February 2006 IT News
New Cellular Phone Policy and Allowance Option
In December, the Board of Trustees approved a new cellular telephone policy that provides for a taxable allowance which may be used by University of Utah faculty and staff to obtain a personal cellular phone and to pay for their own monthly cellular plan. The policy also specifies documentation requirements required for the use of University-owned cellular telephones and plans. This is in keeping with what many other higher education institutions around the country are doing as a result of potential tax liabilities and IRS substantiation requirements.
The process for requesting cellular allowances is in place as of February 1, 2006. You can find the new policy, frequently asked questions, and the agreement/forms used when requesting an allowance for individually-owned cell phones and devices, on the Office of Information Technology/NetCom website at: www.it.utah.edu/services/phones/cellular.php
Discounted services are available from Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Faculty and staff members may view discounted cellular phones and plans available to University employees by logging into the site using their uNID and password. Because cellular service providers offer promotional programs from time to time, we recommend that you compare prices provided on the website with pricing promotions that the vendor representatives or the vendor retail outlets may offer.
Initial reimbursements for individually-owned telephones may be received as early as February 22nd provided the Payroll department receives the completed agreement and forms by February 7th.
Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions that are posted on the website. Send additional questions to Syndi Haywood at syndi.haywood@netcom.utah.edu, or call the Campus Help Desk at 1-4000, option 2 to speak with a Service Coordinator. |
UMail – The New Campus Email System
A centralized, Microsoft Exchange-based email and calendaring system will be rolled out to all students and interested campus departments during calendar year 2006. We asked campus members to vote for the system name they liked the best. The results are in, and the new campus email system is now called UMail! To see how the more than 2300 respondents voted, click here. Departments interested in being early adopters can begin using the production system as early as mid-February, 2006. Early adopters (both departmental and individual) will not be able to migrate any existing email; users will simply get a new, empty mailbox on the new UMail system. Main campus departments who wish to migrate with OIT assistance can contact us at email_projectfaqs@lists.utah.edu. Health Sciences departments should coordinate with Information Technology Services. Email SoftwareThe email programs most easily integrated with UMail will be Microsoft Outlook 2003 for Windows XP, Entourage 2004 SP2 for Mac OS 10, and Outlook Web Access via Internet Explorer 6.0. There is also a Linux client (Evolution 2 through Novell, formerly Ximian Evolution), as well. Please see the list of recommended email clients. However, users can use any email program they prefer. There will be a loss of some features with non-supported email programs, and not all programs will be supported by the Campus Help Desk beyond the standard email protocols. Finally, the system can synch with many handheld devices with specific operating systems, including Pocket PC 2003, Windows Mobile 5, and some Palm devices. Individual Campus Users (Students, Staff and Faculty)All students, staff and faculty will have email accounts on the new UMail system. If staff of faculty members wish to use the UMail system even though their department doesn't migrate to it, or before the migration occurs, they may, although you’ll want to check with your department’s computer administrator in the latter situation. The Exchange system will support all email address aliases in use with the current campus email system. You can find all your aliases by going to the Manage Addresses section of the uNID Account Tools. Current campus email system users (staff, faculty, and students) will need to move their own mail from the iPlanet/Webmail system to the UMail system. We encourage you to only move mail you feel is important. The old iPlanet system will be accessible for 6 months after the final cutover to the new system, but it will not be around forever. Once the final cutover occurs in May, all incoming email be delivered to the new UMail system mailbox. Self-serve migration tools and instructions will be available on the OIT website by March 10th. If your department is going to migrate to the new system, OIT will work with them to help with a smooth, planned migration to the new system later in the year (after May 2006). OIT will have 3rd party tools available to migrate GroupWise and iPlanet systems mailbox data to the Exchange system. Staff and faculty accounts on the new system will receive 500 MB of storage space. If you need more - for University-related purposes - you will be able to request more, up to 2 GB total. Student accounts will receive 50 MB of storage space. If a student needs more - for academic purposes - they will be able to request more, up to 200 MB total. What You Can Do NowAre you ready for the new campus UMail system? There are things each individual can do now to prepare:
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