd and
Exchange Connections conferences in 2006 that public folders would not be
supported in future versions. This is great news, because as nice as SharePoint
and its integration with Outlook 2007 is, there are some things that are better
in public folders. Although Microsoft "de-emphasized" public folders in Exchange
2007 and they are not configured by default, I suspect a large number of sites
enabled public folders for many reasons, one being they work and are easier to
use than SharePoint libraries and not all public folder applications port well
to SharePoint. While SharePoint supports mail enabled libraries, they don't work
well for all types of email. Exchange Server and Messaging Records Management
by Michael B. Smith,
MCSE/Exchange MVP
Messaging Records Management - or MRM - is a set of new features in Exchange Server 2007 that allow better control of dealing with messaging compliance than was possible in earlier versions of Exchange Server. Some folks have referred to MRM as “Mailbox Manager on steroids”, and that is indeed a part of it, but MRM is also a whole lot more. Today, however, that is the piece I will discuss. E-mail compliance is a slippery concept, but in general an e-mail compliance policy defines who can access what information (e-mail in this case), for how long, and what they can do with it. The Exchange administrator implements software rules and policies that enforce business policies. More specifically, a MRM policy identifies a “Managed Folder”. Managed Folders can either be the default mailbox folders (such as Inbox, Deleted Items, Calendar, Contacts, etc. - a total of 14 standard folders) or any custom folder that the Exchange administrator identifies. A managed folder has a number of attributes associated with it. These include a name, a description, and an optional size limit. Both the name and the description for the folder are visible within Outlook 2007 and Outlook Web Access 2007. MRM folders and policies will work with Outlook 2003 service pack 2, in a limited mode; but no older versions of Outlook are supported for use with MRM. Once the managed folder is created and configured, another step is required to associate a group of content settings with the folder. One must wonder why Microsoft chose to make the creation of content settings a separate step, as each set of content settings may only be associated with a single folder. This is a step that always confuses people new to MRM. With these content settings, the Exchange administrator will define the name of the content management settings, and the type of message to which these settings will apply. Further, retention settings will be defined, and the actions that occur when the retention period starts and ends will be defined. This is also the point that archiving and journaling for the managed folders may be specified. Now, we are almost done. The next step is to create managed folder mailbox policies. A mailbox policy may contain as many managed folders (either default or custom) as the Exchange administrator wants. And that is basically all a managed folder mailbox policy is - a container that identifies a group of managed folders and the associated content settings. The final step is to associate your policy to a user. Be aware that you can create an “infinite” number of mailbox policies, but any given user may only have ONE mailbox policy assigned to them. You can assign these policies on a user per user basis within the Exchange Management Console, or in groups by using Set-Mailbox within the Exchange Management Shell. The final step of the initial configuration of MRM is to configure the Managed Folder Assistant. It must be configured on each mailbox server. Best practices says that the Managed Folder Assistant should execute at times when the mailbox server is NOT being backed up and when online maintenance is NOT running and otherwise idle times. In larger organizations, that might be a little difficult to find. The Managed Folder Assistant is the task that actually processes all of the mailbox policies. In future articles, we’ll talk about message classifications, transport rules, and rights management; before concluding our investigation into MRM. Signatures and Missing TextOutlook 2003 introduced the ability to change signatures when changing the
sending account or by right clicking on the signature and choosing another. For
this to work two things are required: the user needs to use Word as the email
editor and they need a signature configured for the default account, and
preferably, every account in their profile (Tools, Options, Mail Format,
Signatures). Word as the email editor is a necessity in Outlook 2003 because the
signature swapping features use Word styles; Outlook 2007 does not give users a
choice of editors so the signature features work out of the box.
An all too common problem comes up when the user types the message before changing the sending account, then watches the message disappear. This is caused by the user typing in the signature block. To prevent this, we highly recommend adding two dashes (--) to the first line of the signature. Now users can see where the signature begins and type above it and changing accounts or signatures won't delete the message body. You can check to see if you are typing in the signature field by right clicking on the text. If you see the normal word context menu, you are in the message body. If you see the signature selection list, you're typing in the signature block. Another clue that you are typing in the wrong area: spell check doesn't work, as the signature style is set to "Do not spell check" . A signature for each account highly recommended because if a signature is not assigned to an account, the style is deleted when that account is selected. If the user selects another account, the signature won't update. If you don't need a signature assigned to every account, create a Blank signature that contains just the dashes and set this to each account. Outlook Quick Tip: Animated GIF FilesOutlook 2007 displays the first frame of animated gif but it will not display the animation. You can view the animation by opening the HTML message in your browser.
Use View in browser to view any HTML message that does not display correctly in Outlook or when you want to print a message and have better options than Outlook’s print option offers. Exchange Quick Tip: Delegates and Calendar PrintingHave you ever tried to view and print someone else's calendar
and receive an error message stating "The messaging interface
has returned an unknown error. If the problem persists, restart
Outlook".
This error will occur when a user is given delegate rights to someone's Calendar but not given rights to their Tasks and are trying to print that person’s calendar using the Daily Style, which includes printing Task items. The delegate needs to modify the Print style to exclude Task items. Go to File, Print and click on the Define Styles button. Highlight Daily Style and click on the Edit button. Then uncheck the Include TaskPad option and click OK. Now the user will be able to print the calendar. If the delegate needs to include the tasks with the calendar, the calendar owner can modify the delegate rights to include permissions for Tasks. |
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New Utilities |
Classic Menu for Outlook 2007 |
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Updated Utilities |
FaxSee Pro http://slipstick.com/redirect.asp?id=faxsee FaxSee Pro is a professional fax image browser viewer & fax to tif tiff converter, enables you to browse, open, view, flip, mirror, print not only known-format fax images. Microsoft Fax AWD format supported. Other fax tools available. Version 2.8 GALSync Desktop http://www.slipstreamsolutions.co.uk/products/mGALSync.htm GALSync automatically synchronizes your Outlook Global Address List (GAL) to the Contacts folder on your mobile device. Features include: Advanced Filtering for GALs with many entries, multiple filters by Company, City, Department, State, Office, Country and Manager. Specify conditions for each filter: 'contains', 'is (exactly)', 'doesn't contain', 'is empty' or 'is not empty'. Contact details include all standard Microsoft Exchange Server fields, including: Name, Job title, Department, Phone numbers, Email address, Notes and Contact details are stored in your mobile device Contacts database. Distribution Lists and Custom Recipients are also synchronized. GAL Contacts are added to a new 'GAL' Category, making them easier to manage. Version 1.10.10. For syncing to Pocket PC or Smartphone. IMI GAL Modify http://www.imibo.com/imidev/Exchange/imigm.htm IMI GAL Modify is a small utility for Exchange Admin to modify the Mailbox attributes on MS Exchange Server 5.5. Works on MS Windows 95/98/Me, allowing the admin to modify the mailboxes from a desktop machine. Open Relay Filter Enterprise Edition http://www.vamsoft.com/default.asp ORFEE has SURBL blacklist support, greylisting, tarpit delay, and automatic sender whitelist for improved spam filtering. ORFEE supports filtering emails on arrival, which allows delivery path analysis, keyword and attachment filtering and Attachment and keyword filtering so you can drop emails with malicious attachments or replace the attachments with a customizable warning text. Both the keyword and the attachment filtering support using Perl-compatible regular expressions and are Unicode-aware. E-mails caught by the On Arrival filtering point can be dropped, redirected or tagged (header or subject). ORFEE includes a built-in log viewer which allows easy browsing, searching and filtering the logs. Version 4.1 Winmail Opener http://www.eolsoft.com/freeware/winmail_opener/ Winmail Opener is a small and simple utility that allows users to view and extract contents of TNEF-encoded messages (winmail.dat). Version 1.4 - Free. |
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Other Resources |
Exchange Server Protocols http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc307725(EXCHG.80).aspx MSDN documentation of Microsoft Exchange Server Protocols. This documentation provides specifications for protocols that are implemented in the Microsoft Exchange Server system software and that are used to communicate with other products. Updated Exchange Public Folder Guidance http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/03/31/448537.aspx How to contact a Microsoft Product Activation Center http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950929 |
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New Exchange Knowledge Base Articles |
After you send an updated recurring meeting request to an external recipient in
Outlook 2003, the value of the "Sequence" property is not changed http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950788 An e-mail message is not printed correctly in Outlook 2007 when you perform a duplex print job, and you use the "Collate Copies" option http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950936 An Outlook 2007 e-mail message remains in the Outbox after you have moved it to a personal folder in Outlook Web Access http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948984 Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package: March 26, 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950575 Description of the Outlook 2007 Junk E-mail Filter update: April 8, 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949037 Description of the Spanish version of the Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package for the daylight saving time changes in 2008 for the Australian Eastern and Central time zones: February 9, 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948979 Error message when you enable the "Show in Groups" option for a folder that contains thousands of e-mail messages in Outlook 2007: "Outlook is retrieving data from the Microsoft Exchange Server <Server_Name>" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949413 Error message when you start Outlook 2007: "The file <Path>\SharePoint Lists.pst cannot be found" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950786 Error message when you try to add a delegate in Outlook 2007: "The Delegates settings were not saved correctly" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950794 Error message when you use a rule to move messages to a folder in Outlook 2007 after you set the value of the PreferANSI registry entry: "Cannot move to the <folder_name> folder" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949878 Error message when you use Group Policy to add different versions of an add-in as Office Outlook 2007 trusted add-ins: "The name you entered has already been used You need to enter a unique name" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950774 Error message when you use Outlook 2007 to send a Word 2003 document that you have opened in Word 2007: "Word could not load the e-mail envelope" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948859 How to obtain the latest service pack for the 2007 Office suite http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949585 In the Arabic version of Outlook 2007, the folder tree pane is incorrectly shown on the left side http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950775 Outlook 2007 takes longer than expected to populate the preview pane when you receive an encrypted e-mail message http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948983 Security settings that are based on distribution lists may not be correctly synchronized to the local Offline Store file in Outlook 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950554 The "Set sensitivity" list is not locked in Outlook 2003 after you configure the sensitivity setting by using a policy or by modifying the corresponding registry entry http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948625 Updated information is not present in a resource's meeting entry in Outlook 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948982 You cannot see private items in the calendar even though the "Delegate can see my private items" option is enabled in Outlook 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949877 |
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New Outlook Knowledge Base Articles |
A link in a message does not work as expected in Outlook Web Access 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948039 ActiveSync cannot synchronize a mailbox if the Exchange Server 2003 store contains a corrupted e-mail item http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948744 An e-mail message has a blank body when you use Outlook Web Access 2003 to access a mailbox in Exchange Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948078 An external NDR message is sent to all recipients on a distribution list in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=945309 Error message when you check the properties of a contact in Outlook: "The name cannot be resolved. The bookmark is not valid" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948800 Error message when you use the Exmerge tool to try to export the contents of a mailbox in Exchange Server 2003: "MAPI_W_PARTIAL_COMPLETION" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949759 Event ID 4000 is logged when an SMTP server that is configured to use the Integrated authentication method negotiates GSSAPI authentication with an Exchange 2007 receive connector that is also configured to use the Integrated Authentication method http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=940207 Event ID 4007 may be logged in the Application log when you enable Transport Layer Security (TLS) connections for one or more specific domains in Exchange Server 2003: "The remote SMTP service does not support TLS" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948803 Event ID: 9040 may occur every 15 minutes on a computer that is running Exchange Server 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948934 Exchange Server 2003 users cannot use the Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes to send e-mail messages to Domino recipients who have ANSI 1252 8-bit characters in their names http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=946324 If an SMTP connector set the Outbound Security option to "Integrated Windows Authentication," the SMTP connector does not work in the IIS Metabase when you restore an Exchange Server 2003 server by using a Disaster Recovery mode http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948801 Outlook Web Access users are unable to save appointments or respond to meeting requests http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=556073 Some users cannot access Exchange Server 2007 Outlook Web Access after you create new mailboxes or migrate existing mailboxes http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949527 Some users have new empty mailboxes that point to the first mailbox store in the first storage group after you perform an authoritative restoration of Active Directory in Exchange Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948997 Tasks are unexpectedly deleted even though they are not past their age limit in an Exchange Server 2003 environment http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=943881 The Autodiscover service fails for some Outlook 2007 users after you install Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=946506 The contents of attachments are changed to match the contents of the first attachment in Exchange Server 2003 when an e-mail message contains multiple attachments that have DBCS characters in their file names http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=946055 The Exchange ActiveSync process is unsuccessful, and an error code is returned to the mobile device in Exchange Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=950796 The Exchange Server 2007 installation fails during the PrepareSchema step, and you receive an error message in the Setup log http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949526 The Inetinfo.exe process may crash frequently after you enable regtrace on an Exchange Server 2003 server http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949599 The message body of the original e-mail message may be corrupted when the envelope journaling feature is enabled in Exchange Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949485 The W3wp.exe process may crash frequently on Exchange Server 2003 servers in an organization that has many Outlook Web Access users http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=945401 You cannot see the Mailbox role in the Exchange Management Console after certain updates are automatically installed http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948908 |
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