Announcements

New Mail Server and Anti-Spam device
Because email is critical to everyone's job, we began an initiative last year to improve performance and reliability.  We will be implementing a new Anti-Spam device, new hardware, a new version of Exchange, and a high availability solution over the next few months.

•  New anti-spam device – The anti-spam software has been replaced with a device.  This device has successfully reduced spam reaching our mail server and increased the performance of the mail server.

•  New hardware – We have implemented upgraded hardware.  This provides a platform for further growth. 

•  New version - We moved to a new version of Exchange in December that made mail processing even faster.

•  High Availability – Should the mail server experience problems, a failover server will be positioned in another building to immediately take over mail processing.  The solution is scheduled for implementation this spring.

Office 2007
Most everyone now has Office 2007.  This version of Office offers a new look and different ways of doing things that help the user perform task more easily.  Use the circled question mark in the upper right corner of your application window for Help. 

Here is a list of sites with demos and more information:

The ribbon is new for 2007 and is the main part for all office products
http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RP101482271033&CTT=6&Origin=RC101482291033

This site is for Outlook 2007
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100518161033.aspx

This site is for Excel 2007
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100484501033.aspx

This site is for Word 2007
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100484691033.aspx

This site is for PowerPoint 2007 (this one is a step through @ the web site)
http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC100687671033

Vista
We may begin deploying Vista this year.  Look for it with replacement computers.

Network Upgrade
We will be upgrading most of our Backbone connections from 100 MB to 1000MB, replacing our aging network devices with new devices, and connecting some buildings with private connections by the end of this calendar year.  This means faster, better Internet and access to files, mail, and critical applications.  There will be interruptions of mail and file access during upgrade work.  Work will be scheduled during evenings and weekends to minimize impact.  Announcements of work and outages will be made closer to implementation.

Please check back frequently for updates. Thank you!