special mailbox conversion to Exchange Group Accounts – update
Special mailbox owners:
We hope you’ve had a chance by now to think about how you will set up the different roles when your special mailbox is converted to an Exchange Group Account (EGA). (A message describing the roles and process is appended below.) CIT still plans to begin conversions this month, and they recently sent us the following information:
April 28 is the new date when CIT expects to be ready for special mailbox owners to begin converting their special mailboxes to Exchange Group Accounts. New Exchange Group Accounts will also be able to be requested at that time. Special mailbox owners will have until June 16 to convert their mailboxes.
We saw a prototype of the tool you’ll use to convert your mailbox. Since it wasn’t the final product, it could change, but what we were shown was a Web form where you could easily add netids and designate the roles, and there was a button on the form so you could control when CIT did the conversion. CIT is working to simplify the process as much as possible, and if you begin setting up your EGA early (once the tool is available) then you will have plenty of time to test before doing the actual conversion.
Exchange Group Accounts can be integrated with your personal mail account view. Unfortunately, if you choose to do this you’ll need to remember to select which account you’re sending a message from. A reference desk, for example, will want reference email to come from the reference account and not the staff member’s personal account. CIT’s suggestion for this sort of situation is to open one mail account (your personal mail, for example) in Outlook and the other (the Exchange Group Account) in Outlook Web Access.
As we hear more information from CIT, we’ll pass it along to you. Please let us know if you have any questions.
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Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 1:46 PM
Subject: special mailboxes – FYI for mailbox owners
To Desktop Services-supported staff:
This message is specifically for special mailbox owners. We would like to contact special mailbox owners directly when we have further information to share. We’ve posted a list on our wiki of the netids of staff we know are mailbox owners:
Please let us know if you’re not in that list but should be.
CIT has let us know that special mailboxes will be converted to “Exchange Group Accounts” beginning in April. They’re still developing documentation and tools, but we wanted to fill you in on what we know so far.
CIT will probably write to mailbox owners directly. Desktop Services will work with you to make sure your mailbox’s conversion goes smoothly. Let us know, once you hear from CIT, a general time when you’d like your conversion to start taking place (for example, right after CIT gives the go-ahead, once finals are over, etc.).
• The term “special mailbox” will be retired, and “Exchange Group Account” will be used instead.
• All currently used special mailbox email addresses and their display names will stay the same.
• You and those you authorize will use their own NetID password to access Exchange Group Accounts.
• Staff ability to access Exchange Group Accounts will be managed – by you, the mailbox owner – through an Exchange Group Account tool that CIT is currently developing.
• CIT anticipates that the conversion will begin around April 12 and continue through May. However, it appears that mailbox owners have flexibility in when to convert.
• As you work on converting a special mailbox, you’ll be able to test before the conversion is finalized.
Each staff person who needs access to an Exchange Group Account will need to be in a role group. Here’s what CIT says:
Each special mailbox owner, or the individuals they authorize, will need to use the Exchange Group Account tool to set the roles for everyone else who needs to use the Exchange Group Account. It may be helpful to determine roles before the tool is available, particularly for special mailboxes that have complex uses.
All roles except Requester can be either a single NetID or a group of NetIDs. The roles that an individual can have regarding an Exchange Group Account are:
a. Requester – person who completed the form requesting that the special mailbox be created; by default is an Owner
b. Owner – person who is responsible for the account; can add/remove Owners and all other roles; by default has all subsequent roles except TSP and CC Recipient
c. TSP – can do the same functions as an Owner; by default does not have any other roles
d. Admin – can add/remove Send As, Reader, and CC Recipient roles
e. Send As – can send mail using the Exchange Group Account name; cannot read mail unless given the Reader role
f. Reader – can read, move, and delete mail; cannot send mail using the Exchange Group Account name unless given the Send As role
g. CC Recipient – receives a copy of mail sent to the Exchange Group Account in their own NetID account; cannot send mail using the Exchange Group Account name; no access to the Exchange Group Account; maximum number of CC Recipients is 10
All this will become clearer to you (and to Desktop Services!) once CIT finishes its documentation and begins distributing its Exchange Group Account tool. Desktop Services plans to ask some of you with simpler special mailbox needs to be among the first to convert to Exchange Group Accounts so we can learn alongside you and be better prepared to help those with more complex setups.