The Information Technology (IT) and Communications Offices are working together on a joint project to migrate our e-mail infrastructure to the Google Apps system.  This migration guide will serve as the resource for all of the information you will need to make the transition.  We will send an e-mail that outlines the transition timeline as well as what will be needed to migrate existing e-mail.  Please contact David Reid, Derek Leek, Linda Smith or Douglas Ward from the contacts page if there are any questions or concerns during this process.  We are excited to bring you this greatly enhanced functionality integrated directly into your nccumc.org e-mail.  Once activated your Google Apps account will immediately have access to the Google’s Mail, Docs and Calendar interfaces.

Activating Your Google Apps Account

Once you receive the e-mail message stating that your account has been set up, it must be activated before it can receive e-mail.  The activation e-mail will contain a temporary password and an activation link.  Click on the link or paste it into a web browser like Internet Explorer, enter the temporary password into the web page the link opened and click on the Submit button to activate your account.  You will be prompted to change the password upon activation.  The IT and Communications Offices will not keep these passwords on file.  It is important that you use a strong password when completing this step.  Follow this link for help choosing a secure yet easy to remember password.  If you have forgotten or lost your password, it can be reset by contacting David Reid or Douglas Ward.

Changing Your Email Setup

How you currently use your conference e-mail account will determine which procedure to follow from this point.  There are several different ways in which conference e-mail can be accessed, and Google Apps mail can easily handle any of them.  While SquirrelMail users will require our help moving their existing e-mail, all users should be able to easily transfer your e-mail settings by using one of the scenarios below.

Scenario 1: Forwarding

You are forwarding all conference e-mail from your account to another account at a separate e-mail address.  You are then checking the account to which the forward is set, to get email that is sent to both email addresses using your favorite e-mail program or webmail.

Scenario 2: Configuring Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird

You are not forwarding your conference e-mail and you use a desktop e-mail program (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc.) or mobile phone to check your e-mail.

Desktop e-mail program users should consider making the transition to Google Apps Mail before proceeding further.  See “Welcome To Google Apps Mail” below for some of the features.  If you want to make this transition, you can download the Google Email Uploader program to upload your existing e-mail directly from your computer.  If you decide not to transition to Google Apps Mail you will need to modify your program’s settings for your conference account.

Scenario 3:  SquirrelMail

If you use SquirrelMail, please contact David Reid or Douglas Ward for help migrating your existing email to your Google Apps Mail account.  After your e-mail is moved you will use Google Apps Mail to manage your conference email.

Welcome to Google Apps Mail

You can access your Google Apps Mail account by browsing to: https://mail.google.com/a/nccumc.org.  Google Apps Mail uses the same interface as Gmail – Google’s personal e-mail program.  If you are already familiar with the Gmail interface, then you should have no trouble using Google Apps Mail with your conference e-mail.  If you are using this interface for the first time, then you should read the Getting Started Guide.  You can start reading the guide for a general overview and then searching or follow links for additional help.  Please also feel free to contact us if you still have trouble after reviewing this guide.

There are a few powerful new features included with Google Apps that you should be aware of as you are using gmail to access your e-mail:

• Conversation view – Google Apps makes it easy to store your messages with all parts of a conversation put together.  You no longer have to search through a Sent Items folder and your Inbox or Deleted Items folder to piece together a conversation.  Google Apps does this for you immediately when you receive the message.
• Filters – Google Apps has a powerful and easily customizable filtering functionality built in to the system.  These filters can be used for a variety of reasons and can be easily customized for your use.
• Advanced search – Along with the ability to archive conversations that you no longer want to see in your Inbox, is the ability to search for e-mails.  Google Apps brings the power of the Google search engine to your mailbox with easy to use search capabilities.  You don’t have to scroll through hundreds of old messages before you find the one(s) that you need.
• Access – As with all webmail you will be able to manage your e-mail from any computer with internet access the same way you manage it from your computer.  But unlike other webmail, you will also have access to Google’s other applications such as Calendar, Docs, Contacts and more.