Check your inbox: New email arriving this summer
Computing Services and Systems Development is upgrading the University’s email service for all faculty, staff and students this summer.
Current University email addresses will remain unchanged.
Faculty and staff upgrade
Faculty and staff who use the University’s Enterprise Exchange email service will be upgraded to My Pitt Email (Exchange 2013), an enhanced version of the current Enterprise Exchange service. Faculty and staff who use a desktop email client (Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later) to access their Exchange email will not need to make any changes and will not notice a difference in the way their desktop email client looks and functions. Faculty and staff who access their Exchange email through My Pitt (my.pitt.edu) will notice an enhanced web interface with some additional features. For faculty and staff who currently take advantage of Enterprise Exchange email, the upgrade will begin in June.
Faculty and staff who still use the University’s legacy email system (IMAP) may choose to remain on the legacy email system or move to My Pitt Email (Exchange 2013). Moving to My Pitt Email provides a number of benefits, including the ability to schedule meetings with colleagues, view and manage contacts, create tasks and view real-time availability through Microsoft Outlook.
Faculty and staff should indicate their preference by completing the online email preferences page at My Pitt. To access the page, visit my.pitt.edu, click My Resources, select My Pitt Email, and click set email preferences.
When choosing their preferences, faculty and staff will be able to select an option to have all of their messages from the legacy email system automatically moved to the new email service. Faculty and staff who choose to move from the legacy email system to My Pitt Email will receive an email message that informs them when the new service is ready and provides instructions on how to access their new mailbox.
Faculty and staff who move from the legacy email system to My Pitt Email also will need to update the settings on their desktop email client, smartphone or tablet to continue receiving their University email on those devices after the upgrade. Instructions for updating these settings will be made available at http://technology.pitt.edu.
Email forwarding
Email forwarding options also will change as part of the email upgrade. Faculty and staff who use My Pitt Email (Exchange 2013) will be able to forward their University email to one additional email address. Faculty and staff who choose to remain on the legacy email system (IMAP) will have their one forward automatically set to their IMAP mailbox and no longer will be able to forward their University email to another address. Faculty and staff who currently forward their University email to another address must complete the online Email Preferences page before the upgrade in order to continue forwarding their University email after the upgrade. To access the page, visit my.pitt.edu, click My Resources, select My Pitt Email, and click Set Email Preferences.
Spam and virus filtering
The University will also implement a new spam and virus email filtering solution over the summer. Additional details will be provided at technology.pitt.edu.
For more information on the email upgrade, go to http://technology.pitt.edu.
Representatives from multiple areas of Computing Services and Systems Development (CSSD) were on hand to discuss technology services at CSSD’s first-ever Technology Showcase for the University’s information technology professionals. The event, held May 21 in the William Pitt Union, included a brainstorming session in which Pitt’s IT professionals (known as expert partners) were invited to discuss improvements to existing services and provide input on potential new services. Among the topics discussed were enhancements to Pitt’s email and CSSD’s investigation into offering an electronic lab notebook solution for researchers. Focus groups aimed at discussing requirements for a University-wide electronic lab notebook solution will be scheduled soon, said CSSD enterprise architect Jay Graham. Details will be posted on the my.pitt.edu portal, Graham said.