Buckeye Mail - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Buckeye Mail?
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Buckeye Mail is a new e-mail system for students of The Ohio State University. It is a partnership between the university and Microsoft, using Windows Live.
What are the benefits to students?
- Significantly increased e-mail storage (10GB as compared to current 15 MB)
- 5GB of Office Workspace storage for shared project work
- 25GB of storage space on Sky Drive that allows access from any location with Web connection
- Calendar feature for personal, academic and student involvement use (record appointments, share calendars, schedule meetings)
- Recognition and credibility of the buckeyemail.osu.edu address - particularly valuable in conducting official university business or communicating with professors who may not recognize non-OSU addresses
- Ability to synchronize contacts and calendars with Windows Mobile and iPhone systems
- Anti-Spam and virus protection
What does this cost me?
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Buckeye Mail is a free service to students.
If I sign-up, will my Name.#@osu.edu address change?
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No. You will keep the same name.# . Mail sent to either lastname.#@osu.edu or lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu will go to your Buckeye Mail account. Your outgoing mail and replies will carry lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu as your address.
How do I sign up?
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Students can sign-up on our Account Management website, under "osu.edu E-mail", click "Activate Buckeye Mail".
How long will it take between the sign up and when I can start using the account?
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Usually about one hour.
What happens to my e-mail during account creation?
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While your Buckeye Mail account is being created, your e-mail will be delivered to the same place it has been going before you signed-up for Buckeye Mail (OSU Webmail or the forwarding address of your choice). Once the account has been fully created, all mail sent to lastname.#@osu.edu from that point on will be forwarded to your new Buckeye Mail account.
I'm not eligible to sign-up for Buckeye Mail yet - how do I check my e-mail?
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All current and admitted students should now be eligible to sign-up for Buckeye Mail.
How do I access Buckeye Mail?
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You can access Buckeye Mail on the web at buckeyemail.osu.edu .
Why am I redirected to a login site at login.live.com?
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Buckeye Mail is a branded service provided by Microsoft. If you type buckeyemail.osu.edu into your web browser, it will first redirect you to exchangelabs.com, then to login.live.com -- this is the login page for Buckeye Mail. After successfully logging in, you will be redirected to outlook.com, the main Buckeye Mail web access page.
The login page is asking for my Windows Live ID. What's that?
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Your Buckeye Mail Windows Live ID is lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu. You need to put the @buckeyemail.osu.edu as a part of the username, unlike the existing webmail.osu.edu system, where just the lastname.# is required. If you also have a personal Hotmail or Windows Live account, you may need to click "Sign in with a different account" before you can enter the new ID.
Your Buckeye Mail Windows Live ID is a new, separate Windows Live ID and does not interfere with any account you may have already set up with Microsoft.
What are the requirements for using Buckeye Mail on the web?
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In order to use the complete set of features, and get the best possible experience from Buckeye Mail, you need to use one of the recommended web browsers - Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) for Windows, Mozilla Firefox 3.0.1 or higher for Windows or Mac, or Safari 3.1 or higher for Mac OS X. See Buckeye Mail Web Access: Supported Browsers for more information. Please note that even though these browsers are considered supported, there are still a few options which are NOT accessible from browsers other than Internet Explorer 7 or 8 - including accessing the Junk E-mail settings in Buckeye Mail. For more information on exactly what features are available in which browser, see also Microsoft's list of Supported Browsers and Operating Systems
How do I access Buckeye Mail using POP or IMAP?
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The server settings are as follows:
POP - outlook.com
IMAP - outlook.com
SMTP - pod51000.outlook.com
Note: Microsoft requires authenticated and secure transmission. To do this, you will need to set the inbound setting to "SSL" and the outbound for "TLS". In some programs, you will need to set the authentication for outbound (SMTP) to be the same as incoming.
See Instructions for Checking Buckeye Mail for more information and links to program-specific instructions.
Do I have to use Buckeye Mail?
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No. But students have to choose either Buckeye Mail or another e-mail service. All student e-mail will be forwarded to the account you designate, whether that is Buckeye Mail, MSN, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Roadrunner, or any other service provider. If you choose to forward your e-mail to another service, you do not need to sign-up for a Buckeye Mail account. If you do not designate a provider, your mail service will be automatically migrated to Buckeye Mail. On December 31, 2009, all student accounts on the OSU Webmail server will be deleted. Any mail you wish to keep must be moved to your Buckeye Mail or commercial e-mail account before that date.
How do I forward my existing Webmail to Buckeye Mail?
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Instructions are provided in a separate
Moving Webmail Messages to Buckeye Mail article.
If I've already forwarded my OSU e-mail to Gmail or another mail service, do I have to change to Buckeye Mail?
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No, but we hope you'll consider it. Buckeye Mail has some benefits that other services do not: (1) It identifies you as a student of The Ohio State University. This is sometimes important, such as when communicating with course instructors who must be sure you are the person you say you are when discussing your grades or other protected information. (2) The collaboration features on Buckeye Mail will facilitate group projects for classes and student organizations, (3) the other features are comparable or better than what other free mail services provide.
What happens to the mail in my current OSU account?
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It will stay in your current system until you forward it elsewhere (to Buckeye Mail or another mail service). Activating a new account doesn’t automatically move your old mail to that account. For instructions on how to move it, go to Moving Saved OSU Webmail Messages Into Buckeye Mail or the bottom of Self-Service E-mail Forwarding for other commercial accounts. Messages must be in your OSU Webmail Inbox to be transferred. Any mail in your OSU Webmail account that you want to keep must be moved by December 31, 2009 or it will be deleted.
Do I have to keep the same e-mail provider throughout my Ohio State career?
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No. You can change your forwarding at any time, using our Account Management page. You can change to Buckeye Mail or to any other service provider of your choice. Official university e-mail (registration, grades, fee statements, etc.) will be sent to your lastname.#@osu.edu account and forwarded automatically to whichever address you have chosen.
How do I access Sky Drive, the included 25 GB of online storage?
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You can access Sky Drive from any web browser. Go to skydrive.live.com and sign-in using your Buckeye Mail Windows Live ID (lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu) and password.
What kind of anti-spam protection does Buckeye Mail offer?
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Buckeye Mail has its own spam filters and virus protections. Messages sent to lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu will be scanned and filtered automatically. Detected viruses will be deleted, and suspected spam will be placed in your Junk folder for you to review. It is important to periodically check your Junk folder to avoid missing a real message mistakenly marked as spam.
In addition to this, mail sent to lastname.#@osu.edu will also be scanned and filtered by the OSU central anti-spam system, where you can use a pre-configured "basic" level of protection, or you can personalize the system to better recognize what you do and don't consider spam, and trap or reject messages accordingly. See Anti-Spam Service: Why use it? Introduction and Article Index for more information, and links to get started.
What are the privacy and security policies?
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Ohio State policies and protections are still in effect. See the University Policies page and BuckeyeSecure for more information.
In addition, you will be asked to agree to Microsoft's privacy and security policies when you sign up for Buckeye Mail.
What is the Login? Will my username and password change?
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Your login (or Windows Live ID, or username) for Buckeye Mail will be your full e-mail address: lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu
. You may choose to keep the same password, or change it if you wish. Your username for Carmen, BuckeyeLink, and other online services will NOT change.
Where do I change my Buckeye Mail password?
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At the Account Management web site. Click "OSU Internet Username", then "Change password". For more information on password security and picking a strong password, see the BuckeyeSecure Passwords page.
Can I keep this account after I leave Ohio State?
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If you graduate from the university, you may keep your Buckeye Mail account. If you leave the university for another reason, your access will be terminated in about six months.
Who is eligible for Buckeye Mail?
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All currently enrolled undergraduate, graduate and professional students of The Ohio State University at all campuses.
Can faculty and staff get Buckeye Mail accounts?
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No. The contract with Microsoft is only for students.
Why is Ohio State creating Buckeye Mail?
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The partnership with Microsoft allows us to offer enhanced e-mail services to students, including greatly increased storage capacity, without cost to the university or our students.
What's the benefit to Microsoft?
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Microsoft hopes that the positive experience you have with Buckeye Mail will result in your continued use of their services after you graduate.
Will there be advertising on Buckeye Mail?
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No, not while you are enrolled at Ohio State. If you keep the account after graduation, you will see some advertising as you do on other mail services.
Will my e-mail address be sold or given to advertisers and others?
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Current policies will apply. Ohio State does not sell student addresses, but there are circumstances in which, as a public institution, we are required to provide "directory" information to those who request it. You may choose to have your directory information withheld by checking the appropriate box on your course registration form each quarter.
Realize, however, that there are many ways for spammers to collect e-mail addresses and that the more active you are on the Internet, the more likely that your address will be "harvested." Buckeye Mail spam filters will eliminate much, but not all, unwanted mail. You can further reduce spam by setting your own filters. See the BuckeyeSecure Spam page for more information.
The contract with Microsoft does not allow them to sell your address or information or to advertise their services to you.
Where do I go for technical help with Buckeye Mail?
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If you're having problems signing up, contact 8help at 614-688-HELP (4357) (TDD: 614-688-8743) or 8help@osu.edu. To see when we are available, see our standard hours of operation. For a listing of all available Buckeye Mail-related help articles, see the Buckeye Mail Articles category page.
I know that it is inappropriate to communicate restricted data (grades, enrollment information, etc.) generated from or sent to external email systems. Does this include Buckeye Mail?
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The Buckeye Mail e-mail system is considered one component of the OSU e-mail system, and while it is hosted by MicroSoft, the university continues to maintain control over the access, data and information contained in the system. Therefore, instructors and other University administrators may correspond with students through either the Buckeye Mail or OSU central e-mail systems and still be compliant with FERPA and other university policies.
Note that it has and continues to be inappropriate to communicate restricted data (grades, enrollment information, etc.) generated from or sent to external email systems such as yahoo, google mail, hotmail, etc.
Is Buckeye Mail ADA compliant?
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Buckeye Mail's web interface has a "blind and low-vision experience" option that is 508c compliant and should support screen readers such as JAWS.
Current Record: 3952
Create Date: 12-19-2008
Last Reviewed: 11-17-2009
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