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New Email and Calendar System

Jan 19, 2007 11 AM - All mail, over 15.5 million messages, have been moved from the old e-mail server to Exchange. All MeetingMaker data has also been copied to the Exchange server. Quality assurance is being done on the new Exchange accounts.

Q: How will this affect me?

For Faculty

If you ...	Then...
want to keep your current email software	you will only have to change one setting on your computer
want to upgrade your email software to Outlook or Entourage	you can install Outlook or Entourage and sign up for training
use webmail.bowdoin.edu	you can still access webmail at the same URL; the new interface will have an updated look and many more features (e.g., calendar, tasks)
use Meetingmaker	you will want to switch to using the calendar programs in Outlook, Entourage, or webmail. MeetingMaker will become read-only beginning 5pm on Jan 12th. IT will show you how to access the new calendar system and provide training
Note: Pine has been upgraded on "polar" and will continue to be accessible

For Staff

If you ...	Then...
use a Windows computer	you can install Outlook and sign up for training
use a Macintosh computer	you can install Entourage and sign up for training
use webmail.bowdoin.edu	you can still access webmail at the same URL; the new interface will have an updated look and many more features (e.g., calendar, tasks)
use Meetingmaker	you will want to switch to using the calendar programs in Outlook, Entourage, or webmail. MeetingMaker will become read-only beginning 5pm on Jan 12th. IT will show you how to access the new calendar system and provide training
Note: Until you have gone to training or feel comfortable with Outlook/Entourage, you can use your current software (e.g., Mail, Thunderbird, Netscape) by changing this setting.

For Students

If you ...	Then...
use webmail.bowdoin.edu	the new webmail will be at the same URL, with an updated look and many more features (e.g., calendar, tasks)
use your own email client (e.g., Thunderbird, MacMail)	you will have to change one setting on your computer
you forward your Bowdoin email to another email account	your forwarding will automatically continue, but your mail messages will no longer be stored at Bowdoin
Note: Bowdoin student email storage limits will be raised from 30 Megabytes to 2 Gigabytes

Please review the IT Training site to view our offering of training classes for learning the new tools and features.

The system will work with almost any email software that the Bowdoin community currently is using, e.g., Netscape Mail, Thunderbird and Macintosh Mail, as well as mobile devices (e.g., Treo, Blackberry, Palm - see complete handheld device list » ).

When will this happen?

On the weekend of January 5th through January 7th, email messages were moved to Exchange in stages, with most recent messages being moved first.

MeetingMaker data was moved to Exchange over the weekend of January 13th.

On Friday January 12th at 5pm, MeetingMaker became read-only. You can still view your calendar(s) in MeetingMaker, just not add/remove appointments. From now on, you should use Exchange (via Outlook, Entourage or Webmail) exclusively for your internal college calendaring needs.

If you synchronize your MeetingMaker data with a handheld device (e.g., Palm) or other calendar software, please contact the Help Desk for assistance with changing your hand-held and/or software configurations.

Why?

First and foremost, to bring an improved email and calendaring system to our user community.

Additionally, our current calendaring software can not accommodate the new federally mandated change in daylight savings time - which will now occur in March, as opposed to April (Energy Policy Act of 2005 ). Lastly, the new system will help us comply with federal law that mandates that organizations archive certain kinds of administrative communications (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ).

Screenshot of Entourage email on the Macintosh

Screenshot of Outlook email on a Windows PC

Improved Features Include:

The following improvements will apply to all Bowdoin email users whether or not you use the new email software:

New webmail - fully functional web-based access to calendar, email and task lists;
Integration of e-mail and calendaring - meaning your email and calendar are in one place;
The convenience of "single sign-on". You no longer need separate passwords for Meeting Maker and for email;
Flexible sharing. You can share your calendar, email folders, or contacts with people and give them different sharing permissions (Read/Write, Read Only);
Easy access to email, calendar, and contacts via "smartphones" (Palm Treo 600 & 650, Windows Mobile devices);
Retrieve emails you have accidentally deleted within the past 30 days by yourself;
IT will be able to do system upgrades without email downtime;
There will be better system-wide email backups;
Student storage limits will be raised from 30 Megabytes to 2 Gigabytes

For those who will use Outlook as their email client, additional improvements include:

Integration with Calendaring and Contacts (Address book)
Sharing of Address books with other Exchange users
Improved vacation-message functionality
Ability to request return receipts

Screenshot of Entourage calendar on the Macintosh

Calendaring

Outlook Calendar offers these additional features currently not available on MeetingMaker:

More sophisticated sharing functions enabling work groups to have shared calendars;
Meeting participant may request different times when a meeting is proposed, rather than having to decline;
User can choose whether to notify all attendees via email when minor changes are made in a meeting (e.g., agenda, location);
Calendars can also be accessed via webmail.

Outlook calendaring will work with any Bowdoin LDAP account (same as email) and will not require a separate login.

Project Sponsors:

President Mills and the Senior Officers of the College (Katy Longley, Bill Torrey, Cristle Collins Judd, Tim Foster, Bill Shain, Paula Volent and Mitch Davis) in cooperation with Information Technology and HR are sponsoring the project to provide Bowdoin faculty, students and staff with an integrated email/calendar system to enhance coordination and communication.