How can I configure my Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server to forward to a
specified mailbox any inbound emails that are addressed to an account
that does not exist?

e.g. If you were to send mail to no-such-person@my-correct-domain.com,
how could I configure the server to forward the mail to
my-correct-address@my-correct-domain.com?

If the answer is to buy a third-party product (which is what I'm
expecting) then could someone please point me to a URL where I can buy
one? I have looked at specifying an account to receive NDRs, but the
original email is not forwarded - only the NDR. I have also looked at
specifying a server to relay messages to in the event that the
recipient cannot be resolved, but I am not sure how this is going to
help. The mail would just end up on a different server, and still not
in our postmaster's inbox. I have also read about creating an event
sink - but we're an insurance company not a software house, and I'd
rather buy a product in.

Many thanks

Hello, Gimmetheanswer!

Thanks for the great question.  In my research, it appears that you
are not alone, and the many people have this desire.  For example, see
this discussion thread:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Networking/Email_Groupware/Exchange_Server/Q_20087033.html

MS Exchange Server 2000 does not offer a "catch-all" feature, which
would allow you to capture all incoming email messages addressed to
"invalid" recipients.  Instead, Exchange bounces the message back to
the sender.  There are some related ideas that you may find
interesting (i.e. alternate delivery addresses, etc.) but they are for
existing, valid usernames -- not the
"no-such-person@my-correct-domain.com" type that you want to handle.

There are many ways to accomplish what you want using other mail
server programs.  If you're interested, let me know.  Otherwise, I'm
assuming that you need to stay on MS Exchange Server, and you're only
interested in Exchange-specific solutions.

With that in mind, I would recommend the VAR solution endorsed by
Microsoft.  It's called MailBasket, manufactured by TurboGeeks, LLC. 
Here's an excerpt from Microsoft's web site describing MailBasket:

    "MailBasket enhances Exchange 2000 Server by redirecting all 
     misaddressed external emails to a "catch-all" mailbox or 
     Public Folder on your Exchange server - without sending a 
     nondeliverable report (NDR) to the sender. MailBasket can also 
     be configured to delete misaddressed email without sending an
NDR."

You can find the above information, as well as other Microsoft
endorsed mail utilities on this page:

     Microsoft Exchange Server Partners
     http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/partners/mailutilities.asp

MailBasket licenses are sold on a per-server basis, regardless of the
number of mailboxes, domain names or SMTP email addresses an
organization has. One license is required for each Exchange 2000
server that receives Internet email. Licenses are not needed for "back
end" servers that do not receive Internet email.

MailBasket server licenses are priced at $125 for a single server and
$100 per server for two or more servers.

You can order MailBasket and download it immediately direct from
TurboGeeks here:

     MailBasket purchase page
     http://www.digibuy.com/cgi-bin/product.html?102650165498

Or, you can download a free 30 day trial (which is what I would do!)
here:

     MailBasket 30 Day Trial download page
     http://turbogeeks.com/downloads/dlmb15trial.asp

I hope this helps!  Again, if you'd like information on other mail
servers, let me know.  And have fun with your new catch-all
capability!

-Boingo

Search strategy included:

  1) personal knowledge

  2) microsoft.com:
http://search.microsoft.com/default.asp?so=RECCNT&siteid=us%2Fproducts%2Fservers%2Fexchange&p=1&nq=NEW&qu=catch-all+partner&IntlSearch=&boolean=ALL&ig=1&ig=3&ig=8&i=00&i=02&i=07&btnsearch=Submit+query

  3) google:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=catch+all+address+in+exchange+server

This answer directly addresses my question, was very prompt, and so
far seems to be correct.

I think something like Praetor is going to be what you will end up
doing if you don't want to go with the event sink method that
Microsoft suggests in their Technet articles.

http://www.cmsconnect.com/Praetor/prMain.htm

Praetor is a messag filter that sits outside of Exchange and processes
all incoming email based on rules that you setup. You can setup rules
to forward, redirect, acknowledge, etc. It has many features and may
be overkill for your single task, but worth a look.

Good Luck!

-PWizard