Clients are fickle and competition is fierce. So, it’s important to stay on top of your business. If you need a way to always stay up to date with your contacts, clients, appointments and to-do lists (but don’t want to spend scads of cash on your own server), hosted exchange might be the best business decision you make all year.
People usually have one of two responses when I tell them they need hosted exchange:
Some people look at me as if I’m a bit dim, and they say something like, “I know I need hosted exchange. But how do I set it up?”
And then there are the ones who nod politely, then say, “What’s hosted exchange?”
Whether you’re looking for a way to choose the best hosted exchange service or you’ve never even heard of hosted exchange before this very moment, this guide will tell you everything you need to know about this productivity-enhancing tool for business owners.
Of course, the first thing you need to know is…
Table of Contents
What is hosted exchange?
Hosted exchange is an email system developed by Microsoft that makes it easy for businesses to sync their contacts, calendars, tasks, diaries and other important organisational information with clients and employees. The beauty of hosted exchange is that it even works offline and across multiple devices.
This means you’ll never miss an important update from a client just because you’re using your smartphone instead of your laptop or because you’re not connected to the internet. It’s an instant productivity boost!
How does hosted exchange work?
Emails are stored on a server. When you use an exchange account, your emails are stored on an Exchange Server, along with your contacts, calendar, to-do lists, etc.
When you read your email, what you’re really doing is accessing the Exchange Server; you’re not actually downloading the email onto your phone or tablet. This means you can get your emails even without being connected to the internet.
Regular email servers don’t allow you to access your email from multiple devices nor to collaborate on calendars with other users.
To get the sizable benefits of hosted exchange, you need a Virtual Private Server from a hosting company.
(A hosting company allows you to use their servers for a small fee, so you can have the benefits of a server without spending tons of money buying and maintaining your own server.)
What is a Virtual Private Server?
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a server that has its own operating system within a bigger server. Because it’s shared among multiple users, a VPS is cheaper than a dedicated server (which is one server that’s accessed by only one user). However, because each server has its own operating system, a VPS is also more private than a shared server.
This means you get the benefits of a dedicated server, at a fraction of the price.
The best VPS hosting services will offer hosted exchange as part of their managed VPS hosting services. (“Managed VPS hosting” means that your hosting provider will provide 24/7 monitoring and support.)
Of course there are tons of other VPS benefits to check out. Take a look here.
How do you choose the best VPS hosting service?
- The best VPS hosting service will give you a secure and private business email platform.
- The best VPS hosting service will give you 100% uptime, so your business can keep functioning efficiently.
- The best VPS hosting service will help you migrate your emails to their servers, so you can focus on your business while they manage the technical server-operating stuff.
- The best VPS hosting service will usually offer hosted exchange from Rackspace®. It’s the leading supplier of hosted exchange servers, has the biggest uptime guarantee and largest number of maximum accounts.
Is Hosted Exchange the best email hosting software for businesses?
Let’s put some facts on the table to help you decide if hosted email is for you:
1. Hosted Exchange is cost-efficient
Hosted exchange is cheaper than buying and maintaining your own server (and paying the salaries of extra staff in your IT department). This makes it an intelligent choice for small-to-medium-sized businesses. Did another user just join? Just sign them up and start paying for them. This “pay-as-you-go” method is much more efficient than buying a lot of server space that you might not need for a long time.
2. Get your own customised email domain name
When you have your own custom email domain (e.g., yourname@companyname.com), your company looks more legitimate and you gain the trust of your clients. Hosted exchange gives you the option of having a custom email domain name, instead of an unmemorable generic one.
3. Fully compatible with Outlook®
Because they were designed to work together, hosted exchange email lets you sync your Outlook® data across multiple devices. This means you’ll always have access to your calendars, appointments, and tasks.
4. Bigger attachments
Using hosted exchange means you’ll get more storage than when you use free webmail. This means you can send massive documents without seeing that irritating error message that says your attachments are too big to send.
5. Greater security
Hosted exchange makes your business more secure than running your own email servers. When you operate your server yourself, you have to divide your time between doing that and actually running your business. But hosting companies do nothing but take care of your emails; their reputation depends on it. When you entrust your email protection to a hosting company, you can do a better job of keeping your sensitive data secure.
6. Increased productivity
When you choose hosted exchange, you avoid tying up your time with server maintenance, so you get more time to focus on the tasks that are truly essential to your business.
7. Constant updates
When you choose hosted exchange, your hosting company will make sure you always have the latest version of the Exchange Server. So, that’s one less thing for you to worry about.
Conclusion
Your business needs to be efficient, even when you’re offline. A hosted exchange plan is the best, most cost-effective way to collaborate and boost productivity. Learn more awesome benefits of Hosted Exchange here on our blog. Then, get started with Hosted exchange today, plans start at just £1.74.
