I started a project evaluating the new Microsoft NT Small Business Server* (read it here in a month or 2). Things went pretty well until I tried to find a way for the SBS Server to handle my e-mail. Microsoft offers a wizard to accomplish this, but when I ran it all the wizard could come up with was SpryNet for 200.00 dollars a month. Be careful with this wizard. Before I knew it I had a account with SpryNet. I called them after the install finished and cancelled the account. A month later it was on my credit card bill anyway. They did remove the charge after I read all the times and dates back to them. So the lesson is, document the whole install process and save you notes. You may need them later. $200.00 does not fit into the description of small business most of my customers use. There was no help, not from Microsoft, not from Best (whose services I resell) and not even from Verio who said they were supporting SBS (their techs kept saying not yet). I had given up and was waiting for my cable company to get around to installing cable modem support in my neighborhood (which would allow me to run my own mail server under SBS) when I happened upon POP2Exchange from GFI. This little utility does what all the bigger products can not seem to do. It gathers all your mail and then sorts it out for you. You can download a freeware version from http://www.gficomms.com which will let you grab mail from one pop box and send it to one exchange mail box which is not much, but will prove to you that it works. For $99.00 they will e-mail you a key that will allow it to do it's real job. It can grab all the mail from AnyName@YourISP.com or AnyName@YourDomain.com and sort it out to the correct exchange mail box based on the to name in the header. So now instead of $200.00 a month I can use my $30.00 a month Best account and have separate mail for everyone in my organization. (5 boxes on my test system). GFI also makes fax server and workflow software. So if you are in the market for any of these type products take a look at http://www.gfifax.com/

Andy Goodman is on the Steering Committee for BANTUG (Bay Area NT Users Group) as well as a past Officer and Director of the SVCS (Silicon Valley Computer Society). He is a Licensed Microsoft OEM and Intel Registered IPD. Andy owns and operates DownHome Computers a System Integration House in San Jose, CA. He has been involved with the electronics industry since 1975. You can reach Andy at Andy@12c4pc.com or http://www.12c4pc.com