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Communication through e-mail has become a way of life for most, and this week is no exception for innovations and trends in the hosted Exchange industry. While several hosted Exchange solutions were unveiled this week in the mobile and unified communications spaces, the habits of e-mail users took center stage in several polls and studies, revealing interesting – but not so surprising – trends.

Before we dive into what most e-mail users have been up to, let’s shift our attention to the introduction of some new hosted Exchange solutions out on the market. Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange hosting leader Intermedia released this week a server version of its Online Backup Service to serve as a counterpart to its already innovative desktop option. Positioned as a critical part of sound business operations, the Online Backup Service server model can prevent the potential derailment of businesses caused by server issues and malfunctions. By automatically backing up server data to the cloud, the server feature is designed to provide another layer of security and safety for businesses.

In other news, message processing appliances and applications provider Sendmail unveiled its Sendmail IP application for the iPhone (News - Alert). Now available as a free download on the App Store, the new Sendmail IP Info offers the functionality of an on-the-go administrative tool to help keep hosted Exchange e-mail systems administrators’ corporate e-mail infrastructure secure and performing at optimal levels.

Several studies released this week revealed where e-mail stands today and the path it’s likely to take in the next few years. First, a Radicati Group study revealed that global e-mail accounts are set to increase from an already whopping 3.1 billion accounts in 2011 to about 4.1 billion by the end of 2015. Meanwhile, data also indicated that a great deal of corporate and consumer communication is also shifting to other forms of communications, including IM and social networks. No surprise there!

When, where and how do you read your e-mails? Well, Return Path examined the e-mail reading trends of hosted Exchange e-mail users across various platforms, including tablets. Shockingly, even with the advent of mobile, webmail and desktop e-mail viewing are in no hurry to make an exit. Even with mobile e-mail viewership coming in at 81 percent growth, webmail still has an e-mail viewership of 48 percent with desktop e-mail viewing remaining unchanged at 36 percent.

The study also revealed that mobile e-mail activity increased during weekends and also when people were on-the-go. For webmail, it was lowest on Wednesday, picked up a little on other week days but increased tremendously during the weekend. In contrast, desktop use was high during the week, peaked on Wednesday and dropped drastically during the weekends.

For more on hosted Exchange, visit the Hosted Exchange community on TMCnet.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell