Web mail plagued with issues
New upgrade expected week after Thanksgiving
Jason Stacey
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News
Annoyances and frustrations for SIUE students, faculty and employees due to e-mail lockouts and several other Web-mail related complications could be coming to an end soon.
According to Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Jennifer Vandever, Information Technology Services will make changes to the lockout ridden e-mail service following the Thanksgiving break.
Vandever said there are two phases to the e-mail upgrade project, which were developed to better serve all SIUE users. The first phase means a move to a new system.
"This will give users more storage space, faster response times and more reliable service," Vandever said.
Senior theater and education major Angel Kircher was relieved to hear about the intended changes to Web mail.
"Thank God. Anything is better than what we have now," Kircher said.
Vandever said she understands the aggravation brought on by the university's current Web-mail service and attributes those problems to an outdated system.
"The recent issues with the mail are related to aging hardware," Vandever said. "The current hardware has been in place for several years and is nearing its end of life."
This aging hardware is one of the reasons some students stay away from the SIUE Web-mail service all together. Junior business major Amber Hopson said she does not want the headache.
"I prefer not to use it because of the lockouts and the format. It's really annoying," Hopson said.
Along with replacing the obsolete hardware, Vandever said each user will also be upgraded to five gigabytes of storage, a substantial improvement over the modest 50 megabytes of storage space users receive now.
According to Vandever, users will notice the most significant upgrades to the mail service once the second phase of the project is completed.
"The second phase of the e-mail project is where Web-mail users will see the biggest difference," Vandever said. "On Dec. 10, we will debut the new Web-based interface. This new interface is more intuitive and provides several new features including a calendar, address book and instant messaging client."
Vandever said with the change to the new e-mail system, users will also notice their trash and spam bins being emptied of letters that are older than two weeks and could see a solution to the irritating archival problem.
"Users will no longer be archived. There is a meter within the interface informing users of the amount of space left in they're accounts," Vandever said.
Although the proposed debut of SIUE's new and improved Web-mail service is Dec. 10, Vandever said the current Web-mail interface will be available to users until early January, allowing students, faculty and associates time to transfer address books and other personal data from their previous accounts.
Senior theater performance major Kate Kiser said any improvement is welcome.
"If they can improve [Web mail] in any way, it would be much appreciated," Kiser said.
According to Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Jennifer Vandever, Information Technology Services will make changes to the lockout ridden e-mail service following the Thanksgiving break.
Vandever said there are two phases to the e-mail upgrade project, which were developed to better serve all SIUE users. The first phase means a move to a new system.
"This will give users more storage space, faster response times and more reliable service," Vandever said.
Senior theater and education major Angel Kircher was relieved to hear about the intended changes to Web mail.
"Thank God. Anything is better than what we have now," Kircher said.
Vandever said she understands the aggravation brought on by the university's current Web-mail service and attributes those problems to an outdated system.
"The recent issues with the mail are related to aging hardware," Vandever said. "The current hardware has been in place for several years and is nearing its end of life."
This aging hardware is one of the reasons some students stay away from the SIUE Web-mail service all together. Junior business major Amber Hopson said she does not want the headache.
"I prefer not to use it because of the lockouts and the format. It's really annoying," Hopson said.
Along with replacing the obsolete hardware, Vandever said each user will also be upgraded to five gigabytes of storage, a substantial improvement over the modest 50 megabytes of storage space users receive now.
According to Vandever, users will notice the most significant upgrades to the mail service once the second phase of the project is completed.
"The second phase of the e-mail project is where Web-mail users will see the biggest difference," Vandever said. "On Dec. 10, we will debut the new Web-based interface. This new interface is more intuitive and provides several new features including a calendar, address book and instant messaging client."
Vandever said with the change to the new e-mail system, users will also notice their trash and spam bins being emptied of letters that are older than two weeks and could see a solution to the irritating archival problem.
"Users will no longer be archived. There is a meter within the interface informing users of the amount of space left in they're accounts," Vandever said.
Although the proposed debut of SIUE's new and improved Web-mail service is Dec. 10, Vandever said the current Web-mail interface will be available to users until early January, allowing students, faculty and associates time to transfer address books and other personal data from their previous accounts.
Senior theater performance major Kate Kiser said any improvement is welcome.
"If they can improve [Web mail] in any way, it would be much appreciated," Kiser said.
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