New E-mail/Calendaring System Coming Soon!

With summer just around the corner, change is in the air. This summer the university will move its aging e-mail system to a new, robust Exchange e-mail and calendaring system we are calling muConnect. What does that mean for you?

Students            Faculty/Staff

Students

Each e-mail account will be moved from the current e-mail server to the new muConnect Exchange server, according to a migration schedule currently under development. Currently we anticipate that student accounts will move in early July. Specific dates will be announced on myMiami as soon as they are finalized.

When your account is moved, your Miami e-mail will appear in Outlook Web Access (OWA) via a link on the myMiami portal. If you have any questions about your e-mail over the summer after the migration occurs, please contact the IT Services Support Desk at 513-529-7900 or supportdesk@muohio.edu.

If you choose to use a desktop e-mail client, we recommend you use Outlook 2007 for Windows or Entourage for Mac. Outlook is a part of Microsoft Office for Windows; Entourage is a part of Microsoft Office for the Mac. If you don’t already have Microsoft Office, you can purchase it at a greatly discounted rate through Miami’s Microsoft agreement.

You will need to configure Outlook or Entourage to access the new Exchange server; instructions will be provided in the Miami Knowledge Base (found at http://kb.muohio.edu or under “Favorite Links” in myMiami).

If you are interested in training on Outlook or Entourage, please follow the training link on the muConnect web site (www.muohio.edu/email) to learn about the variety of training resources available. You can also find up-to-date project information on the muConnect web site.

Faculty and Staff

Each e-mail account will be moved from the current e-mail server to the new muConnect Exchange server, according to a migration schedule currently under development. To be able to access e-mail once your account has been moved, we strongly recommend that you move to the Microsoft e-mail desktop applications included in the Microsoft Office suite: Outlook for Windows or Entourage for the Mac.

Specific how-to instructions for loading the new software, moving your current e-mail contacts and configuring the new system will be provided prior to the date of your migration. The e-mail/calendaring team has been working diligently to automate many of these processes so the transition is as quick and easy as possible. Should you have questions or need help during the migration, extra support personnel will be readily available to provide on-site assistance.

If you are not on campus when your department or office migrates, never fear-you will not lose access to your e-mail. From the moment your account is transferred, you will be able to use the Exchange web mail client, Outlook Web Access (OWA), from anywhere you have Internet access. You can make the changes to your desktop e-mail application when you return to campus. OWA will be accessible via the myMiami portal.

If you cannot or do not choose to use Outlook or Entourage, you may use other e-mail clients with the Exchange server. Keep in mind, you will need to use a new product for your calendar, as Meeting Maker will be discontinued. Outlook and Entourage are designed to work with the Exchange server environment and will provide the best user experience, including an integrated, single sign-on e-mail and calendaring system and a host of other convenient features.

One-hour overview sessions introducing Outlook and Entourage as well as hands-on training are currently being offered. The overview sessions provide a short demonstration of the application and can help you determine if you wish to sign up for the hands-on sessions. Please check the TRAIN system for the training schedule.

For those who use the Meeting Maker calendaring program, all data from that program will be moved to the new Exchange server in late July. The exact date is not yet determined, but it will be after all current MM users have been moved to Exchange.

For up-to-date project information, check the project web site at www.muohio.edu/email.