All mail archived onto the Gaggle system is indexed for fast searching. You can search an individual user's account or search for messages across your entire organization. You can search message bodies, subjects, from address, to address and more. Searches are very fast and typically return results in less than 5 seconds.
In addition to indexing of the messages, Gaggle provides search capability for common attachment types such as MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, RTF and TXT documents. The system supports Boolean search terms with multiple wild cards just like the Google search engine. Sophisticated search options such as proximity searches, fuzzy searches, wild cards and boosted search terms are also available.
Using powerful Boolean search terms such as pluses, minuses, “or statements” and quotes, you can narrow your search down to meet very specific criteria. For example, by typing: +budget +george +“cisco switch” –firewall in the attachment field, you can find the email with the attached pdf document which contains George’s description of the budget for a Cisco switch but does not include any mention of a firewall.
Because the search functionality is built into Gaggle’s new AJAX interface, it is very fast and easy to use. Gaggle’s web based interface looks just like an email client such as Outlook. There is no complicated system to learn, and you’ll immediately know how to search for and find the archived messages you need.
In addition to indexing of the message bodies, the Gaggle system also indexes common attachment types. Attachments such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, and RTF documents are indexed for fast searching. For example, you can search for a particular phrase in an unknown attachment across your entire organization.
Messages archived onto the Gaggle system are stored on multiple systems in multiple locations. Gaggle maintains disk-based, enterprise class storage systems in both Los Angeles and Chicago for fast, reliable access. In addition, messages are written to Write Once Read Many (WORM) tape drives for added security.
At Gaggle customer service is a priority. When you call Gaggle you’ll immediately speak to a real person; not voice mail. In most cases the person answering the phone can immediately answer your question.
Customer service support is provided Monday-Friday from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Central Standard Time via telephone and email. During non-business hours, email support is available with a response time of less than 8 hours. Support is provided for both your technical team and your non-technical staff members.
The interface for accessing the archived mail is an AJAX interface that looks just like Outlook inside of a web page. Your staff members will find the interface fast, intuitive and easy to use.
The Gaggle system has 7 different user access levels and offers various groupings for business units and departments. This flexibility allows sub-administrators to search only in the specific users for whom they are responsible. For example, a sales manager might have access to search the email archives for only the members of his sales team.
With the Private Account option the mail of your executive team can be off limits to searching. IT staff members cannot be accused of indiscriminate snooping, as private accounts are inaccessible. The private account restriction can only be lifted by Gaggle with written consent from the appropriate decision maker.
Gaggle provides extensive logs of all activity. All searches are logged to a database available via the Gaggle web interface. In addition, each time a message is read, downloaded or forwarded from the archives, the information is logged to the database. The logs include the date/time of the access, the administrator account which performed the action and the IP address of the user at the time of the activity.
Whenever a user accesses your organization’s archives, an immediate notice can be sent to your designated administrators. This is one more way you can monitor your important archives and prevent unwanted access.
As messages are stored on the system, a checksum value is calculated based on the message body, IP address, date and sender name. Archive administrators can verify the authenticity of a message by clicking the Verify Message button. The hashed value for the message is recalculated and compared against the value stored in the database.
Your IT staff members will receive nightly reports confirming the successful archive of the mail. The report will provide detailed information on the number of messages archived for each user and list any errors which may occur during the process.
Downloading the raw text versions of your email is very easy. You can select specific messages to download, download the entire contents of a folder or download an entire set of search results. When multiple messages are selected for downloaded, they are compressed into a single zip file for faster access. The downloaded messages are saved with the “.eml” extension, which can be opened in Outlook via double-clicking from the desktop.
Access to the Gaggle archives can be granted to users based upon your Active Directory or LDAP database. This is one of two single-sign-on solutions provided by Gaggle. A Trusted Server Authentication feature is also available.
Messages archived within Gaggle can be re-delivered to your local mail server. If a user’s local system crashes, the mail can be pushed back through to your mail server or downloaded to the user’s email client via pop3 or IMAP protocols.
Gaggle provides a complete back up email system in case of emergency. If your mail server is down or the internet connection is broken, your staff can still communicate via Gaggle. Your users will have access to Gaggle’s web based email client or they can use pop3, SMTP and IMAP clients such as Outlook. When your system is back online, the mail can be re-delivered to your local mail server.
The Gaggle archiving solution can be used to migrate user accounts between email systems. For example, if your organization is moving from GroupWise to Exchange, Gaggle can pull the mail out of GroupWise and insert the messages into Exchange. The original folder structure can often be preserved during the transfer.
The Gaggle email system includes several reports that can be run to analyze the mail sent and received by your users.
An Email Content Alert feature is coming to Gaggle. This new system will allow your organization to create and enforce policies regarding the acceptable use of email.
