Exchange Control Panel

New in Exchange Server 2010, the Exchange Control Panel can be considered by some to be the least and most powerful of all the administrative tools. It can be considered the least powerful because the scope of objects that can be managed is much more limited than in the EMS or EMC, and it can be considered the most powerful because it provides the potential for all users in your Exchange Server organization to have the ability to selfmanage aspects of their own accounts.

The ECP is primarily targeted to be used by

• End users-Personnel granted the authority to self-manage aspects of their accounts such as the ability to track messages they have sent and received, create and manage distribution lists, or edit aspects of their personal account information.
• Hosted tenants-Tenant administrators for hosted customers.
• Specialists-Personnel such as Help Desk operators, Department Administrators, and eDiscovery Administrators who have had the appropriate level of access delegated by administrators.

The ECP can be accessed through Outlook Web App 2010 by logging into OWA and selecting the Options link. It can also be accessed directly via a URL which, by default, is located at https://CASServerName/ecp. Additionally, the ECP will be able to be accessed from Outlook 2010 when it is released.

The Exchange Control Panel (ECP) is a web-based management console that can be accessed from web browsers that have no Exchange Server-specific client-side software installed. It can be accessed from the same Internet browsers that support the Outlook Web App premium client-Internet Explorer 7+, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari 3+. This AJAX-based application is built into the Client Access server role in an Exchange environment and, although it shares some code with OWA, it is a separate application.

It is important to note the Exchange Control Panel is RBAC-aware, meaning that administrative options are available only to those who have the appropriate permissions to utilize them. Which shows a user logged in with full administrative access (note the Select What to Manage option in the top-left corner and the Manage your Organization option in the bottom-right corner).

By default, standard users do have the ability to self-administer certain aspects of their accounts, as shown by the Edit link that, when clicked, allows users to modify certain aspects of their contact information. This default ability can be removed (or limited to certain fields only) using RBAC. For example:

• If a user has been restricted from message tracking, that button does not appear in the ECP.
• If a user can edit mailboxes, but not create new ones, the New mailbox button will not display, but the Details button does.
• If users are allowed to edit their department but not their display name, the display name is visible but grayed out and read-only.

After an administrator elects to manage My Organization, the four main components of the Exchange Control Panel display. These components are:

• UI Scope Control-At the top of the screen, identified by the text stating "elect What to Manage" (and the drop-down box beside it), the UI Scope Control enables those with the appropriate RBAC permissions to select whether they want to manage themselves, their organization, or another user.
• Primary Navigation Panel-To the left of the screen is the Primary Navigation panel, enabling administrators to select which area of administration they want to work with.
• Secondary Navigation Panel-Next to the Primary Navigation Panel and identified by icons in the figure labeled Mailboxes, Groups, External Contacts, and so on, is the Secondary Navigation Panel, which enables the user to further specify the area to administer.
• The Slab-At the bottom of the pane, identified in the figure by the list of Display Names and E-mail addresses, is the slab-the list of items that can be administered based on the preceding selections.