Major email hosting upgrade coming soon! IMPORTANT regarding your email account and access to it: -------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft (where we have the mail server for your Exchange email accounts) has notified us that they plan on upgrading your email account to the new Office 365 platform. This is their new & improved email platform, and it's a one-time thing. We will be posting updated status information on a special page at http://www.redlance.com/365.htm WHEN IS THIS HAPPENING? ----------------------- We have been notified to "Prepare to transition by 02/10/2012", and may take ~72 hours to complete from start to finish. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO? --------------------- Right now, the only thing you should have to do on your end is to change your password. Changing your password now triggers an event in the new server that will allow you to log in later. Scroll down for instructions on how to change your password. If you don't know what your current password is, we can look it up and tell you what we think it is, or we can administratively reset it. Most of the technical stuff is going to be happening on the back-end without much need for you to do anything, but there may be a bit of unpleasantness until it's all said and done. HOW WILL MY EMAIL BE AFFECTED? ------------------------------ All of your existing emails and content in Outlook will still be there, and you won't lose any emails during the transition. There may be some access issues during and immediately after the transition, like your Outlook program not working or new email not showing up on your phone or mobile device until some adjustments are made. Your Outlook Web Access (aka OWA) (http://owa.yourdomain.com) will continue to work during and after the transition (replace "yourdomain.com" with your email domain, like http://owa.redlance.com), so you can access email there if Outlook stops working. So if your email address is joe@somewhere.com, you can go to http://owa.somewhere.com to log in, using your email address and email password to access your email until the transition is complete. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE TRANSITION IS DONE? ----------------------------------------- After the transition, Outlook "should" start working by itself after being prompted to enter your email address & password. If you have email issues after the transition completes, you can give us a call (you can try emailing us too from your Outlook Web Access, but call if you don't get a response just in case) Check your distribution groups and forwarders! If you have a group like info@yourdomain.com forward emails to you, make sure that works and notify us if not. WHAT ABOUT MY TABLET, MOBILE PHONE, OR OTHER DEVICE? ---------------------------------------------------- Accounts on these devices won't automatically start working again. The accounts will need to be removed and re-added to your device to continue working on the new platform. This is a one time unpleasant thing, but necessary (sorry). We can help you with that, or if you're semi-technical, you can try it yourself using a tutorial we'll post on our site (http://www.redlance.com/365.htm) WHAT IF I NEED HELP, HAVE QUESTIONS, OR WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? --------------------------------------------------------------------- We have a lot of email accounts being converted and plan on being pretty busy dealing with it all. Updated information will be posted and available on our website at http://www.redlance.com/365.htm You can also call us at 888-424-5286, keeping in mind we may be a little tied up. Our email is transitioning too, so keep that in mind. We know email is important to you, and your Outlook Web Access (OWA) should allow you to access your email if you need to access it "now". IF YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD IF IT'S NOT ALREADY 8 CHARACTERS OR LONGER: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Option #1, if you DO NOT have the Microsoft Online Services Sign In tool installed (or don't want to use it): Go to https://home.microsoftonline.com/Login.aspx Click Change Password in the upper right corner Type your old (current) password and your NEW password in the boxes provided. Click SAVE ** OR ** Option #2, if you DO have the Microsoft Online Services Sign In tool installed: Launch the sign in assistant by the icon in the start group, or in the lower right corner in the taskbar tray Click OPTIONS Click CHANGE PASSWORD Type your old (current) password. Type your NEW password in the spaces provided* *NOTE: Even though it says at least 7 characters, it MUST be at least 8 characters! _______________________________________________________ If you don't know what your password is, we can pro-actively change it now so it won't be a problem later. Remember, you'll have to use that new password to log in on your Outlook and your mobile devices at least once so the old password that's in there now gets replaced. We're very excited to move to this next generation of email and being connected!