How do you use Office 365

[dezt]

I am after a bit of advice, we have upgraded to office 365 as we did have an exchange 2003 box, but wanted to advance email a bit. anyway, we have an issue trying to connect outlook 2010 to office 365 as an exchange account, which Microsoft say is possible, but for us the connection to office 365 drops every so often and then re-connects.

 

We have tried to use just the OWA and get rid of outlook, but we have experienced a lot of server time outs, as many as 20 a day per user.

 

I was just wondering how other people are using Office 365, if people are using Outlook and if so how are you connecting to Office 365. Or are you using OWA, and if you are have you experienced the server time out message?

[EduTech]

It might be an idea to turn outlook logging, and then you could check the log files to see if that gives you any idea as to what could be causing the problem. furthermore, you could give these to one of the guys who work over at Microsoft Online Technical Support and they may be able to help you also further.

 

To enable outlook logging,

 

- On the File tab, click Options.

- In the Outlook Options dialog box, click Advanced.

- In the Other section, select the Enable troubleshooting logging(requires restarting Outlook) check box, and then click OK.

- Exit and then restart Outlook.

 

The logs are located: c:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\Outlook Logging

 

Regards,

James.

[IKWeb]

Hi Dezt, from what you have said in your email, it sounds like this isnt an office 365 issue but a local network, / internet issues. I have many schools using office 365 and business clients all of which use Outlook, and have no issues at all.

 

To setup outlook did you download the config tool from your OFfice 365 portal or just setup outlook manually?

[Michael]

In every deployment of Office 365 I've completed, users are using only the OWA and not Outlook itself. This has worked out pretty well as users can access their e-mail accounts anywhere and Push Mail on Smartphones and iPads are also popular options.

 

Something to bear in mind that to use Office 365 with Outlook you need Outlook 2007, 2010 (ideal) or 2013 to work properly.

 

Also Outlook with Office 365 uses the following ports:

 

POP

Server name: pod12345.outlook.com

Port: 995

Encryption method: SSL

 

IMAP

Server name: pod12345.outlook.com

Port: 993

Encryption method: SSL

 

SMTP

Server name: pod12345.outlook.com

Port: 587

Encryption method: TLS

 

So if you have a managed firewall, you will need to open these ports. Presumably users can use Office 365 OWA from home without any issues?

[dezt]

@IKWeb i'm pretty sure I ran the config tool, that's the one that installs updates for you isn't it? It has configured Lync and shortcuts for me, then sends me to a page telling me how to setup outlook 2010.

@Michael We are behind what ever is on the CLEO connection I have a feeling they block all ports except the ones you ask for in advance. OWA works fine from home, Outlook connects to Office 365 from home without dropping, unless my internet fails, which at least I know what the cause of the problem is. So far, if I try using Outlook connected to an Exchange server, it drops connection every 4 minutes for about 20 seconds.

[supawat1]

Have you used https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/ ? If it's failed, I would recommend you to contact CLEO. I'm not sure whether they manage your DNS, if they do ask them to update your TXT Value and CNAME whether it's autodiscover.

[dezt]

@supawat1 I've been through everything on that site, and it's all passed fine. Thanks for that though, it's just really odd that outlook 2010 dorps the connection and has to reconnect again.

 

Like I have always said, it works fine at home. I did try it at another school using the CLEO broadband like us, and Outlook dropped connection, which is why I think there is something on the broadband that we get. Fingers crossed they can figure out what it might be