I 'inherited' FirstClass 3 years ago when I joined my School. MICDS
migrated from Exchange to FirstClass shortly before my arrival.
From my experience, FirstClass is VERY difficult to manage from an
integration perspective and it lags behind other systems when comparing
basic email, calendaring, and contacts features and functions. We are a
large School with multiple systems that require messaging integration with
FirstClass. . . It's always a challenge. We're still trying to get a
stable PDA calendar synchronization service from FirstClass.
With that said, I think FirstClass has some nice collaboration tools for
schools IF you're really committed to investing the time and energy into
really developing and integrating them into your environment.
Dave
MICDS
Director of Technology
314-995-7478
A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> writes:
>I would just add to this that choosing an email system based upon the
>inability of a very few administrators to imagine life without
>Blackberries is not exactly a pedagogically sound decision.
>
>
>A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> writes:
>>I've managed both FirstClass and Exchange and have found things to love
>>anvd
>>hate about both. If you're interested in unified messaging (Fax, voice
>>matil,
>>and e-mail all in one place), the FirstClass solution is pretty slick and
>>integrates nicely with the FC server. FC also has some nice collaboration
>>features (like chat) that may or may not be great in your particular
>>environment. That said, calendaring, remote access, and Blackberry
>>integration are strong suits for Exchange, and our administrators, at
>>leasgt,
>>can't imagine life without Blackberries. Educational pricing for
>>Exchangea is
>>pretty competitive, and in my experience is no easier or harder to manage
>>than FirstClass. (shrug) I really think the "best" solution for a given
>>school depends on the institution's communications culture and how it
>>hopeos
>>to direct that culture in the future
>>
>>Good luck with the decision!
>>
>>David
>>
>>David Rossell
>>Administrator of Network Services and Planning
>>Norwood School
>>8821 River Rd.
>>Bethesda, MD 20817
>>(301) 841-2178
>>drossell@norwoodschool.org
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: A forum for independent school educators
>>[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Peter Hoopes
>>Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 10:41 AM
>>To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>>Subject: Re: FirstClass to Exchange 2007
>>
>>A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> on
>>February 22, 2008 at 10:37 AM -0500 wrote:
>>>Most organizations that considering do so because they feel they have to
>>>be M$ products from head to toe.
>>
>>Pardon my terrible English here - typos abound. What I meant to say was:
>>
>>Most organization that are considering moving from FC to Exchange do so
>>because they feel that top-to-bottom M$ integration is beneficial.
>>However, many schools have found that not to be the case.
>>>
>>And yes, we are a FirstClass school that has had a lot of success with
>>FirstClass. Its not perfect, but its a ton easier to manage than
>>Exchange...
>>
>>Peter Hoopes
>>Director of Technology
>>St. Andrew's School
>>phoopes@standrews-de.org
>>=====================
>>
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>>[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
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>>
>
>[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
>Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,
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[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
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