Remote & Mobile Access to Campus Network:
Remote Access to E-Mail

This is the GroupWise that is also used from a campus desktop computer. It requires a full time connection to the campus network or Internet. For this reason, the two places you would use GroupWise is: on-campus when connected to the campus network or at home with a dial-up connection to the campus network or an ISP. Using this method at home has the convenience that you receive notification when you receive new e-mail messages, messages you compose are sent immediately and you don't have to deal with synchronizing multiple e-mail locations. What you see on the notebook computer is the same thing you will see on your desktop computer. The disadvantages of this method are the requirement of a full time connection and once the connection is terminated you no longer have access to the information in your mailbox. If you are at home using a dial-up connection you will be tying up a phone line for an extended period of time. This may be acceptable or you may have a second phone line for modem use. If you are traveling and making a long distance phone call to connect to the campus network, you will be online longer than with some of the other methods. This will result in higher telephone charges, especially when you charge these calls to a hotel/motel room. In these cases it is preferable to use a calling card to bill the long distance calls.

GroupWise Remote is nearly identical to GroupWise. The only differences are your mailbox is stored on the notebook computer and the addition of a new item on the menu bar to synchronize the mailbox on the notebook computer with your mailbox on the campus GroupWise system. There are two recommended uses for GroupWise Remote: from home, when you don't want to tie up the phone line for extended periods and while traveling and you want to keep your long distances charges to a minimum. Using this method has the advantage of being able to access your e-mail, calendar, address books and any other GroupWise information without the need of a network connection. You can compose new e-mails, read and delete e-mails, create appointments, make changes to your address book, all without having to be connected to the campus network. At some point you'll need to establish a connection to the campus network to send/retrieve which synchronizes your mailbox stored on the notebook computer with your mailbox on the campus GroupWise system. This send/retrieve process usually takes only a few minutes, at which point you can disconnect from the campus network. It can be a manual process (preferred when traveling) or can be automated on a specified time interval (preferred when at home). If you're using a long distance call to connect to the campus network this method can achieve significant savings in long distance charges. The main disadvantage to this method affects users who switch back and forth from the notebook computer to a desktop computer. You must remember to synchronize once before using GroupWise Remote on the notebook computer and again before using GroupWise on your desktop computer. Failure to do so will create confusion when the GroupWise Remote on the notebook computer and the GroupWise on the desktop computer do not have the same information. This confusion will only be temporary and is cleared up the next time you send/retrieve. This method is not currently available for notebook computers that are shared by more than one person. Computing Services is working on a GroupWise Remote solution for shared notebook computers.

GroupWise WebAccess uses a web browser (i.e. Netscape, Internet Explorer) to give you access to your GroupWise mailbox. GroupWise WebAccess can be used in a variety of situations. Unlike either GroupWise or GroupWise remote, it doesn't require the GroupWise software to be installed. This is one of its major advantages. You can access your GroupWise mailbox from any computer that has a web browser and Internet access. Recommended uses for GroupWise WebAccess include use from home when you don't want to use the GroupWise software, for travelers who don't use GroupWise remote or want better performance than what GroupWise offers over a dial-up connection and as a backup when other GroupWise solutions aren't working. Like the GroupWise method, it requires a full time network connection. This is the only major disadvantage. The GroupWise WebAccess method looks and operates differently than GroupWise. You will need to spend some time familiarizing yourself on how to use GroupWise WebAccess. To access GroupWise WebAccess just go to http://www.sou.edu then select the Campus Community menu then select GroupWise E-mail. Or just go directly to https://gw.sou.edu/servlet/webacc

You can access your GroupWise e-mail with any POP3/IMAP e-mail client. These include Netscape Communicator, Microsoft Outlook, Eudora and many more. This method is only recommended for users who are already familiar with their e-mail client and don't want to learn or deal with GroupWise. Care must be taken when setting up these e-mail clients or you may experience undesired results such as e-mails being removed from the campus GroupWise system and unintended changes to address books. Also, POP3/IMAP e-mail clients will only be able to present your GroupWise information as e-mail messages. This will severely limit the use of your GroupWise calendar, to-do items, reminders and other GroupWise specific information. Otherwise, the advantages and disadvantages are very similar to those for GroupWise Remote.