Intermedia enables managed service providers a turn-key hosted Exchange 2010 solution that provides additional revenue without increasing support requirements. The world’s largest provider of hosted Exchange, Intermedia was the first to offer hosted Exchange 2007 and currently has more than 225,000 premium Exchange mailboxes under management.
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Intermedia Launching Conference Bridges Service for Small and Mid-Size Businesses
Rounds out suite of communications offerings on heels of PBX launch
Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider, is set to launch its Conference Bridges offering next week. The service is an add-on to the company’s hosted Exchange offering. It allows customers to host conference calls featuring dial-in numbers and pass codes for a flat-rate monthly fee. The launch comes on the heels of Intermedia’s hosted PBX debut and supports the company’s evolution into a full business communications provider.
“Our customers can manage Conference Bridges in Intermedia’s HostPilot® Control Panel, right alongside Intermedia’s services for business email, hosted PBX, document management, mobility and secure instant messaging,” says Jonathan McCormick, COO, Intermedia. “Our focus is on providing small and mid-size businesses with the enterprise-class services they need to compete – in a way that is simple to set up, use and manage.”
Conference Bridges help companies speed decision making, increase sales, and cut unnecessary business travel. Because Intermedia offers the service for a flat monthly fee, there are no per-minute charges and no minimum usage commitments. A bridge number can be set up for a specific user or be shared amongst a department or the company. Intermedia’s Conference Bridges come in two options – an Open option that allows participants to speak as soon as they join, and a Moderated option that requires a moderator PIN to be entered before participants can speak. Toll-free and direct dial-in numbers are provided with the service.
For more information on Intermedia’s suite of hosted communications and collaboration software, including Exchange 2010, hosted PBX, Office Communications Server 2007, SharePoint 2010, as well as an ecosystem of related offerings including support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, fax lines and more, please call 1-800-379-7729.
Intermedia Launches Hosted PBX VoIP Telephone Service
Intermedia Offers Unified Communications
to Its Hosted Microsoft Exchange Email Customers
Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider, today launched its hosted PBX service. The service is VoIP-based and integrates with Intermedia’s hosted Exchange email service – enabling customers to access not only hosted PBX features such as unlimited domestic calling and extension dialing, but also unified communications (UC) features such as “voicemail to email” and “click to call.”
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Intermedia Survey on Email Habits of SMB Employees Reveals One in Five Feel Overloaded
50 Emails a Day is Manageable Says US Small Business Workers
A new survey by Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft hosted Exchange provider, found that 94 percent of respondents[1] feel that 50 or fewer emails is a manageable number to receive each day without feeling overwhelmed. The commissioned survey also found that more than one in five adults who receive work-related email already feel as though they get more each day than they can manage. With an increasing amount of communication being done via email, this insight into how small business employees manage work email can help improve productivity and workplace satisfaction.
Other key findings from the survey include:
- Majority of small business workers don’t use smartphones: Slightly less than two in five adults who receive work-related email say they use a smartphone (38 percent).
- Smartphone users get more email and are more stressed: 12 percent of Americans who do not use smartphones and receive work-related emails experience email overload, whereas 37 percent (or more than one in three) of Americans with smartphones who receive work related emails do.
- Gender makes no difference: Men and women seem to be in agreement with what is a manageable amount of work-related emails to receive each day. 94 percent of men and 95 percent of women who receive work-related email say that 50 emails or less is a manageable number of work-related emails to receive each day.
“Email has perhaps become the most critical business communications tool,” says Jonathan McCormick, COO, Intermedia. “The productivity benefits of business-class email are immense, in terms of being able to share and store information, schedules and contact information with colleagues and across computers and mobile phones. But without the right tools and guidance, employees can be challenged to manage the flow. It’s vital for workers and organizations to develop the right mindsets and skills around managing email.”
Email overload can hurt productivity and lead to miscommunication and errors. Some activities employers and employees can take to combat feeling overwhelmed include:
- Unify Your Communications – Email is one element to unified communications (UC), an integrative approach to uniting all key communications services important to business operations and success, including voice, instant messaging and document sharing among other components. Email supplemented by a unified approach to communications gives you a complete view of communications across the business and among employees. UC is guided by you and your business. For example, with instant messaging, a support team likes to have a group chat open throughout the day whereas a business owner may only want to use it at certain times during the day.
- You Determine the Priority, Not Your Inbox –Review email and ask yourself if the messages relate to your priorities for the next hour, day or week. This question can help you manage the number of emails you respond to each day, ultimately helping you feel less overwhelmed with your work email.
- Organization is Key – There are two approaches to email organization so choose the one that works best for you. The first system is to create folders for different work activities/projects in your email program and file away your incoming emails appropriately. For example, create a folder for “IT” or “Payroll” and file away all messages in your inbox into those folders. The second option is to read emails and respond/delete as they come in and, at the end of the day, file them into generic folders (e.g. Follow Up Required, Need to Respond, Completed).
- Read and Respond – Keep responses to emails concise by specifically addressing the questions asked in the emails that need answers. For incoming emails that can be answered quickly and easily, respond to those first before visiting the more time-intensive messages.
METHODOLOGY: This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Intermedia from June 3-7, 2010 among 2,071 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact PR@intermedia.net
[1] Respondents are adults who receive work-related emails. For the purposes of this survey “online adults who receive work-related emails” are defined as full time/part time employed adults who work for a company with less than 250 employees and receive work-related emails. This survey was conducted online in June, 2010 by Harris Interactive on behalf of Intermedia.
Intermedia Passes 250,000 Premium Exchange Mailbox Milestone
Company cements status as distributor of choice, crediting partner network’s 74% increase in sales
At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference, Intermedia announced that it now manages over 250,000 premium Microsoft Exchange mailboxes on behalf of its customers and partners – more than any other Exchange hosting provider. The premium mailboxes use Microsoft’s full MAPI license, which includes the ability to download a copy of Microsoft Outlook, the power to share calendars, and other features essential to business users. Intermedia now manages close to 400,000 total mailboxes for over 34,000 companies.
Cementing its status as distributor of choice for hosted Exchange, Intermedia also recently surpassed the 5,000 mark in total number of private label partners and affiliates reselling its services. The company credits this network’s 74 percent increase in sales since Intermedia’s introduction of Exchange 2010 for its continued strong growth amid tough economic conditions. In addition to Intermedia’s national and regional MSP and VAR partners, Fortune 100 distributor Ingram Micro, top Latin American Microsoft reseller Brasoftware and many Fortune 500 technology firms have selected the company to provide business email for their customers.
Intermedia’s growth milestones were achieved on the heels of its first-to-market launch of hosted Exchange 2010 in November 2009 and of SharePoint 2010 in May 2010.
“Our focus on making our partners and their customers successful is why we’ve been successful,” says Serguei Sofinski, Intermedia CEO. “Intermedia’s Partner Program is set up to give partners ownership of the customer relationship and billing. They sell our services under their own brand, while we maintain the infrastructure to deliver reliability and simplified management. This allows our partners to concentrate on advising their customers and building a valuable book of business. It’s a win for the partner, their customer, and for Intermedia.”
Intermedia offers and integrates a full ecosystem of communications services, including Microsoft Office Communications Server, SharePoint 2010, Outlook 2010, Exchange 2010, the company’s own proprietary technologies, and full support for wireless mobility including BlackBerry, Android and iPhone. Intermedia offers two reseller programs. The private label partner program is for those who wish to generate recurring revenue from existing and new customers with high margin hosted communications services – all under their own brand – while Intermedia maintains, monitors and upgrades all hardware and software. The affiliate program is for partners that prefer to promote Intermedia solutions and earn a commission for each sale they make.
Stop by to see Intermedia, a Worldwide Partner Conference bronze sponsor, July 12-15 at booth #214. Bob Leibholz, senior vice president of sales and business development, Intermedia, is due to speak on July 15 at the US Hosting Panel Discussion: Accelerate Your Business with Cloud Computing from 1:30pm – 2:30pm Eastern. The panel will focus on unified communications, collaboration and productivity in the cloud.
Intermedia to Offer Full Hosted Exchange Support for New iPhone 4
Bringing Business Email to the Smartphone on Heels of Announcing iPad Support
Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider, today announced that its hosted Exchange service, including Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010, will be available on the new Apple iPhone 4 the day it is available to customers. Using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Intermedia will configure the new Apple iPhone to wirelessly send and receive Exchange email, calendar invitations, contacts and more. Intermedia supports business email and collaboration on a full range of smartphones, including devices from BlackBerry, Google’s Nexus One, Motorola Droid, Palm Treo, Motorola Q, T-Mobile Dash and the Samsung Blackjack.
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Intermedia and Brasoftware Partner to Deliver SaaS Communications in Latin America
Brazil-based Brasoftware creates SaaS portal to reach its vast customer base
Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider, today announced a new member of its partner program, Brasoftware – one of the largest software distributors in Brazil with over 80,000 customers. The addition of Brasoftware further establishes Intermedia’s global presence, coming on the heels of the company’s UK datacenter launch.
Brasoftware is an Intermedia Private Label Partner. It offers Intermedia’s hosted services – including Exchange 2010 – under its own brand, setting pricing and controlling customer billing. Intermedia maintains, monitors, and upgrades all hardware and software.
Intermedia Reports Explosive Growth in Hosted Exchange 2010 Service
Company’s partner community sees 74 percent increase in mailbox sales
Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider, today reported explosive growth in its hosted Exchange 2010 customer base. Intermedia was “first-to-market” with the service in November 2009, moments after Microsoft announced the availability of its Exchange Server 2010 software.
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Intermedia Opens First UK-based Datacenter, Company’s Fifth Worldwide
Today we opened our first datacenter in the UK. The new ISO27001- and SAS 70-certified datacenter supports Intermedia Exchange hosting customers in the UK, as well as throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
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Intermedia Joins ASCII Group’s Solution Alliance Network
ASCII Members Able to Resell Hosted Exchange 2010 – the Latest Version
We today announced an alliance with ASCII Group, Inc. (ASCII), the nation’s oldest and most established community of independent managed service providers, system integrators, and solution providers. ASCII members can now resell Intermedia’s hosted Exchange 2010 – the latest version of Microsoft Exchange – to their customers. Intermedia was the first provider of hosted Exchange 2010, adding intuitive administrative controls, integration outside the Microsoft product ecosystem, and other proprietary features.
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New white paper, “Hosted Exchange Buyer’s Guide” coming soon
Excerpt from a new white paper, “Hosted Exchange Buyer’s Guide” coming soon to the Intermedia Resource Center.
Messaging lies at the heart of a business’ ability to communicate, to interact quickly and effectively with everyone from employees and suppliers to clients and prospects. Yet supporting an on-premise messaging solution absorbs much of a business’ IT dollars. In addition to buying the software, you must expend resources on maintenance, implementation, upgrades, licensing, support and archiving. Downtime – whether scheduled or due to failure or disaster – costs money, disrupts business operations and creates customer dissatisfaction, especially in a world where the vast majority of users check their emails from home, from on the road and after-hours.
“Email is a critical part of doing business and for SMBs who are running in-house mail servers, there is a high risk of downtime, the time during which a computer is not functioning due to hardware, operating system or application program failure,” Serguei Sofinski, CEO of Intermedia tells The Hosting News. “Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets without risking lost productivity.”
Comparing Costs
Although many decision-makers claim on-premise Exchange implementations are less expensive to deploy and operate than hosted Exchange, the opposite is often true. Just add up the dollars: A 10-person on-premise Exchange solution costs $389.60 vs. $32.46 per seat per month for a hosted Exchange solution, for a total whopping savings of $357.19 or 92 percent, according to Osterman Research. At 100 users, on-premise costs $39.85 per seat each month compared with a hosted service’s cost of $14.45 for savings of $25.40 or 64 percent. With 1,000 users, on-site costs $24.13 for each seat every month vs. $10.85 for hosted for savings of $13.28 or 55 percent, Osterman Research finds.
It is not surprising then that even some large enterprises are migrating to hosted Exchange: GlaxoSmithKline, for example, is moving its 100,000 users to hosted Exchange, the giant pharmaceutical company said in March 2009.
There are other savings, too. Because the cost-per-seat is fixed over the contract’s lifetime, your business has a predictable monthly outlay without the risk of unforeseen expenditures. If you support Exchange internally, you must take into account potential disruptive forces such as natural disasters, power outages and office relocations that can add unforeseen costs to your on-premise Exchange management budget.
As you add employees, you run the risk of maxing out your internal infrastructure, forcing you to expend dollars and hours buying and installing servers, storage and other infrastructure to support new hires. Of course, this adds more costs to your existing Exchange budget at a time when you would rather spend IT funds on using technology to solve business challenges.
Stay tuned for more from this white paper and a direct link to the final paper – coming soon to Intermedia’s Resource Center.