SBS 2008 - A couple of neat OWA features

The new Outlook Web Access (OWA) based on Exchange 2007 SP1 that we get with SBS 2008 is such a huge improvement over OWA in SBS 2003.

There are so many new client-side features that greatly improve a user's e-mail communication efficiency as well as their overall experience using Outlook Web Access.

One:

Deleted Items Recovery

Having the Deleted Items Recovery tool in the Outlook application when Exchange integrated is an administrator's life saver! Once a user has been shown that they can recover their deleted items, they take full advantage of it.

Now they can do so via OWA. They no longer need to establish a connection to a dedicated Remote Desktop to recover an e-mail, wait until they get back to the office to do so, or call us to help them out.

Two:

Remote Device Wipe

The time between a Windows Mobile device has been discovered missing and its being wiped by an administrator via Exchange 2003 can be absolutely critical ... and long.

With Exchange 2007, the user has control over the device. If the user's mobile device is somehow lost or stolen, they can remote wipe their own device quickly via OWA.

There is added security for Windows Mobile 6.x devices as the users would have turned on encryption for their add-in storage cards. So, barring any possible signal blocks or a dead battery, the device will wipe itself and any data on the card would be "lost" too.

These two features make SBS 2008 along with Windows Mobile device integration that much more attractive for clients with highly mobile workers.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

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