Editorial Rating
Overview:
Link2Exchange, a company with offices in New Hampshire, U.S.A., offers email Exchange solutions for businesses. They also offer Website hosting and email archiving.Pros: The company offers several different plans for different business needs, and for each plan, there are four different levels, so you can pick the number of options and features that you want. There is no contract and you get a thirty-day free trial to see if the plan will work for you. Also, all plans have instant activation and live phone support if you run into issues. Even their standard account, the lowest level account, has a lot of features that come with the plan for no extra cost. For companies that operate on an academic level (libraries, universities, or even homeschooling programs), Link2Exchange offers a discount. The company's storage prices are 1/5 the cost of some other companies, at $4.95 per 500 MB.
Cons: The prices are quite high, depending on the plan that you want to get; also, they are priced per user as opposed to the number of mailboxes, unlike other companies. Virus and Spam protection is available on most accounts, but standard accounts for less than 5 users must pay extra for it. Their set-up fees are also quite high. There are also small activation fees if you want to add another user to the server.
Detailed Provider Information:
Version of BES: (Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell Group Wise) Link2Exchange uses Microsoft Exchange Enterprise Edition. Plans and Pricing: There are 6 different plans for 1+, 5+, 10+, 25+, 50+ and 100+ users. The plans for 1-5 people have different tiers so that small businesses can choose what features they want on their plan.
The 1+ user plan starts at $5.95 per month for a 1GB mailbox. Users can add the ability to share calendars and contacts, plus get a free version of Outlook 2007 with client access for $9.95 per month. The 5+ user plan starts at $5.70 per user per month for 1GB and no shared calendars and contacts, and $8.95 per month per user with sharing. The 10+ plan starts at $5.45 for no shared services and $8.80 for shared. The 25+ user plan starts at $5.20 for non-shared and $7.75 for shared. Finally, the 50+ user plan starts at $4.95 for non-shared and $7.25 for shared. Again, these are all for 1GB mailboxes. Link2Exchange also offers mailboxes of 2GB or unlimited storage, though they will cost more per user per month. Extra storage costs $3 per GB per month.
BES usage costs an additional $9.95 per user per month.
Firewall Protection: All communication to the Link2Exchange server requires encryption for ultimate protection.
Anti-Spam and Virus Protection: Anti-virus and anti-spam protection is included with all plans. Users can upgrade to a higher-tier service for $2 per month.
Set-up Fee: Set-up fees abound in Link2Exchange’s plans. You must pay a set-up fee for each additional user you put on the plan, plus relatively expensive fees upfront.
Other Devices Supported: Link2Exchange supports Treo, BlackBerry, PocketPC and Smartphones.
Customer Service: Customer service is available on the Website as well as through email and phone. Link2Exchange is a Microsoft Gold Partner with experts working 24/7 to maintain the servers. They offer live phone support 8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, Eastern Standard Time. They also have numbers in the U.K. and International support.
Backup History Storage: Link2Exchange performs nightly backups which are included with the plans. The backups are held for 7 days. If you delete mailboxes or data, Link2Exchange holds them for 48 hours.
Uptime Guarantee: Link2Exchange gives a 99% uptime guarantee with rebates if there are problems. It is listed in the SLA.
Additional Services: You can get email archiving for a fee and also Website hosting, so that you won’t have to go elsewhere for these services. Link2Exchange offers three different kinds of archiving, from enhanced archiving at 1 GB starting at $15.95 per user per month to third party archiving at $50 a month. Web hosting is offered at a 20% discount if you already have a hosting account with the company. There are also no set-up fees, which is a change.
Fee to Change BlackBerry for Current Customers: There is no charge for this service.
