METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DELEGATING ADMINISTRATIVE CAPABILITIES TO DOMAINS SERVED BY MAIL PROVIDERS

摘要

Broadly speaking, an Internet standards-based messaging system (600) having a mail server (602) capable of offering email services to multiple organizations (604) each of which having their own virtual domain. In addition, the messaging system (600) is capable of providing administrative capabilities that can be exercised locally be organizations that are served by the mail server (602). Advantageously, a remote user located in an organization served by the mail server can access the directory services to perform a variety of administrative tasks remotely. Furthermore, administrative tasks such as adding and deleting users can be done automatically by a local administrator without requiring specific knowledge about the implementation details of the mail server and directory services.