In this issue:

Concentric Currents delivers the latest information on new products, enhancements, market data, and important how-to tips in an easy-to-use format. If you’d like to receive email alerts about new products and updates, login to the Concentric Center, go to "Menu Map | My Profile" or select the tab "My Profile" and under Preferences, select "Yes" next to "Receive Newsletter".

It’s the easiest way to stay current.

Concentric Hosted Microsoft® Exchange is now Available

We’re pleased to announce Hosted Microsoft® Exchange for business customers.

Concentric Hosted Exchange provides superior email, calendar, and collaboration software through Microsoft® Exchange 2007 with a free copy of Outlook® 2003 or 2007 for Windows or Entourage® for Mac OS. Concentric Hosted Exchange comes with junk mail and virus filtering, shared folders, and many other productivity-enhancing features.

World-class Email, Calendar and Collaboration

No matter the size of your company, Concentric Hosted Exchange delivers the email, calendaring, collaboration, and mobility capabilities used by Fortune 500 companies around the world. With Concentric Hosted Exchange you get:

Collaboration

  • Group Calendaring and Scheduling

  • Public Email Folders

  • Shared Contacts, Calendars, and Folders

  • Tasks and Task Delegation

Microsoft Exchange 2007 Email

  • Outlook Web Access (OWA)

  • Secure mailbox access via Outlook

  • Optional mobile device access for BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile, and iPhone

Microsoft Outlook 2007

  • Email, Calendar, Contacts

  • Tasks, Notes, Journal

Microsoft Active Directory

  • Global Address List (GAL)

  • Offline Address Book (OAB)

Anytime, Anywhere Access

Customers can access Concentric Hosted Exchange anytime, anywhere, on any device and get Outlook Web Access (OWA) at no additional cost. Wireless access on RIM BlackBerry®, iPhone™, or Windows Mobile® devices is also available.

Real Savings

Concentric Hosted Exchange costs significantly less than in-house email servers. In addition to eliminating server hardware and software licenses, it drastically reduces hardware maintenance, power, cooling and battery backups, and software support. Concentric Hosted Exchange scales to your business without software updates and patches and disruptive upgrades. The increasingly complex infrastructure required to support email, calendar, and collaboration products are managed for you.

True Reliability & Security

Concentric Hosted Exchange includes junk mail, virus filtering, daily, weekly, and monthly backups and much more. From our world-class data center, our clustered Exchange servers and storage area network (SAN) have fast, reliable, redundant backbone network connections, redundant power grid connections, and uninterruptible power supplies and backup generators with no single point-of-failure.

The Concentric Hosted Exchange data center employs a dedicated professional security staff, multiple layers of hard-line physical security, electronically controlled access, biometric scanners, and video surveillance with digital storage. Our network security uses the best available firewalls, restricted physical network access, and strict security policies.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is optimized for hosted environments. With Remote Procedure Call (RPC) over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS), Concentric Hosted Exchange is as secure as online banking. The service is managed by experts who apply Microsoft recommended patches monthly.

Get More for Less With different types of mailboxes Concentric Hosted Exchange is available from as low as $7.95 and in convenient Mailbox Packs that help you save even more. Enable Hosted Exchange through the Concentric Help Center | Contact Customer Care or call our sales team at (866) 495-9696 and have them enable Hosted Exchange for your account. Consult our sales team or click here to learn more about Concentric Hosted Exchange.

Sign up Now for the Managed Server Beta Program

Concentric Managed Server is a hosted Linux or Windows server accessible over the Internet. To be launched in September 2008, it will be provided through the Concentric Cloud, a fault-tolerant, high availability cloud computing infrastructure. This important new service delivers on-demand processing power, bandwidth and storage capacity, high-availability, fast error recovery, and lower total cost-of-ownership.

Concentric Managed Server means affordable enterprise-class features and functionality for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). This fault-tolerant, high availability solution reduces capital expenditures on hardware, software, and other IT infrastructure resources. Customers have full control of their servers with administrative-level access. They can:

  • Install and run their own applications such as Apache (web server), IIS (web server), Sendmail (mail server), Exchange (mail server), MySQL (database server), MSSQL (database server)

  • Host and manage as many Internet, intranet, and extranet web sites as they want

  • Retain control over all files and processes on the server

Concentric Managed Server is ideal for:

  • Mission critical applications that require servers in a fault-tolerant, high availability environment

  • Hosting custom web sites—independent from selection of platform, technology, software components and scripting language—with daily server maintenance and management provided

  • Setting up a scaleable continuity/disaster recovery solution that doesn’t require replication of the entire production environment.

We’re currently looking for participants in our Beta Program from September 2nd through September 22nd, 2008. If you’re interested in being the first to benefit from this unique managed hosting service, call (866) 500-9696 to request more information. There’s no cost and participants will have the opportunity to provide valuable feedback that will drive future Concentric products and services.

Supercharge your Telecommunications

Concentric has partnered with RingCentral to help customers maintain their professional business image. RingCentral Hosted Business Phone Service allows the instant unification and intelligent management of all phone, mobile, and fax communications in one place. With plans starting as low as $9.99, you can now get the power and functionality of an enterprise phone system at a truly affordable price.

Advanced Call Management Features include:

  • Toll Free or Local Number – Get an 800 or local number and transfer existing local numbers or toll free numbers to RingCentral.

  • Internet Fax - No Fax Machine required! Send and receive faxes from a computer or any web-browser.

  • Auto-Attendant - An auto-attendant offers multiple extensions (“Press 1 for sales, 2 for support or 3 for a company directory.”) that make any company appear larger. With extensions forwarded to the same number, a one-person business doesn’t have to sound small.

  • Voicemail – Voicemail can be sent to email through the web or you can call in to retrieve your messages.

  • Fax from any Microsoft© Windows® Application - Just click the RingCentral Fax icon on the application toolbar, or select it from the File menu.

  • FindMe/FollowMe – When customers call, the system will try to reach you at sequential office, mobile, and home numbers. Numbers can also be changed based on time of day.

  • Advanced Call Screening – After identifying the call, the auto-attendant displays the number or caller’s name. It can also ask callers to state their name, which is heard through your computer or by phone when the call is sent for screening.

  • Secure Faxing - Outgoing faxes are transmitted over an encrypted connection while incoming faxes are stored in a password-protected online account.

  • Edit and Sign Faxes Electronically - Preview and print faxes, design custom cover sheets, annotate and sign faxes electronically.

RingCentral DigitalLine™ VoIP

RingCentral DigitalLine™ is a cost-effective alternative to existing landlines. This innovative service routes calls through a high-speed Internet connection using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology. RingCentral DigitalLine is great way to leverage VoIP over an existing Internet service for up to five lines. Companies looking for Internet access combined with VoIP should consider services provided by XO.

Start your 30-Day Free Trial of RingCentral Hosted Business Phone Service today.

Gear Up for the Holidays

With gas prices climbing, more people will rely on the Internet for holiday shopping. If you don’t have an online store, you may be losing key sales opportunities. Designing a retail site can be exciting but it can also take time. Concentric’s team of web design professionals can set up an effective ecommerce solution that fits your needs. We can integrate industry-leading payment and shipping options to make your customers’ buying experience smooth and easy. We’ll get you started with OSCommerce or ZenCart or customize your site with your preferred ecommerce or shopping cart solution.

Our Professional Services team can get your online store up and running fast. But don’t wait too long—the holidays are closer than you think! To get started now, just go to concentric.com and click on the Professional Services link and fill out the quote form.