Working with a Hosted Email Service

Article
10/19/2016

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 Essentials

The Hosted Email Add-In Framework provides tools, documentation, and samples that allow you to integrate a remote, 3rd party email service with Windows Server Essentials. The framework simplifies the process of developing an add-in with the following capabilities:

Defines a standard adapter interface where you can provide the logic to connect the built-in provider with your own hosting services. For more information, see Creating the Add-In.
Contains a set of built-in standard UI extensions for integrated management on the Windows Server dashboard. For example, you can extend the Add User Wizard to allow an administrator to create an online account with your hosted online service. You can also create custom UI extensions. For more information, see Modifying the UI.
Contains a built-in provider that implements the business logic in the backend for the integration scenarios. In addition, the provider exposes an object model that your UI elements can call into in order to access administrative functions, such as uninstalling the adapter and displaying help information. For more information, see How to: Manage the Hosted Email Service and How to: Manage the Add-In.

Once you have created your adapter and UI updates, you can deploy your integration solution in a way familiar to Windows Server Essentials developers. For more information, see How to: Deploy the Add-In.