New Email - TONIGHT!

For the last few weeks, we have been migrating copies of all your Google mail to Microsoft's Exchange Online.  Over the weekend we completed all of the initial migrations.  As a result, the firm is planning to move to Exchange tonight (Mon. Aug. 28) at 7:00 PM.

What Will Happen

At present, all of your mail is in two places: both in your Google mailbox and your Exchange mailbox.  This evening at 7PM, we will perform a final synchronization of the two mailboxes.

At the same time, I will change the MX records with our DNS provider. In plain English, that means that I am telling the entire internet that if they send an email anyone using the margolisedelstein.com domain, that mail should go to Microsoft rather than Google.  The sync will continue running all night, just in case an email still gets sent to Google.

There should be no interruption in email service.  Any incoming mail should get sent either to Google or Microsoft depending on when it hits the system.  You can send messages from Google up until 7PM and can begin sending messages from Microsoft at 7PM and after.

Configuring your PC

If you have run Outlook Assistant on the computer where you have Outlook installed, it should migrate your account automatically.  You can simply continue using it.  The Assistant should also bring over any personalized settings you made in Outlook.

Our migration consultant recommends leaving Outlook turned on tonight during the migration. However, if you don't have it on for some reason, it's not going to be a problem.  You just may have to wait a few minutes as Outlook Assistant makes the adjustment the next time you open Outlook.

The firm would like everyone to use the Outlook client for email.  Outlook already installed on your computer when you downloaded Office 365.  If you have not installed Office 365, you really need to do that TODAY.  If you have not yet used Outlook, I recommend waiting until tomorrow to configure it.  You can simply start it as a new account using Microsoft Exchange.

If Outlook Assistant does not work, or you have no existing account, and you need to configure Outlook yourself.  It should be very simple.  Simply create a new user in Outlook.  You are connecting to Microsoft Exchange Online.  Your login name is your email address.  Your password is your Office 365 password.

Configuring Mobile Devices

If you have an Android or Apple phone or tablet, the firm recommends you use the Microsoft Outlook App for your mail going forward.  To set that up, simply enter your email address and Office 365 password when prompted.

If you have a Gmail app that you are no longer using, or any other mail program on your device, you may want to delete it to avoid confusion.

Checking Mail Online

If you like to check mail online, you can always do so through your Office 365 account.  You can also go directly to http://outlook.office365.com and sign in there.

Other Configurations

In addition to email, your labels should come over as folders and keep everything filed as you had it before.  Your contacts will also come over, though they may not show up in autocomplete.  Your calendars will also migrate.

There are a few things that may not come over correctly and that you may need to set up again.  While calendars will come over, any calendar sharing you had set up will not.  You will need to share your calendars again with anyone you want to have access.  Also, if you crated and filters to handle the automatic disposition of emails coming into your mailbox, you may need to recreate those again.  If you used any third party tools to share folders or perform other functions, they may no longer be available at all.

If you had links to Google Drive documents, either in emails or calendar items, they will only work until Google Drive goes down in late September.

Your Old Google Account

Your account at Google will remain up and running for a few weeks.  The purpose of this is to give you time to make sure everything migrated correctly, and that you have cleared off everything from the old account before it goes dark.

Your old email will continue to be there, but you should not use it after 7PM tonight.  If you send an email or make any changes to that system after the migration is complete, you will lose all those emails or settings changes.  You must start using Microsoft's mail at 7PM tonight and thereafter.