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 2003 and 2007, which will be introduced soon.
Plans and Pricing: Thoughtbus doesn’t have plans – they offer features at a cost to their users. To get just the hosting and licensing fee with 200 MB a mailbox (and 10 MB for public folders), it’s $9.95 a month with no set-up fee. If you want anti-spam protection on top of that, it’s $1.50 per user, per month and $1.00 if you have a group plan. Their additional storage costs are $4.95 per month for every 100 MB, and $6.95 for every additional 100 MB for public folders.
If you’re looking for mobile service, Thoughtbus provides that to its users. For BlackBerry Enterprise Service, it’s $9.95 per month, per user with a $39.95 set-up fee. If you have a Treo, you can get Pylon service for $9.95 a month with a $39.95 set-up fee. ActiveSync is included, but if you want Good Mobile Messaging for your Pocket PC or SmartPhone, it will cost you $9.95 a month with a $39.95 set-up fee.
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: No set-up fee for the mailboxes, but if you want mobile service, you’ll have to pay a set-up fee of $39.95 depending on the service that you choose.
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 of data, you’ll have to pay for it – it’ll 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.
My company (we have 30 users) have used Thoughtbus.com for 3+ years and we have always been incredibly impressed with the level of service we get. We use almost all of their services - blackberry, sharepoint, goodlink and anti-spam - and think it is a great service for the money! The costs are really reasonable, especially when compared with what it would cost if we had to support everything in-house. We've just upgraded to Exchange 2007 and I wanted to write the review because of how seamless (and free) the transition was.
Isn't the previous reviewer MARRIED to the CEO of this company?