The NSU community experienced email disruptions last week due to the conversion from the university’s old system, WebMail, to a new system, Live@edu, by the Office of Information Technology (OIT).
A self–migration process was initiated Aug. 29 and is scheduled to end Dec. 19. Students who started the process last week encountered errors.
Adrian Comeaux, junior busi-ness major, said, “It basically told me if I ‘migrate,’ I would have the ability to forward over my mail from the old system. But, when I logged back into SharkLink, the old mail icon disappeared. I lost everything saved in my old inbox. I hope something can be done about this.”
Alyssa Manillo, freshman biology major, said she had difficulty sending emails and opening files since she migrated to the new system.
“I wish I had waited to convert.This is such a hassle for me,” said Manillo.
Dennis Mize, director of systems administration in OIT, said the office is working to iron out any remaining problems associated with the new technology.
“While the university has been testing Live@edu for many months in preparation for the recent rollout to students, it is a new system to NSU,” he said. “We expect the majority of existing issues related to the new service to be resolved within the next few weeks.”
Mize said Live@edu allows NSU email users to access their mail through smartphones and tablets. The mailbox will be upgraded to 10GB. WebMail offered 256 MB. Mize said the move to the new system was initiated to improve students’ email experience by providing them with one of the best communication and collaboration suites on the market.
Marion Alson, sophomore business major, said WebMail did not cater to the needs of students who take online classes and use email as the primary source of communication with their professors.
“There would be a lot of maintenance and errors,” said Alson. “It’s sometimes difficult to access important emails from my online professors.”
Matthew Alexander, sophomore business major, said, “The system was just not up to date and couldn’t meet with students’ needs.”
Freshman psychology major, Melissa Rosen, said WebMail was ugly and hard to navigate.
However, Mize said the features of the new email system will include an online version of Microsoft Office and a virtual storage area called Skydrive. Skydrive allows users to store up to 25GB of any type of file, including Microsoft Office documents, photos, and music, and share them with others. When Skydrive works properly, it offers users the ability to store data that will be accessible anywhere, lessening the threat of system crashes.
Mize said students, faculty and staff can still use the WebMail system.
“While no date has been announced yet for decommissioning the existing email system, it will remain in use for some time as the existing email system is still in use by NSU faculty and staff.”
However, users who migrate before the deadline will automatically be enrolled into a drawing to win prizes like Microsoft Office Professional, Xbox games, and a grand prize of an Xbox 360. One winner will be chosen at random each month for those who enroll before the deadline.
To begin the self–migration process, users may log on to http://www.nova.edu/movetolive and follow instructions on the webpage.
Mize said NSU email users who experience problems with the new system should contact the NSU help desk at (954) 262-4357.
