[ms office - 2010] Outlook 2010 for all users

[richbrowncardiff]

Hi everyone sorry if this is in the wrong place / been asked before!

 

I have a problem with people not using email often enough and want to allow access to outlook for all users so they make better use of calendaring & email.

 

before i make any decisions can you please let me know what mail clients you use and if it is outlook what do you do with datafile storage etc?

 

Capacity isn't such an issue but i want to ensure correct config from day 1 so want all mailbox configs to be stored on \\mail01\%username%\Mail\inbox.pst etc (i don't want the users my docs & App Data being used to hold the config and data files etc.)

 

Are their any scripts which will set this up at logon ?

 

Any help would be appreciated as always

[elsiegee40]

Outlook 2010 and network shares don't get on (Link to Microsoft Information KB297019 .).You need to keep the .pst on the local drive which means it doesn't get backed up which means...

 

You need to consider either:

1. Exchange

2. Microsoft Office 365 which gives you all the functionality online and free!

3. Google Apps for Education which is like 365, but not Microsoft... and is also free

 

We were on RM EasyMail with a few users using it via Outlook 2003. We were already considering dumping EasyMail, but the problems with Outlook 2010 confirmed the need to dump it. We actually went for Google Apps for a number of reasons... basically it suited our users better as many were already using gmail and Google calendars

 

EDIT

I have just moved this into the Office forum

Edited June 1, 2013 by elsiegee40

[synaesthesia]

This is something I've pondered for a while. Capita's standard setup (at least I think it's a Capita setup rather than LA/ISP, but not sure) for Northants has long been for the relevant PST files to be stored on the network server and accessed remotely by locally installed clients. This is a recommendation that has always existed and not just for 2010/2013. Rarely had any problems; only when PST's have gotten so large they become unusable.

[elsiegee40]

We never managed to successfully have .pst files on a network share in Outlook 2010... we got repeated corruption problems

 

No problems ever with 2003

[synaesthesia]

May well be something I need to keep an eye on then - we've just moved one such school over to 2010. I've got a script somewhere I knocked up ages ago to copy a .pst files from the station over to the server for backup on a nightly basis at logoff (for other email solutions). That may well be a better solution if 2010 does have an inherent issue like that.

[Arthur]

@elsiegee40 is right. Exchange 2013, Office 365 or Google Apps for Education are what you should be looking at.

 

Network Stored PST files ... don't do it! « Ask the Performance Team Blog

 

we got repeated corruption problems

Same here. Every single week without fail there would be at least one member of staff with a corrupted PST. The amount of time we wasted fixing them and/or restoring PSTs from our backup tapes was ridiculous. I honestly would not recommend storing PSTs on network shares/drives. You will regret it (even more so if people are using laptops wirelessly).

Edited June 1, 2013 by Arthur

[richbrowncardiff]

Thanks for your feedback everyone. I think i will leave it for now. Office 365 / Google apps is fine with me but as a school i want the staff to use mail more buy having it integrated into their desktop experience.

 

personally i don't see the issue with using the browser to access mail but a local / network client would work better for the staff at present.

[Arthur]

Office 365 / Google apps is fine with me but as a school I want the staff to use mail more buy having it integrated into their desktop experience.

In that case, you should go with Outlook 2013 + Office 365. You get all of the benefits of Exchange (such as e-mail being stored centrally, shared calendars etc.) and staff get the full "desktop experience".

Edited June 2, 2013 by Arthur

[Michael]

I've never had an issue mapping a PST to a user using Outlook 2010. In theory (top of my head) it should work with a UNC or a mapped drive H:\Outlook Files\Outlook.PST etc...

 

I agree with the above, take a look at Office 365. Users can use Outlook in the Cloud (OWA), or configure it for POP using Outlook 2007, 2010 or 2013.

[Arthur]

configure it for POP using Outlook 2007, 2010 or 2013.

Outlook 2013 supports ActiveSync so there is no reason to use to POP3 or IMAP.

 

So why is EAS such a big deal? It’s a de facto industry standard, and it keeps your data where it belongs—on the server, or "in the cloud"—where it can be accessed (synced) from anywhere at any time, using any connected EAS client. (These include smart phones, tablets, and now PCs.) Changes made anywhere are made on the server and are synced immediately to connected clients using push. And unlike protocols such as POP or IMAP, EAS works with more than just email. It’s the full meal deal. (Source)

[Michael]

I agree Microsoft have made big steps with ActiveSync, but I still wish it officially supported multiple calendars such as on the iPad without a third party app!

[Edu-IT]

I agree Microsoft have made big steps with ActiveSync, but I still wish it officially supported multiple calendars such as on the iPad without a third party app!

Just out interest, what apps do you use for Calendaring?

[Michael]

CalendarOne which works with Office 365 Exchange 2013 on the iPad. It allows you to read multiple shared calendars, but you can't add/edit/delete entries. This still has to be done from a PC, but certainly a step in the right direction.