USA.net is based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is a completely outsourced mail hosting company that, in their words, lets “you run your business. We’ll run your mail.”
Pros: With USA.net, you get three tiered plans that come with a lot of great features. Some features include Outlook Web Access, Outlook and Entourage, anti-virus and anti-spam scans, Multilanguage capacities, public folder access, journaling, and more. You can pick the features that you want and you don’t have to pay for features you don’t need. If you need to buy extra storage, it’s relatively cheap at $0.40 per 10 MB per month.
Cons: A lot of features are only available through Outlook Web Access, but because that’s included, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You can only increase your mailbox size if you buy a Platinum account – the other accounts only include 25 MB and 50 MB. You also have to pay extra for 24/7 phone support per user.
Version of BES: (Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell Group Wise) USA.net uses Microsoft Exchange 2003.
Plans and Pricing: There are three plans available from USA.net. The first is the Silver account, which offers 25 MB of storage, Outlook or Entourage 2004, a personal calendar, and anti-virus and spam protection. It costs $5.95 a month for each user. This includes all the required Microsoft Exchange licenses. The next plan is the Gold Plan. It includes 50 MB of storage and includes all the features of the Silver plan, plus access to public folders and task and notes management.
The final plan is the Platinum plan, and this includes mailbox sizes of 100, 200 and 500 MB. The 100 MB plan is $14.95 a month; the 200 MB plan is $17.95 a month and the 500 MB plan is $25.95 a month. This plan includes all the features of the Gold plan and also gives enhanced calendaring, journaling and access methods.
For an extra $10 a month ($10 set-up fee), Platinum users can add wireless BlackBerry email to their account. You can also get Microsoft ActiveSync for $5 (no set-up fee) a month, or Good Mobile messaging for $17.95 a month per user, with a set-up fee of $18 per user.
Firewall Protection: USA.net offers secure encrypted mail and network tools to keep you safe.
Anti-Spam and Virus Protection: Anti-virus and anti-spam protection is offered with all plans. You can also purchase a security package for a low fee per month.
Set-up Fee: Set-up fees include $7.00 per user for basic set-up. USA.net also provides a training session and sets up the mailboxes for you. This is a non-recurring fee. If you want migration, you’ll have to pay $12.00 a user, but it includes all the components of basic set-up, plus professional help with your data and a training session. If you want an enhanced migration, it’ll cost you $20. However, you get seamless mail routing and a consolidated address book. This is an extremely good deal – many set-up fees are high and email migration can be very complicated and expensive.
Other Devices Supported: USA.net supports BlackBerry, Good Mobile Devices and Windows ActiveSync-supported devices.
Customer Service: 24/7 administrative support is included with all plans, but if you want telephone support, it will cost $2 a month per user, and $2.50 if you want toll-free telephone support.
Backup History Storage: USA.net offers regular backups with all plans.
Uptime Guarantee: 99.9%, according to the company’s SLA.
Additional Services: USA.net offers other services, such as Archiving Assist, which costs $2 per user, per month, and has a one-time set-up fee of $250; Enforced TLS, which is $400 per domain (one-time) and $295 a month for recurring domains, and Directory Synchronization, which is based on requirements.
Fee to Change BlackBerry for Current Customer: There is no charge for this service.
