Email - Frequently Asked Questions

Eudora (like many other email programs) is not compatible with the new email system.However, there are many advantages to making the switch to the new email system that Outlook uses.

These include:

• All of the email stays on the corporate server.When Outlook opens it merely synchronises with whatever has changed.
• If your computer fails there is no longer any need for concern about your email being lost.
• All of your old email is accessible from new webmail.
• The new webmail, Outlook Web Access, looks very similar to desktop Outlook so there is no need to learn a new interface.
• Many of the features available in Outlook are available in webmail.
• Folders in your mailbox are able to be shared with other people.
• Because an archiving system, Enterprise Vault, is being implemented taking up too much space is no longer a concern.

Thunderbird is compatible with the mailing component of Exchange, but does not have the Tasks, Contacts, Note and Calendar component.

No, this process has been tested extensively in TILS, FIT, Business, Creative Industries and BEE. All email will be migrated including attachments in the same folder structure as what it was previously.

Eudora address books, signatures and stationery will also be migrated. However, filters cannot be migrated to Outlook.

From start to finish an average migration (1GB of email) takes one hour. You will need to be available for the entire time of your migration.

The less email to convert the shorter the migration. If you would like an estimation of how long your individual migration will take, download this program, then click OK or RUN (if prompted).

In order to shorten the time of your migration, we suggest removing unnecessary email. eg. jokes, QUT Classifieds, QUT Misc, email relating to a previous job.

Please note however this is not a requirement, only a suggestion.

Yes, at the time of migration you will be given a short training session which will help you learn the basic features of Outlook (those required to allow you to send and receive email). You will also be given a Quick Reference Guide detailing some of the common features.

ITS Learning and Development will be scheduling several training sessions which will be more comprehensive.

Manuals for Outlook will be available online for your perusal.

Your email will be migrated to Exchange and Entourage 2004 will be installed on your machine as your email client.

See also information on Enterprise Vault for non-Windows users below.

Here are important considerations if you are a Linux user:

• It is recommended that you use Evolution for email no matter what your current email client is.
• The university is moving toward MAPI for all staff, but Evolution is not yet compatible with Exchange 2007. IMAP is available for Linux users and support for IMAP generally will be reviewed at a later date.
• As preparation for migration, download and install the latest version of Evolution, plus the Exchange add-on.
• Linux support knowledge varies at QUT. A best effort basis will be made to export/import your historical email.

See also information on Enterprise Vault for non-Windows users below.

No. The email of non-Windows users, for example, Macintosh Entourage and Linux Evolution, will all stay available in Exchange after migration. This approach is being taken because functionality of non-Windows applications with Enterprise Vault is somewhat limited at this time. The email of Outlook users will continuously be moved to Enterprise Vault after 45 days.

This approach of all email for non-Windows users being available in Exchange is an interim measure. The situation will be reviewedat a later date after the corporate system has been implemented.

Post graduate research students (PGRS) will receive Exchange email accounts, but only as staff accounts. Most PGRS have already acquired staff identities through scholarships, tutoring, lecturing, etc, but there are several hundred that are students only. "Like staff" identity and access will be created for these student-only PGRS followed by an automatic creation of an Exchange email account. This provisioning will happen "behind the scenes" when the new Exchange system is in production. Student email will not be migrated, but existing staff email for the PGRS will be migrated as for any other staff member.

This approach of staff accounts only for PGRS is an interim measure. Careful consideration and analysis of the problems involved have resulted in this decision. The provisioning program should address the issue of multiple identities next year and arrive at a broad solution. This approach of staff accounts only for PGRS is an interim measure. Careful consideration and analysis of the problems involved have resulted in this decision. The provisioning program should address the issue of multiple identities next year and arrive at a broad solution.

The approved QUT corporate Outlook 2003 configuration does not include MS Word 2003 as an email editorto prevent incompatibilities with non-Outlook email applications.The decision to exclude Word was made after extensive considerationby various QUT stakeholders as being most beneficial overall.

The Outlook 2003 editor has the ability to change text colour, size and font. It also includes bulleted list, numbering and indenting features. With the corporate configuration, spell check is on the toolbar.The buttons and menus are specifically designed for email.With the Word editor turned on,you are able to choose fonts, font sizes and features that cannot be translated into HTML.In most of these cases the recipientwill not be able to view the message in the same format, for example, squiggles instead of the expected formatting. Also, using Word as the editor can cause unwanted ActiveX security warnings.

In Outlook 2007 many of the problems that arise from using Word as the email editor and integration have been repaired and/or vastly improved.Additionally, in Outlook 2007, using spell check as you type will be available. The upgrade to Office 2007, which includes Outlook 2007, has been targeted for early 2008.

Symantec Enterprise Vault (EV) for Exchange is an application used to archive/store email messages from Outlook/Exchange, leaving a pointers or shortcuts which can be used to access the original email messages. Archiving email messages safeguards information, improves the performance of Outlook/Exchange, and provides superior searching capabilities.

At QUT Enterprise Vault automatically archives all email messages that are older than 45 days each night. A message will be stored in the vault leaving in its place a shortcut to the original mail message. This shortcut is a cut down version of the message retaining only the sender/recipient information, the first 500 characters of the message body and references to any attachments. You can access archived messages via the shortcut or by using the various search mechanisms

Laptop users with Outlook also have access to an Offline Vault that synchronises with their Enterprise Vault. You can prioritise the items to be downloaded from the Enterprise Vault to the Offline Vault.

See the chapter on Enterprise Vault in the Outlook 2003 Manual (downloadable by chapters) in ITS Training User Guides - Email for detailed information on using Enterprise Vault with Outlook.

Functionality is limited for non-Outlook users and Mac and Linux users have all their email available in Exchange as an interim measure at least.

How are managed email accounts being handled in Exchange?

How does Unisent help with managed accounts?

Unisent is a utility provided with QUT corporate Outlook 2003 installations to assist in effective operation of managed accounts. By default Outlook messages sent from a managed account actually show up in the sender’s “real” Sent Items folder, not that of the managed account. A message sent from a managed account should show up in the managed account Sent Items folder for the attention of others. Unisent provides the correct functionality.

An example: 

Suppose that Outlook user John Doe has access to his personal mailbox and to the additional mailboxes (such as "Info" <info@company.com>, "Sales" <salesgroup@company.com) on an Exchange server. When he replies to or forwards from these mailboxes the messages go into his primary mailbox Sent items folder which other members cannot view.
Unisent ensures that a message sent with the managed  account mailbox's From address stay in the mailbox that it originated from (i.e. the sent message goes to the Sent Items folder of the mailbox that the message was sent from).

Who do I contact for more information?

Please contact the IT Helpdesk on x84000 or email ithelpdesk@qut.edu.au