Are you referring to Backup Exec or Backup Exec System Recovery?
In either case, testing in a live environment is typically a bad idea. Create a virtual machine or use a separate environment for testing, that way your data is safe even if everything goes south.
With System Recovery there are no additional licenses or requirements for backing up an Exchange server. For Backup Exec if you are backing up a 2007 Exchange server, the media server (server with Backup Exec installed) must have Microsoft Exchange Management Tools installed and the same version as the Exchange server as well as MAPI 1.2.1.
Scheduling is up to the individual, but in most situations it is possible to perform nightly backups with either product.