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What is the espMail service?
The espMail service lets your organisation send and receive Internet
email using a standard broadband or dial-up connection with just about any ISP. We
offer one solution for organisations that use Microsoft Exchange Server, another solution based around Floosietek's FTGate mail server
and a solution that involves simply connecting directly to our server. You can use email client software such as Microsoft
Outlook.
Summary of questions
How do I connect?
You can use your existing broadband or dial-up connection.
We also provide local call rate dial-up connections.
Summary of questions
How do we get a domain name?
Just ask us. It's included in the price.
You can check the availability of your preferred domain name now.
To
check for the availability of co.uk, org.uk,
ltd.uk and plc.uk domains click here
and use the Domain Name Search feature.
To check for the availability of .com, .net and .org names, click here
and use the Search WHOIS feature.
To check for the availability of .biz names, click here
to search the .biz Registry WHOIS database.
To check for the availability of .info names, click here
and use the .INFO WHOIS Search feature.
Summary of questions
How do we use our existing domain
name?
If your company already owns a domain name, it is very likely that you
registered that domain name through an ISP (Internet Service Provider).
In such cases, the ISP can transfer the domain to us.
Summary of questions
Do I need a mail server?
The answer to this depends on how many office based users you have,
whether you need specific features that a mail server provides and
whether you already own a mail server. For organisations under
around 20 users, especially if some users are not office based, then it
makes sense for each user to send and receive mail directly from our
server. However, there are several advantages to having a mail
server of your own. Firstly, you can retain an archive of messages
which you can retrieve in the event of technical problems or legal
disputes. Secondly, if you have more than one office, each with its
own mail server, you may be able to send encrypted messages between mail
servers. Thirdly, if your Internet connection
stops working you can still send and receive internal mail. Finally, if you exchange large files by email with others in the same office, then
you will not need to slow down your Internet connection by sending large
attachments through it.
I need a new mail system, why do you recommend
FTGate?
We are a reseller for FTGate
and we recommend it for two reasons: cost and features. FTGate costs a fraction of systems such as
Microsoft Exchange Server. With Exchange Server, not only do you have to pay hundreds of pounds
for the server software, you then need to buy two CALs (client access licences) for each user that
connects to the Exchange Server; one CAL for Exchange Server and the other for the Windows Server.
The overall costs can be very high.
With FTGate, on the other hand, there is only one licence to buy and this works out at about £8 per
user for 20 or more users. FTGate will run on any version of Windows (it doesn't require a Server
edition) and if you do this, you will not need a Windows CAL for each user that connects to it.
Exchange Server does have some advantages, mainly in terms of booking meetings and other
"groupware" functionality.
On balance though, we believe FTGate is the way to go if you have over 20
office based users, unless you have an existing investment in Exchange Server.
Summary of questions
How does your virus scanning work?
We scan all your incoming messages using at least two virus scanners
which we update every hour. If a virus is found, we delete it. To safeguard against
new viruses, we also stop potentially dangerous file attachments, eg, *.pif and *.vbs files,
that are often viruses.
Summary of questions
How does your spam tagging work?
We tag "spam" by using SpamAssassin,
a mail filter to identify "spam". It uses a wide range of
tests on each message, including examining words and phrases within the message, web sites referenced
within the message and the server that sent the message. In addition, we have our own database of
spam phrases that is constantly updated.
If SpamAssassin identifies a message as spam, we tag it by adding {Spam?}
to the Subject of the message. Therefore, a message with a Subject
of Make a Million would be changed to {Spam?} Make a
Million. This way, you can setup a rule in Outlook to detect
messages with the phrase "{Spam?}" in the Subject line and
either move them to a specific folder for later examination or delete
them. No spam filter can be 100% accurate, but ours is highly effective at
detecting spam and not tagging legitimate messages.
Summary of questions
What email client software can I use?
Our outsourced solution and FTGate solution supports any POP3/SMTP compliant client software, eg,
all versions of Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Firefox, Netscape Communicator, and
Pegasus. Clearly, if you use Exchange then you will be using Outlook. We provide
full instructions on configuring client software.
Summary of questions
What server operating system do I need?
You will need a Windows Server for Exchange. To run FTGate, you will need a machine
running Windows, but you do not need Windows Server edition. Clearly, our outsourced solution
requires no server.
Summary of questions
What version of
Exchange Server do I need?
You will need Exchange Server 5.5 or above for our Exchange Server
solution.
Summary of questions
I have Small
Business Server, is this OK?
Yes, it certainly is!
Summary of questions
How about mobile users?
If some of your users spend time out of the office and need to access their email remotely, you have
three main options. The first option is for these users to access your mail server remotely. The
advantage of this solution is that it involves no changes to the mail server configuration.
However, it does mean you need to think about the best method for users to connect to your mail
server.
There are various methods, the most flexible of which is to allow users to access your mail server
over the Internet. The disadvantage to this method, of course, is the security risk.
The second option is to configure your mail server to forward the messages for remote users to a
separate account either on our server or elsewhere. This method means that your mail server does not
need to be accessible over the Internet. The disadvantage of this method is that if remote users
are in and out of the office frequently, your mail server will need updating to reflect this.
The easiest solution is for the remote users to have an individual account
on our server. When out of the office they can connect over the
Internet. When in the office they will have to be permitted to do
the same.
Summary of questions
How do we get a FREE trial?
Follow the instructions on our Free Trial
page to try the service free for 30 days. If - and only if - your organisation
decides to subscribe to our service will you be invoiced.
Summary of questions
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