Does Zimbra truly unify meeting requests and calendars?

[dwhuseby]

Hi Zimbra,

We're currently evaluating the Zimbra mail server for possible replacement for our exchange server. I have a few questions and I tried contacting the Zimbra sales team but never received any response back other than Zimbra spam email. So, that said, I'm posting my questions here in hopes that you guys can answer them.

1. We currently have users using Windows/Outlook, Mac/Mail/iCal, and Linux/Evolution. We have this persistent problem where the iCal users can't send meeting requests that the Outlook users can understand. I was wondering if switching to the Zimbra server would allow our users to continue to use their email/calendar client of choice but be able to receive meeting requests from users of other email/calendar clients? Does Zimbra solve the incompatibility issues between Mac/Mail/iCal and Windows/Outlook? Will users have to switch to the Zimbra webmail or desktop clients to resolve this issue?

2. Does Zimbra have tools for easily managing email lists that are sent out to bcc lists? Does it support users adding/removing themselves from the email lists by sending request emails, like majordomo? Does Zimbra have an API that would allow us to integrate our website's newsletter sign-up so that users who sign up on our site get automagically added to the mailing list in Zimbra?

Thanks,
Dave Huseby
VP Engineering
GetBack Media

[p24t]

The Zimbra server handles all invite/meeting requests for the various clients. I don't know about Evo, but the Outlook and iSync connectors will handle this just fine.

Zimbra has no majordomo that I'm aware of. It has distribution lists, which are handled through the admin interface, and can also be managed over SOAP. You can use the SOAP interface to manage many various things, such as calendar, accounts, etc.

[dkarp]

There's a HOWTO on integrating Zimbra and Mailman: [SOLVED] Zimbra+Mailman Howto.