University email recently upgraded to the Office 365 client for all faculty, staff and students. The upgrade, instated over the summer, features some changes in the way students will use the new system.

Microsoft’s Office 365 is an online software service built around the Microsoft Office software platform. It  includes software that is most familiar to students, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, said Sarah Huntley, system services manager.

The change had been out for a while and UNA decided to make the upgrade over the summer to try and limit the amount of students and faculty it affected, Huntley said.

Huntley said the move to Office 365 will make access to email and other features easier.

“This platform is more compatible for tablets and smartphones, and since email is an official means of communication at UNA, it will be good for students to have that instant access,” Huntley said.  

One problem students may run into is in order to access Office 365, the user must access it with the newest version of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.  It is not compatible with Google’s Chrome browser.  

“I hate it,” said Tyrie Fletcher, a junior at UNA. “It has just been difficult, because I use different browsers. If I’m in the library I use Mozilla, but if I’m in the GUC I’m on Internet Explorer.”

Fletcher said he has also lost the contact information of several people from other universities when the system switched over. 

Anna Higdon, a nursing student at UNA, said she prefers the new system, since it is more compatible for her phone.

“I like this new email system a lot better than the other one,” Higdon said.  

“I usually check my email through my phone, and this new system works a lot better. Nursing school is always sending things, and with the old email it seemed like it took hours before I would get them.”

The new platform offers many features besides email, including instant messaging and online meetings, web conferencing and online storage based on the cloud technology.  

“Each user has access to 25 gigabytes of storage for their email,” Huntley said.  “And the cloud-based storage allows for that because we couldn’t afford to provide that much storage with servers here on campus.”

Huntley pointed out that using all of the services provided by Office 365 can be done so by using one account login for their UNA email.

“You no longer have to go through UNA Portal to get to your email account,” Huntley said.  “You can go straight to outlook.com/una.edu and sign in from there.”

Katie Cunningham, a recent transfer student from the University of Alabama, said she prefers Office 365 to the system that was used at her old school.

“The first time I went in I was a little confused but I think it was just because it was so simple,” Cunningham said.  “Alabama’s is run through Google mail so I’m not totally familiar with working so regularly with Outlook but I think it is more user friendly. It helps me because I’m not super computer or technology savvy.”

Other students feel that the new system is more complicated than the old one.

“I kind of wish that it were a bit simpler,” said Natalie Wilson, also a student at UNA.  “I have had trouble trying to delete multiple threads of email at a time. Other than that, it’s great.”