While 42 is generally accepted as the answer to life, the universe, and everything, it doesn’t really help when you type it into PowerShell. That’s why we’ve launched a brand new service for customers to get together, post questions, search through issues that other customers are having and check on the status of the service.
Outlook Live Answers is a fantastic community for Live@edu customers on the Outlook Live platform. It’s already being used to help customers around the globe to share common issues, resources, answers, solutions and general comments about the service. It’s staffed by a trusty bunch of Microsofties from all four corners of the globe – so your issue will be seen by people whatever time of day you post it.
Head over to http://www.outlookliveanswers.com and start posting!
I want to talk about spam. Once a versatile wartime merging of meats, it’s fast become the scourge of our inboxes. Last year alone, more than 60 trillion junk messages were sent, using enough energy to power a city almost the size of London. Each message accounts for 0.3g of CO2 = the equivalent of driving 90cm = putting an extra 3.1million cars on the road.
I get a lot of people asking me about our filtering systems and policies. Live@edu customers enjoy ‘IP Whitelisting’ to help cut down on the number of legitimate emails caught by our spam filters, but what does this mean? And what happens if you think there’s a problem?
In order to fight the scourge of spammers, we make use of a number of tools. Utilising the SenderID framework, an IP Reputation system, and our own secret-recipe-solution called SmartScreen, we block over 95% of all spam sent to Hotmail, Outlook Live and other Microsoft email platforms.
But what if you think legitimate mail from your University/School/College is getting blocked? There are 5 initial steps that you can take:
1. Go to main address for spam problems : http://postmaster.live.com
2. Ensure compliance/check guidelines on http://mail.live.com/mail/policies.aspx
3. Check best practices/FAQs on http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx
4. Adopt SenderID on http://support.msn.com/eform.aspx?productKey=edfsmsbl&page=support_home_options_form_byemail&ct=eformts
5. Join the Postmaster services: http://mail.live.com/mail/services.aspx
From there, you can submit your issue directly using the fast and easy online JMRP (Junk Mail Reporting Programme) tool at https://support.msn.com/eform.aspx?productKey=edfsjmrpp&page=support_home_options_form_byemail&ct=eformts.
We’ll move quickly once you’ve reported the problem – and as long as we’re not seeing high volume of actual spam from your institution, it shouldn’t take long before things are back to normal. There are always instances where an institution is sending out a high volume of spam (due to a Phishing attach or otherwise) and aren’t aware of it. We’re here to help with that too – we’ll do out best to tell you everything we can about why your mail was blocked.
What happens when the block is lifted, I hear you ask. As a policy, we don’t delete email – so anything that was blocked will slowly filter through. Some of it may end up in the Junk Email folder, so it’s always best to advise your users to check there in the wake of a spam outage.
One of the Windows Live services that you can access as part of Live@edu is Office Live Workspaces. This is a great place to collaborate and share Office documents within your campus. Here’s a great video put together by our Office Live Workspaces team to highlight quite how handy a tool it can be…
One of the most requested features for Live@edu was the ability to have an on-premises messaging system and Outlook Live domain share the same domain suffix. So, for example, I want to keep my staff on premise but outsource my students to Live@edu – but I want to keep them both on the testington.org.uk domain, rather than having students.testington.org.uk and staff.testington.org.uk domains.
With release 3 of Outlook Live this became possibly and easily achievable by using what we call a Shared Address Space. It’s something you need to plan to do from the offset – but if you go into enrolment knowing you want a shared address space, you only have five easy steps to follow! This diagram shows a typical shared namespace setup:
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As you can see, the MX records still point to your on premise system and mail is then routed out to the ‘live’ domain. In this example, the five steps are:
1. Enroll the live.contoso.edu domain
2. Add contoso.edu as an accepted domain
3. Configure contoso.edu as an internal relay domain
4. Create Outlook Live accounts with a primary e-mail address in the contoso.edu domain
5. Create an internal relay on on-premise system.
Full instructions on setting up a shared address space can be found by clicking here!
You may hear us talk about our Software + Services Strategy when we talk about Live@edu, Windows Live, and our Live Services Platform. It embodies our broader thinking as a company, especially in regard to products like Outlook Live and Windows Live, and is something we are very passionate about.
But what is Software + Services? Check out the video below for an overview…
One of the most popular features of Live@edu is the ability to add your own custom logos and links to both the Windows Live and Outlook Live environments. It adds individuality, helps you to create familiar environments and comply with policy, and helps students to develop that all-important affinity to their school, college or university.
With release 3 of Outlook Live the co-branding options changed, affording you a larger image in the Outlook Live environment, and more uniformed custom links throughout the Live@edu service. While this is great, we’ve had a few common questions around the set-up and publishing of the co-branding – and so it only seemed right to get them down in a blog post…
Where’s the shiny blue background gone?
A lot of customers are reporting that after they apply and publish their co-branding, the navigation bar at the top of the page loses the blue background image, becoming an ugly block of plain white colour. On the same page that you select your co-branding logo, you get an option to ‘Enable custom theme defined below’. When you select and upload an image for co-branding, this box automatically gets ticked. If you want to keep the blue background image for the top bar ‘as-is’, you simply need to uncheck that box as illustrated below:
What are the image sizes I can use? Is it the same for Windows Live and Outlook Live?
The Outlook Live help pages have a handy guide to co-branding that specifies all of the things you can change with co-branding and talks a little more about image formats etc. For quick reference, here are the image size limits:
| Area where image is used | Maximum width (pixels) | Maximum height (pixels) | Maximum size (KB) |
| Outlook Live (Logo Only) | 42 | 60 | 30 |
| Branding Bar Background Image | 2000 | 159 | 30 |
| Branding Bar (Windows Live) | 159 | 200 | 30 |
Happy branding!
As of TODAY, you will no longer be able to connect to Outlook Live using older versions of PowerShell.
If you’ve got something important to say, put it in bold and make it 14pt… As the announcement above says, on 13th March 2009 versions of Windows PowerShell below CTP 3 will cease to work with Outlook Live.
Why?
As part of the recent upgrades to Release 3 (and the move from Exchange Labs to Outlook Live), we made several huge improvements to the service. We’ve had a lot of really positive feedback on the improvements we’ve made, and the upgrade process has gone relatively smoothly. Part of the upgrade has been making PowerShell connections more reliable, and the syntax easier to use and understand. This meant a new version of PowerShell.
What do I need to do?
If you’re already using PowerShell 2.0 CTP 3, then nothing. If you’re still on CTP2, then you’ll need to download the latest versions of both PowerShell and WinRM. Download links and full instructions can be found here.
The other thing to note is that some of the syntax has changed slightly – and there’s a whole range of new cmdlets that you can use against the service. Click here for a complete list of cmdlets now available in the new version of PowerShell.
Last but not least, the system requirements for the new version of PowerShell are identical to the old one – you need Windows Vista SP1 or Windows Server 2008 (or higher, for those beta testing Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2), and access to your Outlook Live administrator account. To grant admin rights to a new user, check out this handy guide.
Everyone likes to talk to people doing similar things to them. It’s a fact of life that extends far beyond deploying Live@edu – and so I wanted to share with you a case study that we’ve just published.
The University of Aberdeen were one of the first customers in the UK to adopt Live@edu. The university was founded in 1495 – slightly before Microsoft came into existence - and has been providing student email for the last 20 years.
The university identified several possible options to replace their outdated email system, and decided that Microsoft Live@edu was the best fit for the university’s needs. The case study delves into the processes they went through, their experience with Microsoft and with the Live@edu service, and how their students find using the service.
You can contact the University of Aberdeen through their website, or click here to view the case study.
This is the first in a series of screencasts that explore the new Outlook Live experience. In this installment, your intrepid deployment specialist takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the new mail interface, including the built in IM functionality and new conversation view.
<![CDATA[<br/><a href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=81a256e3-c180-4c44-b46a-32d7dd21c7d8" target="_new" title="Outlook Live Screencast #1 - The Mail Interface">Video: Outlook Live Screencast #1 - The Mail Interface</a>]]>
If you’ve got any questions about anything you see, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Those of you on the Exchange Labs platform (and probably those on Hotmail too!) will have heard us talk about ‘Exchange Labs Release 3’ for a while. Release 3 is designed to improve the user experience of Exchange Labs, and offer a vastly improved product for both end users and administrators.
It’s my great pleasure to announce Outlook Live – the new name for Exchange Labs, incorporating the upgrade to Release 3. Over the coming weeks, mailboxes and domains will begin to be upgraded to the new infrastructure and you’ll start to experience the increased speed and performance, the new usability features, and the wealth of upgraded features that this entails.
On top of the new user experience, which integrates messaging and presence with a fresh new look for OWA, we’ve added admin tools such as cross-mailbox search, ethical and bad word filters, delivery reports, segmented address book and enhanced administration options.
While the upgrade is happening, we’ll be blogging all about the new features, new interface, and changes to the service that you’ll need to take note of. If you have any questions, get in touch with us. You can also take a look at the new help site at http://help.outlook.com – and don’t forget to keep checking back for screen casts, posts, walkthroughs and links!
One of the biggest advantages of Live@edu is access to all of the Windows Live services with one Live ID. We recently released Windows Live Wave 3, making both the cloud based and desktop based worlds of Windows Live even better and easier than before.
One of the biggest changes with Wave 3 is a whole new Live Messenger experience. Not only does it look fresh and simple, it’s got a tonne of new features that make collaborating easier for your users both on and off campus. Most of your users have probably been using Windows Live Messenger for years (well, they’d have been using MSN Messenger back then!), but you might want to share with them some of these new features that make collaborative working easier than it’s ever been!
Check out the (slightly cheesy) video below for a walkthrough on what’s new in Messenger.
If you haven’t already, check out the new messenger (and other Wave 3 applications) at http://download.live.com.
As those of you running on the Exchange Labs platform are probably aware, Labs shares a codebase with the upcoming release of Exchange, currently called Exchange 14. The Exchange Team recently posted a video of KC Lemson and Jim Lucey, two E14 developers, to talk about the product and what’s to come.
Jim talks in depth about Exchange Labs, giveing a brief demo of the R3 user experience and showing off how you have access to your mail and calendar via Outlook, the browser, or your mobile phone. We’re all really excited about Exchange Labs and Exchange 14 – and this video really helps to show how that excitement is making its way right into the heart of the product.
Whether you’re deployed on the Exchange Labs or the Hotmail platform, there’s some good news to light up the cold weather we’ve been having. Windows Live Hotmail now supports the POP3 protocol!
Yes – we know – you’ve been asking for it, and I’m pleased to be able to share the details with you today. But what does it mean for Live@edu customers? Well, if you’re on the Hotmail platform it obviously gives your users the ability to use any email application / mobile application that supports the POP3 protocol to check their email. That’s no small thing.
If you’re on Exchange Labs, you can tell your users that they can now ‘subscribe’ to their existing Hotmail inboxes and have them automatically deliver the mail into their Labs mailbox – all they need to do is click on options in Outlook Web Access and set up a new subscription using the settings below!
Here’s the information to configure your account on your preferred e-mail client:
- POP3 Server: pop3.live.com (port 995)
- SMTP Server: smtp.live.com (port 25)
- Username: your full Windows Live ID (including the @whatever.ac.uk bit!)
- Password: your Windows Live ID password
Also, our POP3 service requires that you use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with the POP and SMTP connection and use SMTP authentication. This is to ensure that your e-mail address and password are not subject to tampering.
It’s time for the third instalment of our handy ‘top tips’, looking at the wider Live@Edu community. While this blog focuses on the UK, Live@Edu spans many countries around the globe – people the world over, from Aberdeen to Arkansas are integrating with portals, implementing single sign on, and using the service in a variety of ways that work for them. We talk to network administrators that are working with the various services on offer on an almost daily basis – but how often do you find yourself talking Live@Edu with your colleagues from other institutions? Well – now there’s a way you can.
It’s a great place to meet other customers from the world over, look over and join in with the discussion, share your own stories and experiences and to interact with members of the global Live@Edu team. All you need to join the group is your Windows Live ID – and as soon as your account is approved, you can start joining in the discussion, looking at the group SkyDrive, and sharing things like your go-live date on the calendar.
In this second instalment of our handy ‘top tips’ (updated for the new support processes) we’re going to look at the ways and means of getting support for Live@Edu. Rather than just giving you one link or telephone number, there are a number of ways to get specialist help for the various areas of Live@Edu, ranging from self-help articles and walkthroughs to intuitive ways of submitting support requests to us for urgent review. The main areas this blog covers are as follows:
Outlook Live Help | Telephone Support Line| Online Support Portal
Test Drive – Unlimited Mileage
Even before you deploy Live@Edu en masse, we’re here to help. Whether you’re an education authority with a million potential users, or a small FE or HE establishment wanting a better way to manage your email and collaboration tools, we know that you want to have faith in a service before you go ahead and deploy it to all of your users. To that end, whilst mulling over options and features, we fully support you in creating test accounts and domains. The best way to do this is to register a domain/subdomain for the Live@Edu service by following these instructions. If you register a domain or subdomain with us, it is as fully featured as a regular Live@Edu domain! Furthermore, if and when you do adopt the service more fully you can still keep your test account – ideal for trying out new things without affecting your core service!
Outlook Live Help – Fast, Easy and Searchable
If you’re using our Exchange Labs service, the Outlook Live Administrator Help site is your one-stop-shop. It’s fully of handy tips and walkthroughs, taking you from your first steps into using the service, right through to advanced provisioning options and help with using PowerShell. It’s also fully searchable, so if you’re having a specific issue or want a specific answer you can get what you want without even having to browse! If you’re not using Exchange Labs and are still on the Hotmail platform, you can find a similar level of support at the Hotmail help and support area.
Always on Hand – 24/7 Telephone Support
While we’re proud of our good service record with Live@Edu, we acknowledge there may be occasional need for you to escalate an issue to our support team. Don’t worry – help is available whenever you need it. While we’ve not quite got our local numbers ready yet, you can call our 24/7/365 support line on the toll-free US number and log a support request. Just dial +18004556399 to talk to one of our eager support representatives!
Online Support Portal – Even more easy options
If you don’t want to call the US support line, or you prefer the glow of a screen to a phone, you can log a support request online through our dedicated support portal. When you signed up for the service and received your welcome email, you will have also got an email from our Business Desk entitled “Welcome to Live@edu - Microsoft Partner Support”. This email contains all of the information you need to access the online portal, and submit support requests to us. Any support request that you submit will be responded to within 24 hours of submission.
