FAQ-Office365 Migration
As part of our commitment to provide robust, secure and innovative IT solutions to Texas A&M University, The Division of Information Technology is migrating Texas A&M Exchange email to the Microsoft 365 cloud platform. Moving our on-campus email service to the cloud will reduce costs, increase service stability and introduce powerful new collaboration features.
Currently, employees can receive email at both Texas A&M Exchange and Texas A&M Gmail simultaneously. This email structure is not possible in the cloud and the College of Architecture has decided to move forward with Microsoft Outlook/Exchange as our email service from here on. Faculty and Staff will still maintain access to Google Apps for Education Suite such as Drive, Groups, Docs, and etc. Students only have access to Gmail thus, they will not be effected by this change. Student Workers starting after this migration will get Exchange accounts.
To answer some of your questions before this migration below are some Frequently Asked Questions:
STAFF AND FACULTY
For most people, nothing will change for them and the impact will be minimal. However, IT has generated reports that identified about 150 people in the college that will be directly affected by this change. Please check the link below if you fall into that group. A VPN connection is required to access the link below if you are off campus.
http://emailcheck.arch.tamu.edu/
What do I need to do?
You can either do nothing and starting on the 16th all your emails will be sent to your Exchange/Outlook mailbox. If you want to go ahead and start receiving those emails to that mailbox right now you can navigate to gateway.tamu.edu and change your email fowarding options to Exchange. Or follow this guide.
https://coa-it.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ISD/pages/1327202356
Why are you making the move from Gmail to Microsoft Office365?
Better Team Integration.
Ability to schedule meetings and view complete calendar information for all employees, making meetings easier. Microsoft 365 introduces the ability to call, chat, host video meetings and share files from your inbox.
Microsoft 365 (Exchange) is HIPAA compliant.
Will my email address/login information change?
This information will not change thus you will still login with your NetID@tamu.edu and email password. Mail sent to any TAMU email address such as @email.tamu.edu, @exchange.tamu.edu, @arch.tamu.edu will all be stored in one mailbox.
How can I opt-out of the email migration as a faculty/staff member?
Unfortunately this is not an option.
When is the migration occurring?
The migration is scheduled for May 16.
I am a retired faculty member, does this change apply to me?
Retirees are required to make a choice to use either Google or Exchange as their primary email source. All retirees should still have access to a Google inbox and some may still have an exchange mailbox. It is recommended that you use Google as your primary mailbox.
How do I add Outlook to my computer?
The Office365 Suite is a part of the standard installation. To find Outlook
Windows: (1)Click on the Windows icon on the bottom left of your desktop
(2) Type in “Outlook” and click Enter
macOS: (1) Press and hold the keys “Cmd” and “Space”. A Search Bar should appear
(2) Type in Outlook and press Enter
How do I login to into Outlook on my computer?
Navigate to the following article for those steps:
https://coa-it.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ISD/pages/127697133
Can I use 3rd party email clients such as Thunderbird or the Mac mail client?
No, Thunderbird and other 3rd party email clients will not be supported. You need to use the Outlook application on Windows and Outlook or the Mac mail client Mac computers.
Will I still be able to access my Google Drive?
You can continue to use TAMUDirect, Google Groups and Google Drive. Yet, you will not be able to access Calendar nor send emails from Gmail.
Will I lose all my emails on my Google Account?
No, you will still have access to your Gmail account but you will not be able to send emails from that account.
If I want to import mail that I have in Gmail into Exchange how can I do that?
You have two options if you want to import mail into your Office 365 Exchange inbox.
You can select all your mail and forward them to your new mailbox
You can also connect your current Gmail inbox Outlook and create a .pst export then import this into your Office 365 inbox. This process is a bit lengthy if interested or willing to tackle the challenge, please navigate to this article: You can follow the steps at this link.
Will I still have email on my phone?
You will need to remove your email from your phone, then add an account like you did with your last email, and sign-in with your NetID login info. If it asks use “Exchange”.
How do I remove my email account on my phone?
Please navigate to this article for those steps:
https://coa-it.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ISD/pages/1303707651
I have folders in Gmail, will those move over to Outlook?
Gmail folders and rules will not move to Outlook/Exchange and you will have to recreate them in there.
Will I retain access to my shared mailbox, email lists, calendar events?
If you are currently using outlook/exchange then all your calendar events, shared mailboxes, and email lists will transfer over. Any Google calendar event you will need to to export.
How do I export Google Calendar Events and import those to Outlook Mail?
Its actually pretty simple! You can follow these easy instructions here:
Will I be able to access my emails during the migration?
There will be no email outages during the time of migration..
How much space to I get for email in Office365?
With Office365 you now have a 100GB primary mail store which is a significant increase.
STUDENT WORKERS
I am a student-worker how does this affect me?
If you currently have an Exchange account then you will have to make the decision the same as Faculty and Staff. We highly recommend you choose Exchange as this is the decision that has been made for Faculty and Staff.
How will this affect future student workers?
Future student workers will have an Exchange mailbox provisioned for them when they are hired. They will also still retain their Google inbox.
Further Assistance
If your question was not answered here please feel free to reach out to us or take a look at the Division of IT’s FAQ