Upgrading POP3 or IMAP to Hosted Exchange
15 December 2014
Hosted Exchange email accounts offer a much improved service compared to traditional accounts.
If you have a POP3 or IMAP e-mail account you are probably well aware of its limitations. As a Microsoft Cloud Partner, we now offer upgraded hosted Exchange e-mail accounts. These accounts include all Exchange features such as fully featured e-mail, calendars, tasks, out of office messages, and web based e-mail (Outlook Web Access). These accounts are all stored in the cloud, which means you do not need to install any additional equipment at your office. These accounts are perfect for small and medium sized businesses.
Sending and receiving message size on the new accounts are much larger than traditional e-mail accounts, as is the mailbox storage capacity. The accounts are designed to work across all devices enabling you to use the accounts on PC, laptop, tablet and suitable smart phones. The service includes a reliable anti-spam and anti-virus solution.
Perhaps most importantly, when business e-mail remains so critical, it is straight forward to switch to the new accounts, and there will be no loss of e-mail.
The technical details are as follows: The new service should be provisioned in advance on the cloud platform. The domain name to be used should be validated with the Microsoft Cloud platform, and the time to live (TTL) altered to allow for a quick change. At an agreed point the Domain Name Servers (DNS) can be updated with the correct MX, SRV, TXT and autodiscover records. The users should download all remaining e-mails from the old service and optionally export to a PST file for back-up of e-mail, contacts and calendars. The new profile can then be configured, the PST file imported to get data back in and the domain TTL adjusted accordingly.
With Oscura the service remains fully managed; we administer and support the accounts on your behalf. This means if you have existing e-mail accounts with Oscura, or another provider, regardless of the format (POP3, IMAP or other Exchange service), we can manage the transfer to the new service and continue to provide first line support for the e-mail service. As part of our IT Support service we can also offer assistance on-site so you or your staff can avoid having to re-configure your Outlook profiles. So if you're after a headache free switch to an improved type of e-mail account and looking for someone to manage the whole process then contact Oscura and let us look after the upgrade on your behalf.
The upgraded service includes the following additional benefits per account:
- 50GB Mailbox quota
- 25Mb maximum message size
- Web based access via Outlook 365 Portal
- Access on PC, tablets and mobile
- Calendar, contacts and tasks
- Ability to share / delegate folders
- Out of office control
- Enhanced anti-virus and anti-spam solution