Email Services for Research, Teaching, and Administration

The IT Service operates a “groupware system” based on Microsoft Exchange SE for the research, teaching, and administrative divisions.

When used in conjunction with the “Outlook” email program, Exchange offers, in addition to the basic functions of “sending, receiving, and managing email messages,” extensive groupware functionality, such as server-based calendars, task lists, address books, etc. As the term “groupware” implies, these features can be used by a team, with multiple users accessing the same content.

Using the web-based interface, Outlook Web App (OWA), these features can be accessed on an as-needed basis from any PC with an Internet connection (at home, while traveling on business, etc.). The user interface is very similar to that of the Outlook program, making it intuitive to use when switching back and forth between Outlook and OWA. You can access OWA at https://mailex.uni-bamberg.de.

In addition, emails, calendars, contacts, and to-do lists can be synchronized with smartphones via the Internet and are therefore also available “on the go.”

cOf course, you can also access the Exchange mail server using email programs other than Outlook (such as Thunderbird). However, this is only possible via the IMAP protocol (or POP3 if you’re using very old email clients) for basic email functions. You can only use the additional groupware services with Outlook or the Outlook Web App. Outlook also offers additional options for recovering accidentally deleted messages for a limited time.