Staff Email

Accessing Email from Home (or from a remote Location)

Auto-Reply/Auto-Forwarding
Spam Filtering / Junk Mail Filtering
Email Distribution Lists
Quota

Accessing Email from Home (or a Remote Location)

All new staff members will receive their new, HLS computer with Microsoft's Outlook or Entourage email client installed, configured, and ready to use. Because our email environment uses Microsoft Exchange, configuring another email client on a home machine is not necessary. Using the email web client at http://email.law.harvard.edu provides our staff with the ability to check email, calendar, contacts, and tasks from anywhere with an Internet connection. Anything that is done via the email web client will then be synced with the Outlook/Entourage desktop client.

If however, a staff member would like an additional install of the Outlook or Entourage desktop client on his/her HLS-owned laptop, please bring this laptop to the Faculty-Staff Help Desk in Hauser 020 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Staff are also welcome to read the configuration instructions:

Outlook 2003/Exchange Configuration Instructions

Entourage 2004/Exchange Configuration Instructions

Auto-Reply/Auto-Forwarding

An out of office message is ideal for staff who are unable to check email for a long period of time. This pre-created notice will automatically be sent to anyone who sends an email to your email account.

Creating an AutoReply

Log into http://email.law.harvard.edu.
On the left Navigation bar click OPTIONS. Result: This will open a page of options.
Under the "Out of the Office Assistant" click the radio button next to "I am currently out of the office."
Type your out of the office reply under "Autoreply only once to each sender with the following text:"
Click SAVE AND CLOSE at the top of the page. Result: Your out of the office notice will be created. NOTE: To turn off your out of office message, remember to visit this page and select "I am current in the office."

Mail forwarding is ideal for staff who wish to have email directed to another email account. If you would like to have your mail forwarded to another email account, please contact the Faculty-Staff Help Desk. Please let the help desk know what account you would like you email forwarded to and also if you would like to leave a copy of your mail on the HLS server. If you leave a copy of mail on the HLS server, you need to monitor this account so it does not go over the 250MB quota. To manage your email via the web email client, please visit https://email.law.harvard.edu.

Spam Filtering / Junk Mail

With Exchange, there are two spam filtering features.

The first feature is a built-in junk mail filter within Outlook. By default, this filter is set to a low setting designed to catch the most obvious junk e-mail messages. Messages caught by the filter are moved to a special Junk E-mail folder, where you can access them later. If you want, you can make the filter more aggressive (perhaps mistakenly catching more legitimate messages), or even set Outlook 2003 to permanently delete junk e-mail messages as they come in. To change junk e-mail settings in Outlook 2003:

On the TOOLS menu, select OPTIONS.
In the Options dialog box, in the E-mail section, click Junk E-mail.
Choose the level of junk e-mail message protection you want. Click OK

Another spam feature at the Law School is labeling potential spam messages. When problematic spam is identified, the words "Possible Spam" will appear in the message's subject. It is recommended by ITS that staff create a rule that will move the messages marked as spam to the Junk Mail folder. To create this rule:

Select Rules Wizard from the Tools menu.
Click the New button. The Rules Wizard dialog box will open
Verify that the rule type “Check messages when they arrive” is selected (default) and press the Next button.
Scroll through the items in the “Which condition(s) do you want to check?” box until you find “with specific words in the message header” Select the check box next to this item.
In the lower window, click on the link that says specific words. A dialog box will open, where you should type "Possible Spam". After you have entered this information, press the Next button.
Check the first option “move it to the specified folder” in the “What do you want to do with the message?” option box.
In the “Rule description” box, select the link which says “specified”. You will be presented with a window which allows you to choose which folder you would like Spam filtered to. Choose the Junk Mail folder.
Press the Next button to go to the exceptions window; you do not need to enter anything here, so press the Next button again.
You will be returned to main Rules Wizard window. You should see the rule defined and selected. Press OK to exit.

Email Distribution Lists

Listservs, also called mailing lists, are a way of communicating via email to a specific group of people on various topics of interest. Faculty, staff, and students take advantage of listservs when they want to communicate a message (usually about a specific, pre-established topic) to a group of people. The people receiving the message have the option to stay "subscribed" to the list or to "unsubscribe" if they do not want to receive future emails.

If a staff member would like a listserv created, he/she can visit the listserv creation tool or he/she can contact the Faculty-Staff Help Desk. From the web site staff members can view what HLS lists they are currently subscribed to, what additional HLS lists they would like to subscribe to, or request to have a new list created.

Quota

Staff will have a 250MB quota limit. If you are approaching this limit, an email will be sent warning you that you are already at 80% of your limit. This email will be sent daily until you are below 80%. It is important to take this notice seriously to prevent an interruption in mail service. Suggestions to keep email under quota is to delete items in the junk mail and deleted items folders often.