Editorial Rating
Overview:
Thoughtbus is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and has been around for 12 years under the umbrella of NOMIA Inc. The company provides Exchange hosting services, SharePoint and more.Pros: Instead of plans, Thoughtbus offers its users features by the price, so that they can choose what they want instead of having to buy into a lot of features they may not necessarily need. Some features that the company offers include support for just about any mobile device, anti-spam protection, Outlook 2003, and email migration. You can get anything you want – for a price.
Cons: Everything costs – and this can add up. Although a lot of their prices are one-time only, many of their features have recurring costs. As well, you have to pay for mailbox backup and security features. There is a minimum of 2 users per organization.
Detailed Provider Information:
Version of BES: (Microsoft, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell Group Wise) Thoughtbus uses Microsoft Exchange 2007.Plans and Pricing: All Thoughtbus plans cost $10.95 per month per user. The mailbox capacity of the plans depends on the number of users. Plans with 2 to 9 users provides 3GB per mailbox, 10 to 24 users provides 4GB per mailbox, and 25 or more users provides 5GB per mailbox. Additional storage costs $5.95 per month per mailbox. Thoughtbus also provides licenses for Outlook 2007 and Entourage 2008.
BES access costs an additional $9.95 per user per month.
Firewall Protection: The services are protected by multiple firewalls.
Anti-Spam and Virus Protection: The standard service uses multiple anti-virus engines for all mail, inbound and outbound. It also includes basic anti-spam protection. You can also get Ultimate Anti-Spam Protection for $1.50 a month per user or $1.00 if you have a group plan.
Set-up Fee: The hosted exchange plans do not require a setup fee, but BlackBerry service setup costs $19.95.
Other Devices Supported: BlackBerry, Treo, SmartPhone, and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices.
Customer Service: Thoughtbus provides an email address for their users on the website, as well as a knowledgebase so that users can troubleshoot. You can also choose to use the toll-free telephone number on their website.
Backup History Storage: Thoughtbus does offer nightly backups. If you want your mailbox restored from any point in the last 4 weeks it will cost $19.95.
Uptime Guarantee: 99.9%, according to their website and SLA.
Additional Services: Thoughtbus also provides SharePoint services.
Fee to Change BlackBerry for Current Customers: There is no charge for this service.
