When students and faculty return from Fall Break Monday, theywill discover a gift in their e-mail inbox. Or, more accurately,the gift will BE the inbox.
Assistant Director of Security, Policy, Systems and AssessmentLoren Malm said users will enjoy several new features with theMicrosoft Exchange Server 2003 software, which has already beenimplemented in the University Computing Services department.
All current Exchange Server users will be moved some timebetween Friday and Sunday, Malm said. There will be no loss ofinformation, everything that was present in users' old accountswill be present in their new accounts, he said.
"There'll be a short period of time while the account is movingfrom one server to the next [that users won't be able to accesstheir accounts], about 15 minutes per student," Lead SystemsManager/Security Engineer David Powell said.
Among the new features that will be available are drag and dropcapabilities in the Web browser, as well as context-sensitiveright-click menus. This means that in a normal browser window, aright click will open a standard browser menu, allowing you tobookmark links and download images among other tasks. The newe-mail client gives the menu accessed with a right-click many moreoptions.
E-mail signatures, text that is automatically added to the endof every outgoing e-mail, are available in the new version of thesoftware, Malm said. Also available for the first time is a spellcheck capability.
Users will also be able to customize the way the e-mail clientappears, Malm said. They will be able to choose among several colorschemes and layout views, he said.
The new features will be supported only in Microsoft's InternetExplorer browser, Malm said. All other browsers, including InternetExplorer for the Mac OS, will still be able to access Exchangeaccounts, but will not be able to use the advanced features offeredby the new software, he said.
Another new feature with the new system is greater compatibilitywith mobile devices, Malm said. Devices such as Blackberrys andWindows enabled cellular telephones will have full integration,which means you can have real-time access to your e-mail fromanywhere, he said.
Also available, and being integrated throughout the Ball StateWeb site, are simple text-based versions of Web sites, includingWebmail. Users can access these sites from other mobile devicessuch as Palms, Malm said. The simplicity of the sites allows foreasier access on the smaller screens found on most mobiledevices.
"If you can access the Internet through your device, you can getto your e-mail," Malm said.
The mobile version of the Ball State Web site can be viewed inany browser at mobile.bsu.edu, and the mobile, text-based versionof Webmail can be accessed at webmail.bsu.edu/oma.
"We're trying to keep up pace with the technology," Malmsaid.
The university first moved to the Microsoft Exchange systemabout five years ago, Malm said. Before that, university users wereon what was called the VAX system, which was officially takenoff-line in 2003.
"We tried to figure out where the market was going," Malm said.Other systems were available at the time, including IBM's LotusNotes system, which is used by many companies, he said.
"[We] decided on Microsoft because their software ... seemed tobe where large companies, places where students will be headingafter graduation, ... are going," Malm said.
A system such as this would normally be very expensive, becausethe university would have to pay for each individual license, Malmsaid. However, through the Microsoft Campus Agreement, Ball Stateis able to offer this state-of-the-art technology withoutincreasing the student technology fee.
The university currently supports 34,000 e-mail addresses; about6,000 faculty, 18,000 students, with various other organizationsand entities making up the rest, Malm said.
Each student user will be allowed six MB of storage space fortheir e-mail account. Users who go over that amount will receive awarning at 10 MB, and will not be able to send or receive e-mailafter their account reaches 11 MB, Powell said.
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