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Office of the Chief Information Officer
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Exchange Project Frequently Asked Questions |
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| Q: Why are we moving to Exchange? |
| A: Exchange offers some significant improvements and advantages over the current system and provides a number of key features
that have been requested by the user community. Some of those features include a new webmail interface with more robust features,
ability to view calendar events and email on Windows Mobile Devices (with appropriate data minute plan), ability to review
suspected SPAM messages prior to automatic deletion, and other enhancements.
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| Q: Do I have to switch to Exchange?
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| A: Over the course of the Exchange implementation, all users of the current BGNet system will be migrated to the new system.
As with previous email system changes, this will happen in a phased manner over a period of time, and will allow academic
and administrative units some input as to when their areas will be migrated.
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| Q: Isn't Microsoft vulnerable to viruses? |
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A: Microsoft systems do tend to be targeted by the authors of malicious software more often than some other vendors, but
with careful system management and diligence in security and software maintenance the risks can be managed to a level comparable
to other enterprise solutions. Some specific measures being taken regarding virus and security with the Exchange implementation
include:
- Support of a Windows systems team to evaluate and analyze the security and performance of the Exchange servers, and to maintain
current levels of software and security updates.
- Including multiple levels of virus scanning at both the gateway and within the tiers of the Exchange system itself.
- Deployment of industry leading SPAM and virus gateway protection as an integral part of the overall system design.
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| Q: How long will the project last / when will the current BGNet system go away? |
| A: The project plan timeline targets June 30, 2008 as the date by which all users will be migrated and the existing email
and calendaring systems will be retired. It is important to note that this date is a target for completion of the migration
process, and that the phased migration process will begin well in advance of that date.
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| Q: How will the implementation take place? |
| A: As with previous email system changes, the migration will take place in a phased manner over the course of the planned
project timeline. Users under the Office of the CIO and volunteers from several academic and administrative areas will be
the first to migrate to the new system, after which a schedule for migration of other offices and user communities will be
developed and followed.
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| Q: What do I need to use the new system? |
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A: The answer to this question will vary depending on the platform used and the type of use envisioned by each individual
user. In general, this can be broken down into three general cases:
- Desktop / Office users will want to use the Outlook 2007 (for Windows users) or Entourage 2008 (for Macintosh users) to access
the full feature set provided by Exchange. Older versions of Outlook, Entourage or Outlook Express can be used to access
email, but may not support the full range of calendaring features.
- Students, retirees, and others who travel frequently can use the OWA (Outlook Web Access) option, which offers the same features
and look-and-feel provided by the desktop Outlook client. Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher is required to use the full feature
set, but other popular browsers on many platforms (Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.) can be used to access the email features,
although some features are only available with Internet Explorer.
- Use of mobile devices will require the Windows Mobile 6 platform to access the full features of the system. Palm, Iphone,
and Blackberries will have some functionality as well. Please see the TSC Self Help pages for Exchange for more information.
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| Q: Can I access the new system from the web? |
| A: Yes. Exchange provides a very full featured WebMail interface called Outlook Web Access (OWA). OWA is designed to provide
the same look-and-feel and feature set as the desktop Outlook mail client. OWA requires Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher to
provide the full range of e-mail and calendaring features, but other popular browsers on many platforms (Firefox, Safari,
Opera, etc.) can be used to access the email features. Some features are only available with Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
however.
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| Q: Will my username remain the same? |
| A: Yes, your current username will not change as a result of migration to the new system. Both the current and new system
will support the format of username@bgsu.edu |
| Q: Will my password remain the same? |
| A: Yes, your current password will not change as a result of migration to the new system. |
| Q: Will my email be transferred over to the new system? |
| A: At the users discretion, all messages that are being stored in mailboxes on the current BGNet system can be transferred
automatically to the new system at migration time. Any messages which you have transferred to your local system will need
to be moved manually into Outlook or Entourage through one of several available methods.
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| Q: What will my new quota be? |
| A: The mailbox quota for all users on the new system will be 500Mb. |
| Q: What will happen to attachments received under the old system? |
| A: Attachments that are part of messages being stored in mailboxes on the current BGNet will be transferred automatically
to the new system at migration time if you have requested to have existing messages moved. Any attachments that you have
downloaded to your local system may have had the attachment separated from the original message, depending on which mail client
you were using. Once attachments are separated from their original messages, they are treated as any other document on the
system and may not be able to be manually imported into Outlook or Entourage.
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| Q: Will lisproc and listserv work the same after moving to Exchange? |
| A: Yes. |
| Q: Can I receive email and calendar events on my cell phone? |
| A: The general answer to this question is yes, but to leverage the full set of Exchange features your mobile device must
support the Windows Mobile 6 platform with the appropriate data minutes plan.
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| Q: What will happen to Meeting Maker? |
| A: The calendaring features of Exchange will replace those provided by MeetingMaker and once migration to the new system
is complete, MeetingMaker will be retired.
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| Q: Will students have calendaring? |
| A: Yes. All users of the new system will have access to the calendaring features of Exchange. |
| Q: Will the system allow mail to be forwarded to another email provider? |
| A: Yes, users will be able to forward messages |
| Q: Will POP and IMAP still be available? |
| A: Neither the POP3 nor traditional IMAP4 protocols will be supported by the new system, however the encrypted IMAPS protocol
will be available for clients which support it, such as AppleMail, Eudora, Thunderbird and others.
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| Q: How will SPAM be handled? |
| A: Incoming messages are scanned by the filters and those which are determined to be SPAM with the highest level of certainty
are discarded at the gateway, while messages which are identified as suspected SPAM or bulk mailings will be placed in a quarantine
area. The quarantine offers a web interface (junkmail.bgsu.edu) that gives the user the ability to review messages identified
as SPAM and choose to release for delivery those that they feel may have been misidentified by the filters. Additionally,
the quarantine interfaces allows the user to set up custom blacklists (to block mail from undesired senders or domains) or
whitelists (to explicitly allow messages from certain senders or domains) and manage their quarantine settings. Due to the
large amount of SPAM messages received, the quarantine will be configured with a 10 day message retention time limit, after
which messages will be deleted automatically. This will give users a reasonable amount of time to review quarantined messages
without placing unreasonable demands on the storage space dedicated to the quarantine.
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| Q: Will this mean any changes for the amount of time my BGSU email account remains active? |
| A: No. |
| Q: How will this affect retiree accounts? |
| A: Retirees will have the same migration options available to them as other users. Since IMAPS will be available, traditional
email applications will be able to connect to the system in a similar manner as they do now. AppleMail, Thunderbird, Eudora
and other applications can still be used.
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| Q: I have always distributed my email address as username@bgnet.bgsu.edu. Will this continue to work after migration to Exchange or will I need to notify everyone in my address book to change my
email address to username@bgsu.edu? |
A: As with the current system, both addresses will work. It is recommended that you use username@bgsu.edu.
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Q: Can I continue to use an email client such as Eudora?
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A: Users who prefer to continue using Eudora following the transition to Exchange may continue to do so. However, users
who wish to use clients other than those recommended need to be aware that they will not have access to all the features and
integration available through Exchange.
As the migration process begins, documentation with setting and configuration information will be available via the Exchange
project web site.
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Q: What is the difference between OWA Premium and OWA Light?
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A: OWA Premium allows access to a full set of features and is available to those using Internet Explorer 6 or later as their
browser. OWA Light allows access to webmail and calendaring features via Safari and Firefox. Both versions will provide
access to mail and calendars.
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Q: Will office email and Meeting Maker accounts also be migrated to Exchange?
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A: Yes, these accounts will also be migrated. A plan for migrating office accounts will be communicated closer to the time
of migration. Office accounts will not necessarily be migrated at the same time as an individual account.
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Q: Will Meeting Maker continue to be available after accounts are migrated to Exchange?
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| A: Meeting Maker calendars will all be migrated at the same time to avoid using multiple systems for calendaring. More details
will be available as the timeframe for the migration is set. (answer updated 2-28-08)
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Q: What will the size limit for attachments be?
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A: The message size limit will include all message text, images, and attachments.
For email the limit will be 10MB. Documentation will be made available for using MyFiles to host larger files.
For listproc messages the limit will be 2MB
(answer updated 2-28-08)
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