WebMail Plus being tested
WebMail Plus, now accessible at webmail.usu.edu, could eventually take the place of the current WebMail.
The current WebMail provider was recently bought by another company making support and upgrades more expensive, said Bob Bayn, networking and computing services assistant director.
The current version of WebMail was getting old and having performance problems which encouraged Utah State University to look elsewhere for its service, said Kim Marshall, Networking and Computing Services director.
The service is currently being tested to see how well it works and if it could eventually take the place of the old WebMail. Consultants in the student lab were impressed with WebMail Plus and wanted to get the feedback of students. WebMail Plus is currently online for students to try and give input on what they think.
The new WebMail has more features and options for marking messages and appears quicker, Marshall said. At this time it is unknown how long WebMail Plus will be tested before a final decision is made, he said.
Emails are still stored at a student’s ‘cc’ account and not ‘webmail’ account, Bayn said. (Example: hilaryi@cc.usu.edu) WebMail is simply the interface that allows the user to view emails as a web-page, and WebMail Plus is a new interface in which the emails are displayed.
Students with current WebMail accounts can keep the same addresses. Filters, Bayn said, act as messages arrive at the ‘cc’ account and will continue to work as before. However the two Web options have some differing features. For example, a student switching from WebMail to WebMail Plus will need to re-create his or her address book. Also unsent drafts are only stored at the intermediary site being the WebMail interface, Bayn said.
WebMail Plus is operated under ImpMail which is an open-source product. Bayn said that it is likely that some WebMail users will appreciate some of the new WebMail Plus features while others “will mourn some features or conveniences that were only found in the older WebMail.”
Todd Bigelow, a senior majoring in electrical engineering, has already accessed his e-mail on WebMail Plus.
“I didn’t like the layout as much but it seems to have more features,” Bigelow said.
Around 25,000 USU e-mail accounts are currently in use, Marshall said, and students are encouraged to try WebMail Plus and give feedback.
“We’d like feedback on whether students like it or not and how well it works,” Marshall said.
WebMail is mostly supported by student fees and therefore when a student no longer attends USU his or her e-mail account is removed. Accounts are removed during the first part of the fourth week of the first semester the student is not attending Utah State University.
-hilaryi@cc.usu.edu