GFI MailEssentials for Exchange/SMTP Listing updated: February 22, 2008

GFI MailEssentials is a server based anti-spam, anti-phishing & email management solution for Exchange, which catches spam at server level.

GFI MailEssentials also protects users from phishing emails by detecting and blocking them before they reach the recipient’s mailbox. Emails originating from, and terminating at the network are processed by advanced technologies built in GFI MailEssentials, maximizing spam capture rate whilst minimizing false positives.

GFI MailEssentials offers a high spam detection rate (98%) because of its Bayesian filtering technology and low false positives through its auto whitelist feature. GFI MailEssentials installs on the server (and therefore requires no client software) and allows users to review email marked as spam from junk mail folder.

Other features include: Disclaimers, mail monitoring of particular email addresses, centralized mail archiving to database, mail reporting, auto replies with variables/fields and seamless integration with Exchange Server 2000/2003 & 2007!

A free, fully functional, 30-day trial is available for download on our website. Purchase GFI MailEssentials at permanently reduced pricing!

Company: GFI Software
URL: www.gfi.com
Email: info@gfi.com
Price: $207.20 for 10 mailboxes

Users' Rating: 4.22 [299 votes] - Vote

Comments

February 23, 2006 - a tip and opinion by keith,: I find this program is good, wish i could change rules for specific boxes but overall we are happy with it. I did notice a lot of my problems were caused by the email in the badmail folder (inetpub\mailroot\badmail) not being automatically deleted. I had to make a simple batch file and run it several times a day to clear that out automatically and since then its run with no problems.
February 8, 2006 - Sometimes messages get stuck in Exchange 2003 queue... by Dmitry, Product Rating: 4/5: .. with status "Messages pending submisiion" and you must reboot Exchange server (it takes 10-15 min).
It's ok after uninstall GFI ME.
Easy to set up and good anti-spam solution in all. --version 11.0
July 20, 2005 - Good product with at least one hole by LA, Product Rating: 4/5: GFi MailEssentials 10.1 is a good product that is more intuitive to use than 4 other programs I tested for filtering out unsolicited electronic mail.

GFi ME currently has at least one hole in it: Russian-appearing mail that uses Cyrillic character sets "koi8-r" or "windows-1251" passes through the program (instead of being filtered out). The program contains an option to block e-mails written in languages that use Cyrillic characters but this option fails to block e-mails that use these two character sets. (As a result, my e-mail server is receiving numerous such unwanted messages). GFi has not responded to reports on their forum, in a technical chat session, or by e-mail, about this hole.
May 5, 2005 - Product gets buggier every version... by Chris Musgrove, Product Rating: 3/5: The latest version (10) seems to have its fair share of bugs. These are bugs that have been with the product for several versions. I have used it since ver. 8. I have it installed at about 15 of my clients. It works O.K. at some and not at others. The results with the installs are unpredictable.
December 15, 2004 - nice but...language problem by Stanislav, Product Rating: 3/5: Version 10.1
Nice product, but if you add keyword in cyrillic language, it tags as spam ALL e-mail with text in this language in the body, even there is no such keyword.
September 27, 2004 - Limited disclaimer flexibility by Darren Gayler, Product Rating: 3/5: Logo / Disclaimer placement very limited. Can only be at very top or bottom of e-mail
August 4, 2004 - Newest Version even better by Kendall Thomas, Product Rating: 5/5: The newest version 10 includes a list server, disclaimers, and a breakdown of black and white listings to make this product even better than before.
May 13, 2004 - Works ok, but beware of false positives by Joe T.,: Easy to install and get going; all in all the product works, but the bayesian product do tend to confuse 'good' email (financial related mostly), with spam. Be alert!
February 5, 2004 - Easy to use by Joeroger1, Product Rating: 4/5: Installation was easy. Setup to forward blocked "SPAM" to a public folder. Blocks 90% if not more of all the junk we get. Just wish it had anti-virus as well (instead of needing another product).
January 12, 2004 - Very good inexpensive SPAM solution, but... by Mike Campbell, Product Rating: 3/5: MailEssentials is an excellent anti-spam solution. The latest version includes bayesian technology, which catches 95% alone. However, GFI programs have a few quirky issues you should be aware of. I suggest reviewing the user forums to get an idea. I also use GFI MailSecurity, and again, great program with a few issues. Also, overall I'm disappointed with GFI tech support.
November 12, 2003 - Best Solution I have used by Chris W., Product Rating: 5/5: The Bayesian filter in version 9 has been catching spam that I was constantly having to update in the Keyword and Header filters. It has dramatically reduced the time I was spending to keep the filters updated.
Fantastic product! Can't praise it enough.
November 10, 2003 - GFI version 9 by Alan Engle,: Bayesian filtering really does get 98% but it does take several weeks for it to learn. It now can add a tag to the subject line (ie [SPAM] or can move emails to a specified folder so you don't have to worry about false positives.
September 17, 2003 - Thought through product by Dennis T.,: It took me 1 day to decide that GFI MailEssentials for Exchange/SMTP is what we need. This product is structured and logical - people who made it knew what they were doing.
September 13, 2003 - GFI MailEssentials is great! by noogie,: It works great, easy installattion and configuring.
all was done in like 20 mins (including personal blacklist) safes me 30% of diskspace not getting spam
May 23, 2003 - Quick and Easy by Lee,: Very easy to install and catches SPAM quite effectively; I also love the POP3 download feature as it allows me to set up remote users with their Internet mail accounts without 'shadowing' having their units brought in
May 22, 2003 - Lived up to everything good I heard about it. by Jerry Hoffman,: I had a 90-day eval period to test this product, but I didn't need half that long to decide that I wanted to get the product registered.
Very easy to install and configure to get you up and running in a minimal amount of time.
The junk/spam mail filter alone is worth the price, knowing now how efficient the product is. The extra features are a bonus and I am currently evaluating how I can implement some of them.
Great product!
April 25, 2003 - New features are excellent! by Tony Loparco ,: The addition of the auto-add feature to the spam-filtering whitelist in the new version of GFI MailEssentials was the key selling point for us. This takes a huge load off our shoulders in managing the application.
April 15, 2003 - GFI MailEssentials is a very good product by Yue Wang,: GFI MailEssentials is a very good product. These are two features really stand out:
1. Ease of installation, and ease of use - the product is intuitive, and easy to navigate, without the need to refer to user manuals, and
2. The on-demand reporting feature that allows me to quickly identify the top users, or users who abuse emails.
March 20, 2003 - Easy to set up - quick to block spam by Mike Laub,: was impressed by how easy GFI MailEssentials was to set up and how quickly it started to block spam. Within the first hour of implementation, GFI MailEssentials had blocked over 20 spam messages. On an average, over 200 spam emails are being blocked each day, and as a result, we are not wasting time deleting junk email. I definitely recommend GFI MailEssentials for any size company. Thank you GFI!
February 17, 2003 - ...one of the better Anti Spam solutions out there by Stephen Paris,: ....excellenet anti spam features, has worked very well for me so far and version 8 looks like a sure winner....the other email features are pretty neat also.....