Today's announcement officially means Microsoft is the latest entry in a market of services that Microsoft actually made feasible: It can now host Exchange mailboxes for Active Directory users that do not have Exchange Server 2007.
As those who already enjoy its benefits are currently aware, an Exchange server does quite a bit more than just host e-mail. Perhaps even more importantly, it can synchronize the schedule of everyone who works together in a widely dispersed business. With Outlook 2007, that means having access to personal schedules as well as group schedules that are updated in the background. Ongoing tasks and company-wide contacts and phonebooks are also maintained and synchronized across devices. In more sophisticated environments, Exchange also facilitates the use and maintenance of voice mail.
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