Email should be easy.

Are you embarrassed to email prospective clients because you conduct business from a Yahoo! address?

Are you forever tied to a slow ISP because you don't want to change your email address?

Does your computer download messages twice when you use your smartphone or iPad?

Why is it so complicated to share a calendar with your manager?

And where are your messages actually stored?

Stop emailing, start Exchanging.

By setting up a Microsoft Exchange 2010 server in your office, you solve all of the above problems. Your messages are securely saved on a server that you control, connected to the Internet through whatever company you want. You can read your mail on almost any computer, phone, or tablet with ease. If you hire someone new, creating a mailbox for them takes seconds, not minutes (and definitely not hours). Plus, no extra passwords to remember (or forget)!

Feel like sharing? Exchange lets you easily share mail messages, contact information, calendar events, notes, journal entries, and much more with some or all of your co-workers.

Road warriors can use Outlook Anywhere to keep their laptops connected, ActiveSync to keep their mobile devices in sync, and of course, a rich AJAX Web app for those times when the closest computer isn't their own.

Just in case you wanted some icing on the cake, Exchange can even interface with select VoIP phones to provide unified messaging, sending your voicemails directly to your inbox. Even if you're on the other side of the planet, you'll never miss a message again!*

What do I need?

Exchange requires a physical or virtualized Windows server, as well as an existing Active Directory domain infrastructure. Vectro can provide all of the missing pieces.

If you don't have a domain in place already, then Windows Small Business Server provides a lot of bang for your buck.

Great, now I need to buy Microsoft Office.

Although Office is highly recommended, Exchange works natively with most smartphones; Mac OS X's Mail, Address Book, and iCal; and the free Evolution mail client. There's also a version that runs in a Web browser.

Exchange also supports POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP connections, letting almost any mail program work with minimal hiccups.

* All features advertised are part of Exchange 2010 SP1; older releases may be capable of all of the features listed. Unified messaging requires a physical server and compatible phone system. BlackBerry support requires the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (free) and an enterprise data plan ($15 per month per phone, paid to the carrier).