Since June 1, 2021, University Information Technology (UIT) has been gradually migrating all University of Utah and University of Utah Health faculty and staff UMail accounts from Microsoft Exchange Server (hosted on campus) to Microsoft Exchange Online (hosted online by Microsoft infrastructure). The project, expected to last about 10 weeks, will help modernize the U’s communication technology and better meet the needs of those working, learning and teaching remotely.

While most migrations have gone smoothly, UIT Communications Infrastructure Director Mike Ekstrom and Unified Communications Associate Director James Rice said the known issues temporarily created while the university switches servers have tripped up some users.

“The predominant issues seem to be accessing UMail in a browser and resetting account profiles,” Rice said.

Luckily, users can easily troubleshoot both issues.

To access UMail via Outlook Web Access (OWA), users must use the full web address—including the “www.” (www.umail.utah.edu). After their accounts are migrated, users also may need to clear their web browser’s cache and cookies.

To resolve issues accessing or using UMail through an email application, users should delete their old UMail profiles and refer to the instructions and video tutorials in the IT Knowledge Base on how to re-create the profiles.

Other known issues, such as difficulties with shared email resources, may require more hands-on help. Ekstrom and Rice encourage users to first refer to the IT Knowledge Base to troubleshoot any problems they may encounter, then contact local IT staff or a central help desk for support.

“If users can take care of an issue themselves, that would that would deflect call volume from the Help Desk for more complicated and urgent issues,” Rice said.

Nearly 95,000 faculty and staff UMail accounts are being upgraded this summer, so the migration is moving forward rapidly. Campus accounts are moving first, before the start of fall semester; hospital accounts will be updated afterward. Accounts are being migrated by ORG ID in an effort to transition users who may share email resources to Exchange Online at the same time. Users will be notified via UMail about 48 hours before their accounts are migrated.

It’s a complex effort, Ekstrom said.

“However, if a department needs to migrate at a specific time or in a specific way, its leaders should reach out to us,” Ekstrom said. Deans, department chairs, and directors can contact Rice at james.rice@utah.edu.

The fundamental change, Rice said, is the OWA interface. The update comes with more mailbox space and the latest features, such as Dark Mode and Share to Teams.

“People [who have already migrated] are excited about the new user interface,” Rice said. “So I think that people who access UMail through a web browser, they’ll really like the OWA update.”