Exchange and BU Google Mail

A Fall, 2009 survey of the University community indicated low satisfaction with email services, particularly the small quotas and limited access to calendar and collaboration tools. Since that time, IS&T staff having been working hard to update our email services, providing modern options that respond to the needs of the community. In doing so, we are working toward the retirement of email provided on ACS; replacing it with current systems that are in use today by many large educational institutions and businesses around the world.

BU Google Mail

All student email accounts, most guest accounts, and alumni accounts beginning with the class of 2010, are now provisioned through BU Google Apps. By comparison to the services provided on ACS, Google Apps accounts offer a significantly larger mailbox and the ability to create personal and shared calendars, edit and share documents, and set up collaboration sites. A project which undertakes to provide Microsoft’s Office 365 as an additional offering to students will begin in the upcoming year.

Exchange

IS&T is currently moving about 5,000 faculty and staff mailboxes from ACS to Exchange 2010, and we have completed nearly 20% of those moves. We have also upgraded over 7,500 faculty and staff mailboxes from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010. Our goal is to have all current faculty and staff on Exchange 2010 by Intersession, so they can begin to enjoy the benefits of Exchange use, which include:

• A Contacts list that’s stored centrally and available from every Exchange-compatible email program.
• Automated access to BU’s Global Address List. From every Exchange-compatible email program you are using, the Global Address List will offer suggested choices when you are addressing a message to a BU recipient.
• A centralized calendar, resource and meeting management system. You can easily schedule meetings with faculty and staff from across the University – simply check their availability and send a meeting invitation. Also, invitations you accept from others will be automatically entered into your calendar and provide you with reminders.
• A default quota of 4 GB, by comparison to the 1 GB default on ACS.

Exchange-compatible email programs include all current versions of Outlook, Outlook Web App (OWA), iOS Mail, BlackBerry and Android. Also compatible are Mail, Contacts, and Calendars for those using Mac OS 10.6 or higher. However, you will need to be using compatible programs with “full Exchange” instead of IMAP. Following the transition from ACS, you will be assisted in switching from IMAP to full Exchange by the IT Help Center or by your local computing support organization.

More information on the transition from ACS to Exchange can be found on TechWeb at www.bu.edu/tech/comm/email/exchange/transition/.