January/February 2008 Newsletter - in this issue: new Standard spam and junk mail filtering, GroupWare Connector for Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL), web site design package, web site maintenance package, Private Domain Registration

Concentric ®
One Account. Countless Options.

Updated Spam Filter Fights Spam with Greater Accuracy

In the almost fourteen years that ‘modern’ spam has plagued the Internet, there have been repeated predictions that it was coming to an end, whether due to new laws or new technology or the invisible hand of the market. I’ve made some of those predictions myself, but most experts now agree that spam is going to be an endemic drain on the Internet for a long time to come, and new technologies can only keep it from growing further.

To put this into perspective, we currently handle up to 200 million inbound emails on an average day, with 80 to 90% of that being spam or otherwise undesirable email. These percentages are in line with spam rates elsewhere. To handle the ever-increasing volume of mail, we continue to bring online new hardware and new versions of our mail routing and delivery engine. We’re now deploying high-density 24-CPU servers to provide aggressive filtering options to handle that volume.
As part of these efforts, we’ve also released a new spam filtering engine. This was rolled out to Standard filtering customers over the past two months and we’re seeing, overall, a decrease in missed spam of about 8x. Our new Standard filtering has a number of improvements to get that increase in accuracy; it performs a number of statistical analyses on inbound messages and collects pattern information on inbound spam, using that to update itself multiple times a day to keep up-to-date with the constant change in spam techniques. This same updating process takes reported errors from customers into account for future corrections; users of Concentric Web Mail who report errors are directly contributing to improved filtering performance.

Other than core protocol enforcement—i.e., we can reject messages that fail basic compliance/compatibility tests—all our spam filtering is opt-in. In other words, unlike many email providers, we allow our customers to decide whether and how their mail is filtered.

    We strongly encourage users to enable, at the minimum, free Virus and junk mail filtering. If you’re seeing a lot of spam, please make sure that you have filtering enabled for your users by checking the radio button. To enable filtering go to My Profile | Email Options. Select On for the User Junk Mail Filtering option. You can also enable a safe list by checking the radio button for User Rule Filtering. Note that while there are sensitivity settings you can use to adjust how much mail is allowed through we recommend that most users leave this set to the default, middle setting. Also, please periodically check your junk mail quarantine (Concentric Web Mail Junk Mail folder is the default) to make sure there are no ‘false positives’ (legitimate messages tagged as junk), and adjust the sensitivity setting as needed.

We have a number of additional improvements in mail and filtering handling coming soon. The new filtering technology is currently deployed in the Standard filtering level; this same engine will be rolled into Premium filtering over the coming months. We are also deploying additional intelligence into the filtering engine to further correct the statistical analysis, and core mail routing engine enhancements are rolling out to slow down spammers while not impeding legitimate mail, and to utilize some emerging protocols to reduce mail spoofing and phishing attempts. For our Outlook users, we are testing an Outlook plug-in which can be used for client-side filter training without having to find messages in the Web interface for Custom training. And we will soon be offering filtering on forwarded mail and distribution lists.

Have questions about filtering or features you’d like to see? Contact our Customer Care group by using the Contact Customer Care form in the Concentric Center and we’ll take a look!

David Schairer
Chief Technology Officer
Concentric, an XO Business

Beta Update :GroupWare Connector for Microsoft® Outlook® Now Available

GroupWare now includes the GroupWare Connector for Microsoft Outlook . The Connector lets you experience all the features of GroupWare with the familiar Outlook interface, giving you much of the functionality of a Microsoft Exchange environment without the associated costs or IT maintenance.

Some things you can do with GroupWare and the new Connector for Microsoft® Outlook® :

  • Synchronize your Outlook® mail folders, contacts, and calendar between Outlook and your online Web Mail contacts and calendars for anywhere, anytime access
  • Select contacts from the Shared Contacts Address Book and send emails or meeting invites
  • Simplify meeting scheduling by viewing time availability of individuals within your organization and schedule meetings in Outlook
  • Set up Personal and Shared calendars
  • Manage Notes and Tasks and keep them organized in lists
  • Publish one or more of your calendars to your website

Collaboration Mode and the Connector are free while in Beta. After the Beta period ends, the Connector will be included with GroupWare Collaborative —just $5.95/user/month, or added to the GroupWare Personal for just $2.00/user/month.

Beta testing on GroupWare will continue for the next several months. Users will be notified 30 days before the end of Beta testing. Master, Domain, or User Administrators can enable the Collaborative mode in the Concentric Center by selecting Outlook Connector Beta under the Applications sub-tab under Calendar. Administrators can activate the Connector for users wishing to remain in Personal mode by changing permissions on the GroupWare settings page located under the Manage sub-tab under Users. While there is no phone-based support available during the Beta period, you’ll find extensive FAQs and an installation guide on the GroupWare Connector page in the Concentric Center.

Your feedback is always welcome. Please go to the Tools sub-tab in the GroupWare sub-tab and select “Feedback” to give your feedback to the product management team.

New for Windows Plans: Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005

We are pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) for the Concentric Windows hosting platform. The addition of Microsoft’s Premier database rounds out the Windows .NET hosting platform capabilities, and greatly expands the range of applications available, including leading applications like Community Server and Classifieds Web Site.

Available on all Windows premium hosting plans it includes up to four database instances and up to 200MB of total data storage. Additional storage is available for as an add-on. The MSSQL database features a full suite of web-based administrative tools. As the Administrator, you can execute TSQL scripts, easily add or modify database schema, and even make backup copies of your database ready for download. Due to security reasons we do not currently support direct access to the database.

FAQs are available to assist customers currently using MS Access who would like to move up to the robust and scalable MSSQL database. Additional FAQs to help you with the installation and configuration of a wide range of .NET applications are coming soon.

For more information about MSSQL please contact us at either SALES or by phone at 866-500-9696.

Spotlight on Professional Services: New Web Site Maintenance and Web Site Design Services Bundles Make Your Life Easier

Our bundled Professional Services packages address the needs of business customers who need help getting their web site up and running as well as the ongoing maintenance to keep it running smoothly and up-to-date.

Bundles combine our most popular Professional Services:

  • Web Hosting Account & Set-Up – Set-up of your hosting account, users email accounts, and configuration of our powerful antivirus and spam features
  • Website Migration – If your web site is currently hosted elsewhere, we’ll migrate your web site to your new hosting account
  • Web site Design – Whether you need a web site, or are ready for a redesign of your existing web site, we will design your site for you, including a Contact Us form
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – We’ll work with you to make sure your web site is optimized for search engines and help you select keywords
  • Google Analytics – Set-up of Google Analytics, a free application, that provides a wealth of information about how your web site visitors travel through your web site
  • Web Site Maintenance –Content and html edits, account maintenance, email issues - use this time for any web site issues you may encounter during the 12-month contract

Save 20% over our regular Professional Services rate by taking advantage of the Web Assistant and Web Designer bundles. Visit us at http://www.concentric.com/professional_web_site_services.php, or call ( 866) 500-9696 for more information.

Feature Focus: Private Domain Registration Keeps Your Personal Contact Information Under Wraps

Your domain is an asset just like other parts of your business; and as an important asset, it needs to be protected. ICANN, the governing body of domain names, requires that every preferred registrar maintain an accessible “WHOIS” directory for all registered domains. That means that your personal information, as well as the administrative and technical contacts for your web site, your name servers, and the IP address where your web site is located is available to anyone who wants to see it, 24 hours a day, everyday.

Private Domain Registration is an optional service that keeps your personal or business information hidden from public view. If a third party wants to contact you, that message is filtered through our domain name registrar who screens the message for spam and passes valid email communications to you. You control whether or not you respond to the message.

Private Domain Registration is only $9.95 for one year. Sign-up for this service by logging into the Concentric Center, going to Domain Settings and selecting Activate Private Domain Registration.

© Copyright 2008 XO. All rights reserved. Concentric, Concentric logo, Impossibly Easy, and XO are trademarks of XO Communications, Inc. All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

This promotional message is brought to you by XO Communications, Inc., 13865 Sunrise Valley Drive, Herndon, VA 20171. If you received this message in error or no longer wish to receive communications from XO about its products and services, you can opt out by logging into the Concentric Center, going to "Manage Users" and "Edit User Profile". Select "No" for "Receive Newsletter" in the Preferences box.