Exchange 2013

You can setup user to use Only POP3,

  Refer Setup-Pop3.PNG. for configuration.

To have ability to share calenders, refer following microsoft article.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124133(v=exchg.141).aspx
Setup-Pop3.PNG

Using Exchange just for calendars is like buying a Ferrari to go to the shops. Yes you can do it, but completely pointless and not the best choice of product for the task.

Furthermore it is almost impossible for Exchange to not get involved with email delivery, so even if you are using POP3 accounts, you would still have some internal email flowing through Exchange. To send meeting invitations for example, that needs to go through Exchange.

Personally I would drop the POP3 accounts at the ISP, there is almost no good reason to retain them (unless you are the ISP, as it is a good way to keep your business). If they don't want to do that, then look for a shared calendaring solution - Google Apps for example, that will not interfere in the email flow.

Simon.

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. I suggested using something like google apps to them but one of the staff members came from another organization who used Exchange and they seem to have their heart set on it. I was trying to come up with a viable solution that would not affect their pop3 accounts too much. I have in the past used the pop accounts as well as the .local internal accounts in the mail client. It works ok but the customer would like to keep the confusion for staff members to a minimum. The accounts are hosted with the website domain so removing them would pose more issues.

I am currently into Sharepoint as well to see if the calendar option would work as well.

Simon, the company has maybe 60 employees and i would think exchange is definitely overkill for a company that small as well.

60 Employees? I would say POP3 is the major problem. I would start looking at Exchange from less than 10 - my smallest Exchange client is at 5. POp3 isn't a corporate system, it is a consumer system and doesn't deserve a place in business.

"The accounts are hosted with the website domain so removing them would pose more issues. "

No, that is the most common configuration. The only problem would be getting the hosting company to setup their systems properly. Deploying Exchange is just a matter of a few DNS records and everything is working correctly.

At 60 employees they would definitely benefit from having a proper email server with the full collaboration features, rather than the POP3 system. Most ISPs put POP3 on cheap servers no redundancy, no failover. I once worked next door to an ISP and their sysadmins said that if the POP3 server shutdown, it wouldn't come back. They had a UPS that needed its own room and a generator the size of a small van to keep it alive.

Simon.

Hi Simon,

Everything seems to be working ok with the POP accounts for everyone. All they want to do is have the ability to share calendars.  I'm just not sure how to proceed with routing the mail as I have read other articles stating to be careful with security and creating an open relay on the exchange server.

Thanks,

Greg

Hi Simon,

Thank you for all of your advice. My customer discussed the various options and came up with Office 365 with Microsoft hosting the Exchange. As they are a charitable organization, they get a discount.

Thanks again,

G