Review: E-mail Options For Small Business

Few small e-mail server vendors on the market can say with confidence that they offer a product that can measure up to Exchange. We know of one: Gordano.

Now at version 15.01, Gordano's Messaging Suite has been completely revamped from the bottom up. Bye bye Java interface and hello Ajax. The email suite now arrives with an Ajax user interface. The new interface still uses Microsoft's familiar Outlook Web Access client look and feel.

Moving away from Java has given GMS a boost in performance on the server side. Almost all of the interface's logic and processing now is done at the client side. The interface supports drag and drop for just about every editable item. Gordano also created a new calendaring interface in Ajax that allows users to dynamically view events, including dragging and dropping events around the calendar.

Calendar supports iCal, so it is completely interoperable with many popular calendaring programs, including Microsoft Outlook. GMS comes with an auto-synchronization feature for Outlook. Synchronizing email clients allows users to access their emails from Outlook and GMS's Webmail.

GMS comes with a feature-rich task scheduler that's accessible from multiple spots in the messaging system. For instance, by double clicking on a calendar item, the scheduler pops up. Users can add attendees, send reminders and automatically book meeting rooms on a repeated basis. Scheduling supports auto-synchronization as well.

After testing the basic features, The Test Center found a couple of problems with the client. First, the client did not save the session correctly. Every time we were disconnected and started another session, we were thrown back to the default starting page.

GMS didn't come with any feature or provide a message to help users save their location in the email system. We also could not transfer multiple items in the calendar across months. The only option was to cut and paste of each item.

In addition to calendaring, users can create notes and journals and share them publicly. GMS provides a simple method to share notes and tasks with co-workers. Since GMS is now built on JavaScript, Gordano is extending the functionality with Gizmos, which are Firefox GreaseMonkey scripts that are designed to integrate external applications with the messaging server.

So far, the interesting Gizmos included in the email system are the Skype Call and Chat buttons, Archive folders and the Dictionary. After selecting a Gizmo, a button appears in the toolbar.

We tested the Dictionary Gizmo and it worked. Words needed to be highlighted. Unfortunately, the Gizmos only work from the main interface. For example, when composing a new email or replying to an old one, we were not able to use the Dictionary Gizmo. Apparently, the scope of this Gizmo could not reach the WYSIWYG email editor.

We also noticed some delays when navigating between features. At times, the JavaScript loaded too slowly, so we saw the buttons and the pages forming in midstream. Since this is the first version with JavaScript, it is going to take Gordano developers time to speed the code.

GMS's price is $2,074 or $83 per user for a perpetual 25 end-user license. For a 250-user license, the company sells the email server for $10,908 or $44 per user.

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