In the past, we allocated 50 megabytes per user, and with this rollout we not only consolidated from 35 to eight servers, to use the Redmond example, but we also doubled the per-user disk capacity to 100 Mb. We want to make sure we have enough storage to accommodate rich text documents and PowerPoint presentations as well as unified messaging, technology we're starting to roll out across the campus, which means users will now also store voice mail in their inboxes. But one of the big wins for end users is Outlook Web Access, which gives employees access to their email over the Internet. We've always had a hard boundary where our network ends, and when we were off the network it was really hard to get on email. Say you're in an airport and you walk into an Internet kiosk or you're at a friend's house, you simply type in the specific URL for your mailbox and your password, and you're in.
Employees can now check email wherever there is an Internet connection.
With OWA, we are giving people the easiest remote access they've ever experienced. And from there, of course, it's not a long stretch of the imagination to think of people getting their email from their cell phones. That's a few projects away for my team, but enabling wireless devices will be one of my top priorities moving forward. The other big end-user benefit is instant messaging. Right now we have about 6,000 active users of instant messaging, and people are starting to use it in a much bigger way.