Tools Get a Handle on E-Mail

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New messaging products from Critical Path Inc. and Nemx Software Corp. are designed to give enterprises better management of their corporate e-mail systems.

Critical Path earlier this month announced new capabilities for its namesake Communications Platform, including support for mobile access and improvements in application customization and integration.

The software, used mainly by carriers, service providers and some large enterprises, includes integrated, customizable solutions for mobile messaging; personal information management; and multimedia messaging services, said officials at Critical Path, in San Francisco.

New features include a consistent interface across e-mail, instant messaging, address books, calendars, task lists and file storage. The system can generate alerts automatically, based on user-specified events.

Critical Path Communications Platform features new XML interfaces, enabling third-party information delivery applications to automatically send and receive wireless messages over Short Message Service and Wireless Application Protocol Push. The updated platform will be the basis of the new managed message service Critical Path will offer jointly with Hewlett-Packard Co. in 2003, company officials said.

Separately, Nemx last week rolled out the Advanced Edition of Power Tools for Microsoft Exchange 2000, which provides anti-virus and anti-spam protection as well as content screening at the server level for internal and external e-mail.

The Nemx software, which integrates with Microsoft Corp.s Exchange Server messaging platform, features disclaimers, or statements automatically added to employees e-mail for legal or marketing purposes. In the same vein, the upgrade includes a capability for internal e-mail monitoring for violations of corporate policy and intellectual property protection, said Nemx officials, in Ottawa.

Power Tools for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Advanced Edition supports external e-mail monitoring for spam, text and file attachment violations. It has a concept scanning component for filtering internal and external messages based on message concept and intent instead of keywords and phrases.

Ken Rideout, network administrator at the Saskatchewan Research Council, in Saskatoon, uses Power Tools Advanced Edition to screen incoming e-mail for offensive content in support of organizational policy.

“We have a nonoffensive atmosphere here, so we do everything we need to do to keep that stuff out,” Rideout said. However, the company doesnt use Power Tools to screen for all spam, due to the high cost of labor involved in creating all the necessary filters, Rideout said.