<Jason.Johnson3@amedd.army.mil> wrote:
>Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>Caveats: NONE
>
>I wondered if anyone has a good web browser-based, hosted email
>recommendation with the following caveats:
>--My initial recommendation was Google's education solution but it is
>currently out of the running due to negative experiences with the gmail
>service when administrators used it for personal email.
>--We have a host that can provide web based access to mail using
>Squirrel mail but no one likes the overall interface.
>--We are not considering a hosted Microsoft Exchange solution at this
>time, mostly due to its comparatively high cost and the differences in
>functionality when used on different platforms.
>
IMHO Google Apps is THE solution for those looking for a web-based email
solution. We have been looking at Google Apps since Fall 2006, are currently
running a pilot with about 40 users, and will be switching over the summer.
With all due respect to your administrators, I hardly think their personal
experiences with Gmail should be anything beyond one factor among many.
Perhaps you administrators might like the price...free! Furthermore, no
matter what you switch to some will like it and some won't. It doesn't make
sense for the personal preference of a few to outweigh all other considerations.
Don't forget Google Calendar, Google Start, Google Docs, and Google Sites.
While you probably won't be jumping into these on day one, all of them show
a lot of promise for education use. Also, Google Apps is very well
positioned as ubiquitous broadband becomes a reality and more and more users
have Internet connected phones/mobile devices.
Sorry I didn't have time for more specifics...
--
Tom Phelan
Director of Technology
Peddie School
tphelan@peddie.org
Voice: 609.944.7625
Fax: 609.944.7913
http://www.peddie.org
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