Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I need to move quickly. How fast can you set me up with email service?
Usually same day. The setup process on our end is fairly straightforward. You would need to have access to your domain’s DNS settings so we can point mail delivery to us. Once that is done you are 100% active. You will be able to send and receive new mail. If you’re in a huge rush you wouldn’t even need to set up your local mail client. You could use Outlook Web Access (OWA, i.e., webmail) until you have time to set up Outlook (or just use webmail as your primary mail client – Exchange 2019 webmail is quite good).
Migration of existing mail, however, may take longer than one day, depending on the number of accounts, amount of mail, etc., but that’s okay. As long as you’re able to send and receive, we can work on importing existing mail as quickly as possible.
What is exactly involved in the email migration process? Do you have a timeline? What can I expect?
Is there admin access to the Spam Filter?
Yes, assigned admins can change user settings & passwords, view the entire domain’s message log, set global allow-lists and global block-lists.
Can I strengthen or weaken the spam filter settings?
Yes. Our default settings usually work very well since we’ve tuned these over many years, but you can change those settings to make the filter stronger or weaker as needed. This can be done on a domain-wide lever and also on an individual level.
Do you have a sample account on the archiver that I can login to so I can see how it works?
Yes. Just contact us and we’ll give you temporary access to an “example” account on the archiver for you to review.
Can I import a .pst file using Webmail (OWA, Outlook Web Access)?
Unfortunately no. OWA does not support .pst imports or exports. You will need to import your .pst file using a mail client like Outlook.
What is involved in the actual "switchover" process ?
Usually it works this way…once all accounts are created and mail is transferred, you pick a date and time, say Friday at 5:30 after the office closes. Several DNS changes are made at that time to route mail to the new server. We can help you make those changes.
For email service, I have more than one domain. How do you handle that?
We only bill for unique inboxes. We don’t charge for aliases, even across domains. For example, if you have bob@domain1.com, bob@dsomain2.com and bob@domain3.com and they all go to the same inbox on our system, we only charge you for one user. Same with account aliases within a single domain. If you are user@doamin.com but also have support@domain.com, billing@domain.com, etc., all pointing to the inbox of user@domain.com, we still only bill for that one account.
Do you charge for email distribution lists?
No. You can have as many as you like. A distribution list is something like group@domain.com, which does not have an actual inbox. Mail sent to that account gets delivered to several other people with actual accounts (bob@domain.com, mary@domain.com, etc.)
Is email encryption really free? Everyone else charges for it.
Yes, encryption is included with all accounts. There’s a bit of setup involved beyond the email account setup (and it’s optional – you don’t have to use it) but it is available and included for all hosted mail accounts.
Can I download archived email?
Yes. Everything from individual emails to your entire company archive, at any time for any reason.
How long does the migration process take when using the automated migration tool?
Of course it depends on how much is being transferred. Unless you are under a serious time constraint we usually recommend starting the process at least several days prior to switchover. Once the initial pass is completed we will do incremental passes to catch new mail.
Can users log into their new accounts before all the old mail is transferred over?
Absolutely. Account use and migration are two separate things. Users can set up a local mail client at any point after the account is created. They can also use OWA.
What are the spacific DNS changes that need to be made to activate the Hosted Exchange service?
You can view and download that PDF here.