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.
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.
I have been using Link2Exchange for almost two years. I love the service they provide and I have only needed support on a couple of occasions. When I did call they were able to help me out in a very timely manner. I would highly recommend Link2Exchange to anyone looking for this kind of service.
Randall C Fullerton, Charlotte NC on September 16th, 2008 at 14:49 pm
As a L2E endy user myself, and referral partner of their service to many of my long time SMB IT clients, I have experienced nothing but great service and support from their team. I know that they are always at the end of both emails and phone calls, and 100% of the issues were resolved in a timely (within hours) and professional manner.
Mark Pearlstein MSOM Communications Baltimore MD on September 16th, 2008 at 17:13 pm
Not only am I a customer of Link2Exchange I have been selling their Blackberry Enterpirse Server (BES) to my Blackberry customer's since 2002. MSOM Communications is a unique company that specializes in Blackberry for professionals and business to business clientel. In the 6 years that I have personally used their service I have not had an issue or a problem that Link2Exchange's customer service was not able to resolve 100% of the time and do it in a timely manner. Because I demonstrate business applications that a Blackberry does I am on my 6th Blackberry (I tend to wear them out) and with all the updates and programs, the integrity of the address book, calender, task and memo's has never been corrupted or comprimised. My customer base of AT&T, Nextel, Sprint and Verizon Blackberry and Treo users depend on Link2Exchange for their business and I have NEVER lost a customer because of a Link2Exchange problem, it has always been because of the carrier coverage or billing issue. Even when they have change carrier's they stay with Link2Exchange.
Paul M. on October 9th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I have been a Link2Exchange customer for a little more than a year and have been only VERY pleasantly surprised by their outstanding customer service, technical support and follow-through. In every encounter, such as when my Palm Treo and laptop melted down almost simultaneously, Link2Exchange came through for me and had me up and running -- even solving issues that were outside their natural lanes (read, helping me solve problems that originated on my end or Verizon's). I wish all of my vendors behaved and delivered for me this way!
Sheyne on October 10th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I have been using Link2Exchange for a couple of years now. Their support is responsive and knowledgeable when I have had called them which is rare because their service just plain works. I would highly recommend them. Thanks Link2Exchange and keep up the good work!
Gary ,Chicago,IL. on October 25th, 2008 at 14:40 pm
Service was fantastic. Hosted exhange and BES had fit my needs perfectly. I had used L2E too take advantage of BES server. This was a personal account; and had transformed my 8830 from a smart phone to a lap top.
My carrier raised the rates for business data plan, and I had to make a change.
Their product and cusomer service are second to none.
5 stars +
Herman on October 31st, 2008 at 16:58 pm
I've been using them for a full month now and choose them as I ready many great reviews on this site. My reivew is mixed in that the system seems to work well and I have not had any issues with uptime. But I do have issues with their Customer Service Team. I've never had any problem getting ahold of anyone so they are always properly staffed. But I have had numerous times when they did couldn't help me such as helping setup Entourage. My CEO using a MAC so they need to use Entourage. When I called the support all they could tell me is they don't support MAC. Another time there was an issue with our entire team not getting messages. Again when I got someone on the helpdesk all they told me to do is go to the knowledge base. Which I did and didn't find anything. I then reported the incident to our rep and he contacted the head of customer support which told me to email in my issue. I did and they emailed me back a link to postini to adjust my spam filter setting which was set to VERY AGRRESSIVE. Also if you are an admin you are not able to use a master control to make these settings. Everyone will need to make the setting on their own.
My overall review is it's not a bad service. But they do need to overall their interface to make it easier on the user to change spam settings and to also institute a ticket system so when there is a trouble ticket it can be tracked to completion as a few times my issue got lost. Also if you are an IT Administer the control panel isn't very robust.
I have been using Link2Exchange for almost two years. I love the service they provide and I have only needed support on a couple of occasions. When I did call they were able to help me out in a very timely manner. I would highly recommend Link2Exchange to anyone looking for this kind of service.
As a L2E endy user myself, and referral partner of their service to many of my long time SMB IT clients, I have experienced nothing but great service and support from their team. I know that they are always at the end of both emails and phone calls, and 100% of the issues were resolved in a timely (within hours) and professional manner.
Not only am I a customer of Link2Exchange I have been selling their Blackberry Enterpirse Server (BES) to my Blackberry customer's since 2002. MSOM Communications is a unique company that specializes in Blackberry for professionals and business to business clientel. In the 6 years that I have personally used their service I have not had an issue or a problem that Link2Exchange's customer service was not able to resolve 100% of the time and do it in a timely manner. Because I demonstrate business applications that a Blackberry does I am on my 6th Blackberry (I tend to wear them out) and with all the updates and programs, the integrity of the address book, calender, task and memo's has never been corrupted or comprimised. My customer base of AT&T, Nextel, Sprint and Verizon Blackberry and Treo users depend on Link2Exchange for their business and I have NEVER lost a customer because of a Link2Exchange problem, it has always been because of the carrier coverage or billing issue. Even when they have change carrier's they stay with Link2Exchange.
I have been a Link2Exchange customer for a little more than a year and have been only VERY pleasantly surprised by their outstanding customer service, technical support and follow-through. In every encounter, such as when my Palm Treo and laptop melted down almost simultaneously, Link2Exchange came through for me and had me up and running -- even solving issues that were outside their natural lanes (read, helping me solve problems that originated on my end or Verizon's). I wish all of my vendors behaved and delivered for me this way!
I have been using Link2Exchange for a couple of years now. Their support is responsive and knowledgeable when I have had called them which is rare because their service just plain works. I would highly recommend them. Thanks Link2Exchange and keep up the good work!
Service was fantastic. Hosted exhange and BES had fit my needs perfectly. I had used L2E too take advantage of BES server.
This was a personal account; and had transformed my 8830 from a smart phone to a lap top.
My carrier raised the rates for business data plan, and I had to make a change.
Their product and cusomer service are second to none.
5 stars +
I've been using them for a full month now and choose them as I ready many great reviews on this site. My reivew is mixed in that the system seems to work well and I have not had any issues with uptime. But I do have issues with their Customer Service Team. I've never had any problem getting ahold of anyone so they are always properly staffed. But I have had numerous times when they did couldn't help me such as helping setup Entourage. My CEO using a MAC so they need to use Entourage. When I called the support all they could tell me is they don't support MAC. Another time there was an issue with our entire team not getting messages. Again when I got someone on the helpdesk all they told me to do is go to the knowledge base. Which I did and didn't find anything. I then reported the incident to our rep and he contacted the head of customer support which told me to email in my issue. I did and they emailed me back a link to postini to adjust my spam filter setting which was set to VERY AGRRESSIVE. Also if you are an admin you are not able to use a master control to make these settings. Everyone will need to make the setting on their own.
My overall review is it's not a bad service. But they do need to overall their interface to make it easier on the user to change spam settings and to also institute a ticket system so when there is a trouble ticket it can be tracked to completion as a few times my issue got lost. Also if you are an IT Administer the control panel isn't very robust.