K-State Zimbra
Zimbra, a Yahoo! company, is the leader in open source, next-generation collaboration and messaging software:
K-State Zimbra We listened.
Frequently Asked Questions
These frequently asked questions address K-State's upcoming change from WebMail and Oracle Calendar to the Zimbra Collaboration Suite for integrated, central e-mail and calendar services.
Moving to Zimbra
- Why is K-State switching from WebMail and Oracle Calendar?
A December 2007 campuswide survey collected input from more than 2,400 K-Staters. This data showed a clear desire for an integrated e-mail and calendaring solution, which the current e-mail and calendaring systems could not provide. See the complete results (PDF) of the Integrated E-mail/Calendar Needs Assessment Survey.
- Why did K-State choose the Zimbra Collaboration Suite?
An extensive needs analysis was completed in spring 2008 by a committee with broad campus representation, including students, faculty, staff, administration, and alumni. Zimbra was chosen because it will most effectively meet the needs and requests of the campus shown by the needs analysis. See the client feature grids (faculty/staff and student results in PDF format) for detailed product comparisons. You can also visit www.zimbra.com for details about the new system.
- When will K-State switch to Zimbra?
K-State switched to the Zimbra Collaboration Suite for enterprise e-mail May 2009 and implementation planning for Zimbra calendaring will take place in Fall 2009.
- What are some benefits of Zimbra?
Some of the expanded services include:- Integrated e-mail and calendaring
- Global address book
- Larger, 6GB e-mail accounts
- Ability to send and receive larger file attachments (up to 15MB)
- More effective filtering of unsolicited and spam e-mail
- Document sharing
- Better synchronization with mobile devices
- Customizable folders with nesting and rule settings
- Encrypted messaging
- Group management to share documents and calendars
- Out-of-office replies
- What are some of the advantages of integrated e-mail and calendaring?
Zimbra is a collaboration suite that allows e-mail and calendaring to work together. Cross-functionality exists between the two, in that the same groups created for the purpose of e-mail can also be used to schedule calendar events for that group.
- What does K-State Zimbra look like?
If you use a third-party client to access your e-mail, such as Pegasus, Thunderbird, Outlook, or Apple iMail, K-State Zimbra won’t look any different for you. You will not need to make any changes to your e-mail client’s settings, since K-State’s IMAP (for incoming e-mail) and SMTP (for outgoing e-mail) settings are not changing. For example, think of your third-party e-mail client as your home mailbox and K-State as your postal carrier. Your mailbox and delivery method are not changing, but your postal carrier will be using a different system. When you access your e-mail at webmail.ksu.edu, your e-mail will be K-State Zimbra and will look different. See the January 27, 2009 InfoTech Tuesday articlefor more information.
- Will I need a new eID or password to sign into Zimbra?
No. You will continue to use your existing eID and password to sign into Zimbra. For more information about eIDs and passwords, see the eID Frequently Asked Questions or the Passwords Frequently Asked Questions.
- I use Thunderbird, Mozilla, or another POP/IMAP client for e-mail. Will I be required to switch?
Most faculty, staff, and students can continue using their local desktop client. For example, if you use Thunderbird to receive e-mail from the K-State enterprise e-mail system (known as WebMail), you will continue being able to use the desktop client.
- I currently use the enterprise GroupWise system. What does this mean for me?
Users of the enterprise, or ITS-managed, GroupWise system will be migrated to the new Zimbra Collaboration Suite during the summer 2009 and fall 2009 semesters. The migration of data will be completed on a system level; therefore, individuals using GroupWise do not need to migrate the data they have on the GroupWise server. Information Technology Services will be working closely with GroupWise users to provide more detailed information and assistance.
- Who should I contact when I have questions, feedback, or input?
Please contact the IT Help Desk for questions and assistance with K-State Zimbra.
- Will my smartphone (BlackBerry, iPhone, Treo, etc.) work with Zimbra?
Yes. Zimbra can be accessed from a wide variety of PDAs and smartphones. Zimbra supports mobile POP and IMAP access and is an open-source solution for Linux and Mac servers. For detailed information about a specific mobile device, see the K-State Zimbra mobile configuration website.
- Will training be available?
Yes. A series of open question and answer sessions have been scheduled for both the Manhattan and Salina campuses. K-Staters are invited to drop in for as little or as long as they like and ask any questions that they may have about K-State Zimbra. The IT Help Desk is also available to answer any questions.
- Will I need new software on my computer to use Zimbra?
No. You will not need new software or client software configuration, as Zimbra is a web-based client application. Zimbra also supports most existing IMAP and POP clients such as Thunderbird and iMail.
- How can I stay updated on what's happening with this project?
This website will be updated with new information as the project progresses. Additionally, you may contact a member of one of the two broadly represented campus committees: the Zimbra Steering Committee and the Zimbra Technical Implementation Committee.
- Will other constituent groups, such as K-State alumni and prospective students, have access to K-State Zimbra e-mail?
Future phases of the Zimbra implementation will include services for constituent groups other than current faculty, staff, and students, such as alumni and prospective students.
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- Will I keep my @k-state.edu and @ksu.edu e-mail address?
Yes. Your e-mail address did not change.
- Will I still be able to forward my K-State e-mail?
Yes. If you prefer to have your K-State e-mail forwarded to another e-mail client or software, you are still be able to do that.
- How much space do I have on the Zimbra system?
You have 6GB of space, which is distributed across the entire collaboration suite. This includes e-mail and calendaring, and also roaming file space which you will be able to access anytime to upload, store, and/or download your files.
- Instead of WebMail, I use another e-mail client, such as Outlook or Mac Mail, to receive my K-State e-mail. Do I need to change the way my client is configured?
No. Zimbra uses both IMAP and POP access, and the access information did not change for most faculty, staff, and students.
- Since Zimbra is a Yahoo! company, can I use my Yahoo! account instead of my K-State e-mail address?
You cannot use your Yahoo! account to access your K-State e-mail. However, you may set up your K-State e-mail to be forwarded to your Yahoo! e-mail address if you wish to receive mail at your Yahoo! account.
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Calendar
- When will I begin using the Zimbra Collaboration Suite instead of Oracle Calendar?
Planning for the migration of Oracle Calendar to the Zimbra Collaboration Suite is will take place fall 2009. (Central e-mail was migrated spring 2009.) The reason for staggering the release is to minimize the amount of change to K-Staters and allow you to become comfortable with the new e-mail environment before migrating the calendar system.
- How does the Zimbra Collaboration Suite compare to Oracle Calendar?
While the interface may look quite different from Oracle Calendar, most prompts and other interactions will be intuitive for new Zimbra users. In fact, Zimbra Calendar will be familiar to users of Google and other calendar vendors, with easy to use, drag-and-drop functionality, as well as some calendar customization. Zimbra Calendar features include:- ability to have multiple, user-created calendars
- ability to subscribe to other user calendars
- variable privacy settings per meeting
- calendar delegation
- schedulable calendar resources
- meeting reminders and notifications
- free-busy calendar lookups.
- Will I be able to manage all of my calendar and resources with Zimbra calendaring?
Yes. Zimbra includes resource calendars and allows designated access to calendars.