Overview:
Elephant Outlook was founded in 1994 as two separate companies and then merged in 2000 when they joined Volaris Communications. Earthlink bought them in 2003 and since then they’ve been a hosted Exchange and messaging company.
Pros: Elephant Outlook offers one plan that has every feature that a hosted Exchange mailbox should have for a pretty low price. As well, there are no set-up fees. You get free Outlook 2003, public folders, company calendars and groups, Outlook Web Access, task management, ActiveSync, free DNS listing for your company’s domains, and no-cost upgrades to the newest version of software. Extra storage costs are about normal - $5.95 for every 100 MB.
Cons: Unfortunately, Elephant Outlook does not include virus or anti-spam protection in their plan – you must pay extra for their Threat Management Option, priced at $3/month per mailbox. Since other companies include fairly decent protection for about half that cost or for free, this seems to be a pretty big con. As well, all mailboxes are 200 MB, which is quite a bit smaller than other companies’ offerings.
Detailed Provider Information:
Version of BES: (Microsoft, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell Group Wise) Elephant Outlook uses Microsoft Exchange 2007.
Plans and Pricing: Elephant Outlook’s one hosting plan costs $9.95 a month per mailbox, but includes a lot of great features that users would have to pay extra for with other companies. You get unlimited aliases per mailbox, large file attachments, VPN, and more. Each mailbox is 200 MB with additional space priced at $5.95 for every 100 MB. You also get unlimited public folders and shared files, tasks, calendars, contacts and 150 MB of space included.
If you are looking for a BES, Elephant Outlook offers BlackBerry service for $9.95 a month with a set-up fee of $39.95. If you’re looking for Windows Mobile service, it’s also $9.95 a month, with a $9.95 activation fee.
Firewall Protection: When you purchase Elephant Outlook’s Threat Management Option, you get Attack Guard, which is a firewall program that will protect your email from Denial of Service attacks, dictionary attacks, email flooding, and mail bombs. It is $3 a month per mailbox.
Anti-Spam and Virus Protection: Unfortunately, anti-virus and anti-spam isn’t included with the plan – it’s $3 a month per mailbox. However, the program that they use is quite advanced and also includes content filtering and a firewall.
Set-up Fee: There are no set-up fees for the mailboxes themselves, but if you want BES, you’ll have to pay $39.95. If you want Windows Mobile, you’ll have to pay $9.95. Both of these are one-time activation fees.
Other Devices Supported: BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Smartphones and Pocket PC.
Customer Service: Elephant Outlook provides a complete online knowledge base, including downloads and Outlook Web Access. As well, they provide 24/7 online support and 9 to 9 telephone support for their customers.
Backup History Storage: Regular backups are performed to make sure your data remains safe.
Uptime Guarantee: 99.9%, according to their SLA.
Additional Services: Elephant Outlook provides email compliance services ($195 per month plus $495 set-up fee) for its users as well.
Fee to Change BlackBerry for Current Customers: There is no charge for this service.
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