Frequently Asked Questions About Moving BCIT Email to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online

Exchange Online is a hosted messaging solution similar to the current Outlook service that gives users access to their email, calendar, and contacts through PC, web, and mobile devices. As BCIT continues to grow, it is important that there is an efficient communication system in place. The communication system must also meet the need for greater security, which Exchange Online offers. Benefits include:

• Expanded mailbox storage space;
• Improved user experience and ability to collaborate;
• Increased protection of sensitive data; and
• Enhanced email threat protection.

Soon! We’re moving groups of users (often Departments or Programs) together. When it’s time for your group to be moved, you will be notified by IT Services and given all necessary information, as well as reminded about this KB article.

The majority of the migration of your group’s current email and calendar entries will happen invisibly and automatically in the background while you continue to work and use Outlook as usual. The day before your group is switched to Exchange Online, you will receive a notification from IT Services by email letting you know that the last parts of the migration and changeover will happen the next morning. When you receive that email, it’s a good idea to complete or save any work you have in progress in Outlook and quit Outlook before you leave work for the day.

Note: If you forget to quit Outlook; the migration will still complete properly and you will be able to use the new system, after quitting and restarting. However, if you have any unsaved changes open in Outlook that you wish to keep, you’ll need to take extra steps to preserve your work (see below).

If Outlook was left open, once the change has happened:

1. You will see the following message in Outlook:
   
2. Click OK to acknowledge the message.
   • Note: At this point, you will not be able to use Outlook to accomplish any further tasks without quitting and restarting. You will not be able to send any more email or check for new messages. Anything you do after this point will not be migrated.
3. Quit Outlook.
   • Note: If you are alerted about unsaved changes, see the advice for dealing with that below. At this point, nothing you attempt to save within Outlook will carry over to the new system.
4. Launch Outlook and log in using your usual login credentials.

The majority of the migration of your group’s current email and calendar entries will happen invisibly and automatically in the background while you continue to work and use Outlook as usual. The day before your group is switched to Exchange Online, you will receive a notification from IT Services by email letting you know that the last parts of the migration and changeover will happen the next morning. When you receive that email, it’s a good idea to complete or save any work you have in progress in Outlook and quit Outlook before you leave work for the day.

Note: If you forget to quit Outlook; the migration will still complete properly and you will be able to use the new system, after quitting and restarting. However, if you have any unsaved changes open in Outlook that you wish to keep, you’ll need to take extra steps to preserve your work (see below).

If Outlook was left open, once the change has happened:

1. The Outlook client will go offline and you will see the following message in Outlook:
   
   Click Allow to let Outlook configure the new settings for your account.
   • Note: At this point, you will not be able to use Outlook to accomplish any further tasks without quitting and restarting. You will not be able to send any more email or check for new messages. Anything you do after this point will not be migrated.
2. Quit Outlook.
   • Note: If you are alerted about unsaved changes, see the advice for dealing with that below. At this point, nothing you attempt to save within Outlook will carry over to the new system.
3. When prompted, log in using your usual login credentials.

You’ll actually have more options than you did before. You’ll be able to continue using the version of Outlook installed on your work computer as usual. But in addition to being able to access your email using a browser on any device (though at a different webmail address than before), you will also have the option to use a variety of mail clients on different devices. In the lists below, the options in bold are the ones recommended by IT Services.

All platforms

• Outlook on the Web using any browser: webmail.bcit.ca

Desktop clients

• Windows:
  • Microsoft Outlook 2019+
  • Microsoft Outlook 365
• MacOS:
  • Microsoft Outlook for Mac
  • Apple Mail

Mobile clients

Important: For users who currently have email on their mobile devices the first step is to delete the current BCIT mail profile/account on your device.

• iOS:
  • Microsoft Outlook – see for more information: Setting up an Outlook account in the iOS Mail app (microsoft.com)
  • Mail – see for more information: Set up an Outlook account in the iOS Mail app (microsoft.com)
• Android:
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Samsung Mail
  • Gmail
  • Nine

Almost nothing will change in your day-to-day work. You will still be able to send and receive messages and calendar entries as usual through these accounts.

However, if you need to manage membership/access to the shared mailbox or distribution group, this is something you’ll need to temporarily contact IT Services for assistance with. To request changes to a shared mailbox or distribution group have the owner send an email to techhelp@bcit.ca with the following information,

• Shared Mailbox Email Address
• Users to be added or removed; including first name, last name and @bcit.ca email address

If assistance is required determining the owner(s) of a mailbox please contact IT Service Desk.

Once the migration is complete and you’ve received the alert telling you to quit and restart in Outlook, you will not be able to do anything more in Outlook that will carry over to the new system. If there are unsaved changes in Outlook with content that you wish to preserve (or if you’re not sure whether your changes were saved), there are a couple of approaches you could take:

• Copy the content into a word processing app like NotePad or Word, then copy it back into a new email or calendar entry once you’ve restarted Outlook.
• Access Outlook on the Web in your browser (at the new url: webmail.bcit.ca) and copy the content directly from Outlook into a new email or calendar entry you’ve created in your webmail. You can then finish and and send your message or invite in your browser, or save it as a draft and open it again in Outlook once you’ve restarted it.

Cisco Viewmail for Outlook is temporarily not available for employees who have been migrated to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.

If you have been migrated to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online please see the Accessing Your BCIT Voicemail article for other options to access voicemail messages.

This is normal behaviour. Your mobile device will need to have the settings updated to make sure it is talking to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online instead of the old Exchange system.

For your personal and BCIT-issued mobile devices:

• Setting up BCIT Email and Connecting to Exchange Online on Your Android Device
• Setting up BCIT Email and Connecting to Exchange Online on Your iOS Device

If you continue to have problems after following these instructions, there may be additional steps that you need to take. Contact the IT Services Service Desk.