Microsoft Outlook Voice Access for Exchange Server 2007 by Apptix

Apptix, provider of hosted Microsoft Exchange email, Microsoft SharePoint collaboration services, and hosted VoIP phone service for small and medium businesses (SMBs), has announced the launch of Voice Access for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

The new service enables Apptix hosted Exchange Server 2007 customers to remotely access and interact with their email, calendar, contacts, or voicemail using any phone -land line or mobile via touchtone or voice commands.

Also, Apptix customers can easily get access to their Outlook calendars via a mobile phone or landline with this latest announcement. They can use voice prompts to reschedule or alert other participants that a meeting is delayed or that its scheduled time has changed and can also reply to emails by attaching a voicemail message to a distribution list in their Outlook Contact list.

Officials at Apptix said the power of advanced text-to-speech technology together with a hands free device, make it possible to solve many safety and legal concerns while continuing to provide on-the-go business professional with a solution for their needs.

"From email and attached documents to calendar and contact information, Outlook has become a central repository for employees' critical information," said Rick Rumbarger, Vice President of Product for Apptix.

Source: hosted-voip.tmcnet.com

Exchange Tool Tests Remote Connections

Microsoft announced an online service for IT pros that enables them to test incoming e-mail traffic to Microsoft Exchange Server.

The tool, called Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer, was announced last week as a beta version. However, it's apparently been available as a test version since late last year.

The Microsoft Exchange team on Wednesday pointed to the availability of the beta version. The team's blog includes a video that demonstrates how the tool works, which can be accessed here.

The remote analyzer tool helps IT administrators assess server setup problems, particularly when e-mail clients located outside an organization's firewall are having problems trying to connect. While Exchange Server comes with its own test tools, those tools can only test traffic within an organization's firewall.

The Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer will test incoming e-mail traffic by simulating three client types, including Windows Mobile clients using Exchange ActiveSync, Outlook clients using Outlook Anywhere and clients that use SMTP.

You can run the tests for Windows Mobile and Outlook with autodiscovery turned either on or off.

The beta still has some usability limitations, and it requires certificates for some tests to work, according to the Exchange team blog. The team plans make those improvements in a future version, along with adding new tests for Exchange Web Services, IMAP, Outlook Web Access and POP.

The Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer tool, nicknamed "ExRCA," can be accessed for free online here.

Source: http://entmag.com/news/article.aspx?editorialsid=10734