SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 22, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced Microsoft® Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server, the newest member of the Exchange 2000 product line, as well as the first release candidate of Exchange 2000. Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server enables knowledge workers to collaborate with anyone, anywhere by providing data, video and voice conferencing across intranets and the Internet. It also provides integrated scheduling and management services to help maximize network bandwidth and availability. The Exchange 2000 product line is the reliable, scalable and easy-to-manage platform for messaging and collaboration that brings knowledge workers and information together. A cost-effective platform for
“meetings without walls,”
Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server reduces travel costs, improves productivity and enables any time, anywhere collaboration for knowledge workers.
“Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server gives our customers single-click access to multiparty audio, video and data conferences,”
said Eric Lockard, general manager of the Exchange Product Unit at Microsoft.
“And the great news for IT administrators is that this enhanced user functionality is accompanied by tools to help them easily manage their company’s conferencing infrastructure and network bandwidth.”
Exchange 2000 Product Line Enables Flexibility
Exchange 2000 provides customers with maximum deployment functionality and flexibility. To ensure that customers are able to roll out the environment that is right for them, Conferencing Server joins Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server as part of the Exchange 2000 product line.
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Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server allows knowledge workers to organize, manage and participate in data, voice and video conferences across intranets and the Internet. Conferencing Server includes the NetMeeting® conferencing software client, making it easier for knowledge workers to conduct both point-to-point and multiparty conferences. A key distinguishing factor is that the server provides tools to easily reserve and allocate corporate conferencing resources. It supports load balancing, failover and control of attendee access to conferences. In addition, by allocating bandwidth for each conference technology provider, Conferencing Server allows customers to run any combination of the conferencing services simultaneously.
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Exchange 2000 Server includes the features and functionality that medium-sized companies and branch offices need for messaging and collaboration. Built on the Web Store, it includes a transacted data store; fault-tolerant, intelligent SMTP routing for better performance; a new Outlook® Web Access client that allows faster access from a Web browser; instant messaging; and services for building workflow solutions that automate business processes.
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Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server is the premier server upon which to build a reliable, scalable messaging and collaboration infrastructure. Exchange 2000 Enterprise supersets many of the features in Exchange 2000 Server in addition to including an unlimited, transacted data store that can be partitioned into separate physical databases for increased reliability, and four-way, active/active clustering for higher availability.
Exchange 2000 RC1: Ready for Deployment With Windows 2000
Microsoft has reached a major milestone toward the release of Exchange 2000 with the availability of Release Candidate 1 (RC1). Customers have expressed great enthusiasm for Exchange 2000 throughout the beta process and are now eager to begin testing RC1 in their production environments. Exchange 2000 RC1 delivers the reliability, scalability and manageability that customers require in their production environments.
“Exchange 2000 was created with a unique focus on what customers need to increase knowledge worker productivity,”
said Sue Hallihan, IT director at Gentronics Corp.
“RC1 is a stable release, making it possible for us to begin production-level testing prior to final product release. We look forward to deploying the new features and functionality Exchange 2000 will give us.”
Exchange 2000 provides the tightest integration possible with the Windows® 2000 operating system, providing customers with maximum reliability, manageability and security for a lower overall cost of ownership. Key points of integration include the following:
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Reliable. Two-way and four-way active/active clustering with Windows 2000 load balancing and failover services bring enhanced system reliability and availability.
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Manageable. As the only messaging and collaboration server that uses the Windows 2000 Active Directory TM service, Exchange 2000 provides customers with a lower total cost of ownership through integrated network and messaging administration. Also, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) in Windows 2000 eases Exchange administration by providing a familiar, single-seat management interface that optimizes IT resources and reduces management cost.
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Secure. Exchange 2000 is the only messaging and collaboration server that takes full advantage of Windows 2000 security to ensure messaging and collaboration security, including use of Windows 2000 security groups to determine message routing, and native use of ACLs for setting permissions on any item in the Exchange Web Store.
Availability Information
Microsoft Exchange 2000 RC1 will be available for free* download within the next week from http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/prodinfo/2000/orderkit.htm . RC1 will also be available via the Microsoft TechNet Plus and MSDN TM programs.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
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