More About the New Email System
So there have been a few concerns about the new email system because of the length of the name. I understand that concern (also note that you can use your sign-in instead of first.last – for example, mine is kweaver3@rockets.utoledo.edu. It’s a little shorter). I want to remind everyone of all of the great things that the new email system has. First and most obvious – no more “your email box is too full” notifications. It will take you a really long time to fill up 10Gb! And even if you do fill it up, you can empty it onto your 25Gb data storage! That is so great. Think about it, you won’t even need a flash drive because all of your data can be saved to this account. This will let you send way bigger files through email like pictures and videos, which was difficult before because of the size limit.
There are some other really cool features with this system too. There is instant messaging, photo sharing, and tons of other things that I still haven’t figured out. I know there are features that are similar to social networking sites – adding friends, photo tagging, etc.
So let’s be a little more positive about the change. I know having a new email name is difficult but it was necessary in order to upgrade to this new system. Also, if you really don’t like the new name, you can set it up so that your email from another account is forwarded to your UT account. So you could use a yahoo or hotmail account and still check your UTAD at the same time.
Continue to voice your concerns so that the kinks can be worked out but try to look at, and appreciate the good things too!
If you are still having trouble getting to your email address, look at the step-by-steps that I put in my last blog.
August 17th, 2009at 11:30 am
[...] this from so many people this week. First, take a deep breath. Your email is still there – its just new and better! Next, follow these instructions to retrieve your [...]
August 17th, 2009at 11:48 am
“This will let you send way bigger files through email like pictures and videos, which was difficult before because of the size limit.”
-actually, this new email system has a 20mb limit for attachments. Whats the point of having 10gb of space when you cant upload files bigger than 20mb? i do graphic and video work, and most of my files are at least 1gb in size, so this new email system wont let me upload and share them. so this is not better for me.
“There is instant messaging, photo sharing, and tons of other things that I still haven’t figured out. I know there are features that are similar to social networking sites – adding friends, photo tagging, etc.”
-So just because facebook and myspace are popular, a UNIVERSITY has to follow suit? i’m sorry, we are a university, not a high school hallway. if people want to use photo tagging and all that junk, join facebook. i do not want all of this stuf with my email. i want email with my email account, not all this fluff.
August 17th, 2009at 2:25 pm
I keep trying to access this new email and it keeps taking me to this windows live account. I reset my password and everything just like you showed in the steps but it still keeps doing it.
August 17th, 2009at 3:08 pm
This is great email for students. My friends in bgsu and OSU do not have integrated email. UT email works with myUT portal. I don’t have to go out of myUT portal to do email. The alias is not too long. I like the alias because I am proud of “rockets”. Go Rockets! Go Rockets!!
August 17th, 2009at 4:59 pm
I agree that the rocket email system has some convenient new features. But this blog invited people to comment and share their opinions and concerns. Telling all of us now to “be a little more positive” about the new system is ridiculous and counterproductive. If people are having repeated problems or are frustrated about their experiences, they have the right to talk about them. This kind of transition is going to create problems. It’s better that the powers that be hear about those issues; if they’re fed nothing but sunshine, the problems will never be considered, let alone resolved! Trying to curtail the debate by urging everyone to laud it rather than loathe it doesn’t do anything but add another layer of frustration to the whole experience.
August 17th, 2009at 7:41 pm
If anyone is having trouble setting up their email account on their smartphones. Try using your alias@rockets.utoledo.edu instead of firstname.lastname@rockets.utoledo.edu . Once I figured out you have to your alias my blackberry set the rest up with no issues, and now I can send and recieve from my handheld
August 17th, 2009at 8:51 pm
Tony,
The new system uses and is linked to windows live. If you go to Rockets.utoledo.edu and log in with your UTAD, it should take you to your emailbox. If not, I would give IT a call at 2400.
August 17th, 2009at 8:54 pm
Toni,
I agree. I always encourage students to voice concerns (”Continue to voice your concerns so that the kinks can be worked out but try to look at, and appreciate the good things too!”). Please continue to let us know when things go wrong. I obviously can’t fix the techy things myself but I can pass them on for you!
August 18th, 2009at 8:11 am
So having not received ANY emails from my UT account for almost 4 days, even though we were told the @utoledo.edu would still work, I can understand all the frustration. And why is it they waited until 2 weeks before classes start to do this? Seems like some of the most important emails for the fall are sent out during this time, and students may be missing some important email from financial aid or the registrar for example because their account STILL isn’t working. Personally, I don’t see the point of this move. Yeah, you get some more bells and whistles. But that is what the other 1 million free email account sites are for. Must be that maintaining the mail server was just another job UT’s IT department decided they didn’t want to do anymore.
August 18th, 2009at 11:09 am
Geoff – I am receiving all my emails to both @utoledo.edu and @rockets.utoledo.edo. If you want me to test it for you, I can if you post your email address. It is not true to say that the @utoledo.edu and @rockets.utoledo.edu is not working. Also what time do you think is better to migrate emails? If not end of Summer II before classes start big time in Fall when? Other semesters are loaded and you cannot disrupt classes. I have friends at OSU and they will tell you that UT email is the best, one email address for students, no guessing what the email address is as it is at OSU where they use numbers. Be civil guys!
August 18th, 2009at 11:17 am
I want to thank IT for their effective communication and for looking out for the students. I was able to register online, pay my fees online and also do most things online. I love this new email system. The features are great, the space is huge. As a graduate student doing another undergrad program UT technology is far better than ivy league schools that gives students nothing. I have activated my new email account and I am using it. Why are some students so negative here? I will encourage those whinning students to check out other schools and they will be surprised that UT is over pampering them.
August 18th, 2009at 2:12 pm
first off i think the new system will be good if it finally gets up and running. The name is annoying but i guess its worth the tradeoff.
i am a little frustrated that the head of student government is talking down to students who disagree with her point of view. It’s ok to differ from what the ut administrative ppl say. For a journal under the “students” section, it seems more often to be just a copy and paste version of UT news articles and other administrative memos. respect your fellow students a little more
August 18th, 2009at 2:59 pm
I am glad to see UT being more forward thinking. That it is similar to Facebook will help it’s usage & intigration among those entering from high school. The greater storage is a great idea! We can upload & store info in our account, which is very convienent to access in case we lose our flash drive. I have to question the logic in implementing this new email system approx 10 days before school starts. This is when most students rely on email to send & recieve messages from UT; such as Registars, Advisors, Rocket Solution, etc. To change the entire system @ this time seems a bit counter productive. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to do so in July? That way all the bugs could have been worked out with the summer students before the majority of students came back & allowed a significant portion of students to make the change beforehand, reducing the problems? Since they knew they were doing this last year, could they not have sent an email out @ the end of the semester alerting students to this impending change? Forewarned is forearmed & such. I like the new system, just not the way UT handled the change. Is there a tutorial or an intro guide? Is UT offering any info on the new features or is it a “here it is & guess” deal? Thanks for any info you can provide.
August 18th, 2009at 10:03 pm
@ Sky
Making comments about other students’ position on this is not productive or helpful. You don’t know where they are coming from. I am glad you think the new system is great and better than your previous experiences but don’t use that make judgements about how others are dealing with it (which is what you’re doing).
August 19th, 2009at 9:17 am
I strongly agree with both Kat and Marshall. As I have said before, there are many interesting and helpful features to the new email system. However, denying students a chance to voice their frustrations, either by scolding them and calling them whiners or exhorting them to express positive opinions (and by implication keep their mouths shut about negative ones), is not helpful and will only make people feel MORE frustrated. I certainly understand that as a part of the power structure, there is a certain amount of pressure for Krystalyn to be supportive of administration-instigated changes, but the fact remains that she is there to support students and help convey student views, opinions, concerns, and problems – even if the administration doesn’t like hearing about them or seeing them posted in areas with a great deal of public exposure.
Moreover, the fact that the IT folks have had to post a litany of new explanations for various issues on the login page to the new email system makes it pretty clear that some of the problems people have cited are NOT currently isolated incidents! If students don’t speak up about concerns or problems, how will things ever be resolved? For instance, I’m fairly sure no amount of student outcry over the “rockets” portion of the new addresses is going to make the powers that be drop it, but that doesn’t mean that if I’m asked to share an opinion, as this blog solicited, that I’m not going to mention that to me (and apparently quite a few others) it is unprofessional enough to make me concerned about sharing it with potential employers or job boards. You asked and I’ve shared, just as I shared my enjoyment of the option to have my new Outlook calendar send reminders about assignments to my cell by text message.