Columbia River Bank, a community bank based in The Dalles, Oregon, has enhanced the security and accessibility of remote computing services through its participation in the early adopter program for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

About 50 of the bank’s 375 employees, including branch personnel and traveling employees, need to be able to access corporate information and email while working outside the bank’s IT network. Remote access to corporate communication information is critical to the company’s growth strategy. The bank saw a 17 percent increase in assets and a 27 percent increase in net income last year as it expanded into areas surrounding its core market.

Through the Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program for Exchange Server 2007, Columbia River Bank was able to deploy beta versions of the software.

With its old system, mobile employees used a virtual private network to check email and schedules through Outlook Web Access. Exchange Server 2007 allows CRB remote users to access Exchange Server-based information through Outlook Web Access on any Web browser or through any mobile device running Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync technology and connecting to the Exchange Server system over the Internet. In addition, Exchange Server 2007’s multifactor authentication improves the security of communications.

Another new feature that resulted from the beta testing is that administrators can enforce WebReady Document Viewing, which displays documents as HTML Web pages and can prevent information viewed in kiosks or other public locations from being left behind for others to view.

Overall, the new system has been much easier for users to work with. Out-of-network employees can now more easily book meetings using the Scheduling Assistant, and access documents using the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server without having to use the virtual private network or search the bank’s global address list.

“The user experience with the latest Outlook Web Access is much better,” said Scott Hamilton, systems administrator for the bank. “It is much, much closer to the experience of using the rich Office Outlook client on a PC.”