With so many businesses having to adapt to a whole new way of working at the moment, getting the right tool to work effectively as a team from your own homes is crucial.
This is where hosted Exchange comes in.
What is hosted Exchange?
When we talk about hosted exchange, we need to address it in two parts.
The first is a hosted email server. This is an email solution hosted on a third party server, rather than on a proprietary server located on-site at your workplace. Hosted email allows you to access your email from anywhere as you connect to the secure server to retrieve your emails.
The second part – Exchange – is an email protocol created and developed by Microsoft. Exchange is their alternative to POP3 and IMAP email protocols. Unlike these other protocols, Exchange integrates such applications as calendars, contacts, tasks, diaries and more.
This gives you a fully integrated task management package as part of your email solution, one that can be accessed and amended by anybody on your team in realtime.
How does hosted exchange work?
All your emails, along with the additional scheduling data from the various add-ons, are stored on the hosted exchange server. An individual can send a request to the server to book a meeting, for example. Whatever email client they are using will allow them see who is available for the meeting, who has seen the request, who has responded to the request, and so on. It will also automatically update the user’s diary and the other meeting delegates. This differs from IMAP and POP3, as they are only email protocols and are unable to process these extra functions.
A lockdown lifeline
While your team members are working independently in their own homes, a hosted exchange solution lets everybody know what’s expected of them and their colleagues. You can arrange video-conferencing calls, set up deadlines, organise one-on-one meetings, and more – safe in the knowledge that every team member will be kept up to date automatically through their email client.
A long-term sharing strategy
Of course, lockdown isn’t going to last forever, but that doesn’t mean hosted exchange is just a short-term solution. If you work with freelancers, employ field agents, or have any members of staff whose work takes them out of the office, then hosted exchange delivers these same benefits to them.
If you need a hosted exchange package to give your team the advantage it needs, you can arrange one today with NetNerd. With a fully-integrated hosted exchange service starting from £4.99 a month, what do you have to lose?
