Distribution Lists and Groups - the bane of every administrator's life!

The problem with groups and distribution lists is that they are extremely difficult to manage and administrators must use standard tools such as Active Directory users and Computers to manually add users, contacts, custom recipients etc to single or multiple DLs. Also, in order for individual users to be part of any kind of self service environment to join and leave DLs they need access to the same applications.

Not now though! Imanami's SmartDL does away with this manual administration. Administrators set the rules and sit back, letting the DLs take care of themselves, happy in the knowledge that as additional users are created, or as user details are edited and updated, so will the DLs as appropriate.

If a manual, web-based self service application is what you're after for your users then take a look at WebDir, which offer many useful features such as group opt-in/out and support for public, private and semi-private groups.

Group Type	Description	Support
Standard Windows groups	Create security and distribution groups exactly the same as you would using the standard Windows tools.	Active Directory, Exchange 5.5, 2000 & 2003
SmartDL Managed groups	Create security and distribution lists that are managed by SmartDL. Schedule these to update whenever you like, and use a variety of criteria to define the rules for group membership.	Active Directory, Exchange 5.5, 2000 & 2003
SmartDL Dynasty	Dynasties allow you to create a series of groups based on a single (or multiple) criteria. For example create DLs based on County and City and automatically maintain the membership of each.	Active Directory, Exchange 5.5, 2000 & 2003
Imported groups	Import a group from an external file or an ODBC connection; great if you have lists already in a SQL database or elsewhere!	Active Directory, Exchange 5.5, 2000 & 2003 Sources can be text files, .CSV files and ODBC data sources.
Query Based Distribution groups	Create Query-Based DLS in exactly the same manner as Exchange 2003 does.	Exchange 2003 (running in Exchange Native Mode only)

SmartDL in Action

To show you some of the features and capabilities of SmartDL, we've put together the following videos, which should open easily in Windows Media Player for you to view at your leisure. Resource Location Create a SmartDL Managed Group In this brief video, learn how to create a simple SmartDL Managed Group based on one Active Directory attribute. Create a SmartDL Dynasty Coming soon! Create a SmartDL Imported Group SmartDL Imported Groups are managed by SmartDL using information in a foreign data source such as spreadsheet or database. If you would like to see more of SmartDL's features and capabilities, either request an evaluation or alternatively we can provide you with an online demonstration using WebEx. Just eMail us via this link to arrange.

Resources

Imanami and Infant Technology have provided the following resources to assist you with evaluating and supporting SmartDL: Resource Location SmartDL Data Sheet Learn more about the background to SmartDL and it's capabilities. Installation Guide Learn how to install, configure and implement SmartDL. Request Evaluation Register to receive a 30-day evaluation copy of SmartDL Access SmartDL Support Forums Support forums are available for general topics as well as product wishlists. Access Archived Discussion Forums The product support forums were upgraded at the end of October 2006, but contain a host of useful information.