• What is Permessa Email Control! Express for Microsoft Exchange and what does it do?
  Permessa Email Control! Express is a Microsoft Exchange email management tool. It is a standalone Windows desktop application that works with Microsoft Exchange to provide email reporting and email tracking for small to mid-size Microsoft Exchange networks (up to 10,000 mailboxes). The software assists the help desk staff, Exchange administrators and IT departments to diagnose, localize and troubleshoot Exchange performance issues. It offers both a real-time view of message traffic and email health with over 30 pre-configured reports for historical activity analysis. Larger enterprises or those with more substantial needs should consider Permessa Email! Control.
• Why can't I just use my existing network and system management products or the reports built into Microsoft Exchange?
  While network and system management products deliver essential information on infrastructure and Exchange server performance, these products do not manage or report on individual messages, message routing or user activities. Permessa Email Control! Express provides the missing user and message routing-level insight that IT staff need to view how email usage is impacting the network and underlying infrastructure.
• Are there any limitations of the trial version of Permessa Email Control! Express?
  Most of the application is fully functional while "unregistered". However, some of the mailbox user names will be obfuscated when they display in an InvestigateNOW!™ Report.
• How do I analyze more than 10,000 users?
  Permessa Email Control! Express was specifically designed to give Exchange administrators a comprehensive reporting and tracking solution that allows real-time troubleshooting on current activity for a defined set of users. A desktop-level database gets you up-and-running quickly, but imposes certain data and performance limits. You can still use ECX if your user base is larger than 10,000 user. Simply remove servers from the analysis until you fall below the user limit.
  
  Looking for a solution that has no user limits? Email Investigator is the Enterprise grade companion product that overcomes these limits and offers many additional capabilities as well.
• Is the installation of Permessa Email Control! Express difficult or time consuming?
  Permessa Email Control! Express is a standalone application that installs on one Windows-based PC for email management. Usually this is on a PC used by the help desk staff, Exchange administrator or IT manager. There is no need to install any software or agents on the Exchange server(s) or any other PC in the network. The installation process is very easy and typically takes less than an hour.
• What kind of technical support does Permessa offer?
  Support for Permessa Email Control! Express is available through our online support forums at forums.permessa.com. Many commonly asked questions are already answered there and you can also post your particular questions right into the forums. Our technical support staff is actively monitoring the forums and will be happy to assist you.
• Why is a browser required for Permessa Email Control! Express?
  While the Permessa Email Control! Express runs on the desktop, a browser is required to view the graphical topology diagram and related charts produced by the TrackNOW!™ component of Permessa Email Control! Express.   Permessa Email Control! Express does not send your company's confidential data to the Internet for viewing or analysis.
• If I download and purchase Permessa Email Control! Express today, am I entitled to receive any updates to this software in the future. Will I have to pay for them?
  Permessa Email Control! Express maintenance updates are included at no charge for licensed users for a period of one year after purchase of the product. To check for these maintenance updates, launch the Update feature from within the Permessa Email Control! Express program folder.
• Can I export my report data into other programs?
  Any report can be exported into a web-based portal for viewing locally or posted to a central location for viewing by additional audiences. Also, many of the reports generated by Permessa Email Control! Express contain tabular data and can be easily exported into spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel for further analysis. The data is exported in the industry-standard .CSV format, which is supported by most spreadsheet programs.
• Is Permessa Email Control! Express installed on my Exchange server(s), or does it make any modifications to my Exchange server(s)?
  No. Permessa Email Control! Express only needs to be installed on a PC used by the help desk staff, Exchange administrator or IT manager. No software components are installed on any Exchange server(s), nor does Permessa Email Control! Express make any modifications to the Exchange server(s). Permessa Email Control! Express does not require any software or agents on any other PCs.
• What versions of Microsoft Exchange does Permessa Email Control! Express support?
  Permessa Email Control! Express supports both Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, 2003 and 2000.
• Are all of the pre-configured reports fixed? What if I want to change a report?
  No, all email reports may be customized easily. The InvestigateNOW!™ application has a component called Report Designer that facilitates the customization of any report. Choose "Edit Report Definition" from an existing report to launch the Report Designer, then create or delete columns, change the sort order, or even change the type of chart in the report. You can then save the report and use that new Report Definition as your own template.
• How scalable is the software?
  Permessa Email Control! Express now includes expanded support for complex and geographically distributed Exchange networks in user settings of up to 10,000 mailboxes. These complex networks can span the globe and can include multi-server routing configurations that are especially difficult to troubleshoot. Large organizations with more than 10,000 mailboxes and operating many Exchange servers should consider Permessa Email Control!.
• What are probe or test messages and why would I want to send them?
  A probe message, also referred to as a test message or a "synthetic transaction," is an email tracking message generated by Permessa Email Control! Express to measure the health and performance of the Exchange environment. This email tracking message is monitored step-by-step in its journey through the mail server infrastructure. Permessa Email Control! Express creates a graphical topology on where and how fast the probe message is delivered to its destination, and for some tests, how fast the message returns to the environment. The email tracking messages allow the software to probe the network and report back on such questions as:

  1. How is my email being routed?
  2. Has Internet connectivity been established?
  3. What is my SMTP gateway and general ISP health?

For install assistance or to find answers to common questions regarding the use of the product, please make sure to check our Customer Support Forums.  Our customer support staff actively monitors the forums and will be happy to assist you if you cannot find an answer to your question already there.