Repent, for EagleMail (shoulda been EmuMail) is near!

This just in from Pam Young:

EMU’s new e-mail system, EagleMail, will be implemented in 10 days (Oct. 3). Most users will not need to do anything except be sure their password is up to date.

Those who use an e-mail client such as Thunderbird, Outlook, Eudora, Entourage or Mac Mail will need to change a few security settings. Those who wish to forward their EMU e-mail will need to set up forwarding once the new system is live. An update on the system is here:

http://www.emich.edu/email/092208update.html

Clearly, the “contest” for naming the new email system was rigged, and/or the only people who voted for this were marketing wonks who like Eagles. EagleMail is a dumb name, period. Henceforth, I will refer to the new system as EmuMail or– just to simplify the abbreviation and keep everyone happy, “e-mail.”

In any event, for most EMU email users, the system should just work. But it isn’t completely clear to me when this is going to be “turned on” for everyone (wasn’t the original plan to get people onto this new system in stages?), and there are also some things in the “update” document that people should read:

• If you haven’t updated your password in the last six months or so, you’d best update soon. If you’re anything like me, this isn’t a problem. I didn’t update my EMU password (for email, for my.emich, etc.) for literally nine years despite reminders that I was supposed to. But then, sometime in July or August, the system finally caught up with me and forced me to update. In any event, this must be a big deal with the new email because they repeat it/bold it in the instructions a couple of times.
• If your mail automatically forwards now, it won’t automatically forward with the new system. If you do want to forward your email, they really don’t want you to use an IMAP configuration for doing so. I’m kind of puzzled by that, and I do find it amusing that the example email service to forward your mail to– gmail– does indeed support IMAP. Regardless, I for one will give the new EMU mail system a chance, knowing that I will always have the always reliable gmail to turn back to.
• For whatever reason, the powers that be want users to use the web-based client for email and not something like Thunderbird, Outlook, or Apple’s Mail software. Now, this is okay with me because I’ve gotten very used to using gmail like this. However, I think this is going to be one of those ICT wishes that is going to be resisted by a lot of EMU users, especially the thousands of EMU folks who were encouraged by ICT et al to go to an email client that downloads email from a server because of the pitiful lack of storage capacity.
• One last tip that comes just from me and not ICT: if I relied on the current EMU email system and I had any important messages or documents in my mail (you know, email with information about the grant you won or the grade appeal in your favor, an email attachments that you don’t have saved anywhere else, etc., etc.), I would most assuredly print or download and save those messages. I think there is about a 95% chance that nothing bad will happen with this email transition. Still, if something bad does happen, it would be pretty darn bad.