Posted on July 18: New Web friendly e-mail service introduced

Faculty staff and graduate students will now to be able to read their McMaster e-mail anywhere they have access to the internet and a Web browser with the introduction of a new e-mail service.

Computing & Information Services (CIS) has introduced UnivMail, a new e-mail service based on software by CommuniGate Pro. The service was introduced to undergraduate students nearly two years ago.

Heather Grigg, CIS senior manager, client support, expects UnivMail will replace PINE in the future, the central Unix-based electronic mail system that has been available to the McMaster community since 1992. “UnivMail is being offered on a self-subscription basis, so users can choose when to migrate their e-mail to the new service,” she says.

It is expected that the McMail/PINE service will be decommissioned when it isn't viable to continue the service for a small number of email accounts, she says.

There are several benefits to using UnivMail, says Grigg. Not only does it allow users to access the site with a browser, the new service includes SPAM Assassin, which assists in filtering and reducing Spam-type e-mail, as well as an anti-virus component to help prevent virus proliferation.

The new service also provides enhanced security features and is less resource intensive. It also eliminates the need to FTP files to and from the server, attachments are more easily accessible, disk space can be managed more effectively and multiple clients can access e-mail via the Web-mail interface more securely from one computer, she says.

Currently, there are just over 7,000 user accounts on McMail (some of which are inactive) says Grigg. “Of the active accounts, about one-third are PINE-only users; one-third use e-mail clients only (such as Outlook or Netscape Messenger) to access their mail and one-third alternate between the two (PINE versus e-mail client),” she says. “Some groups on campus have elected to run their own e-mail servers so that they could have access to something more current than PINE.”

Only those making the move from PINE will be required to change their mail client. Those who use Netscape Messenger, Outlook Express, or similar mail clients will only need to change the server name and a few other configuration items. Approximately 50 people have received a demonstration on the migration process and UnivMail features as part of the pilot.

For more information about the UnivMail visit http://www.mcmaster.ca/cis/help/univmail/