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Information Technology
Member, Texas Tech University System The Princeton Review - 373 Best Colleges, 2011 Edition

Frequently Asked Questions

Information Technology has begun the process of converting all ASU faculty and staff to Microsoft Exchange and the latest version of Microsoft Office (Office 2007 for Windows and Office 2008 for MAC) for e-mail and calendaring. At this time, students will not be moved to Microsoft Exchange and thus, this page does not apply to anyone but current faculty and staff of Angelo State University. This decision was made because Microsoft Exchange has become the standard in higher education for these services and its features will benefit us in our day to day activities. Additionally, each user needs to be set up so that Microsoft Outlook (Windows) or Entourage (MAC) is the default e-mail client.

Why move to Microsoft Exchange from just Outlook or Eudora?
For an on-line demo to see how the following examples work together please see the Outlook 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Demo

Exchange allows you to use many features which aid in productivity. Here are some examples:

  • Scheduling Assistant helps users choose the most convenient times for meetings, including easy checking for room and individual person availability.
  • Ability to add Meeting Rooms into Calendar appointments.
  • Out of Office improvements: separate internal/external Out of Office messages, external replies can be limited to Contacts folder entries and scheduled replies can be during a specified time period only.
  • Instant Search, ability to search your entire mailbox resulting in very fast responses to your search queries.

Outlook Web Access (OWA) – (Accessing Exchange through the web)

  • Increased Address Book functionality with the added benefit of being able to view all Address Lists.
  • Improved Search capability and the ability to search entire mailbox with minimal effort.
  • Calendar Scheduling Assistant allowing easier viewing of free/busy time in others’ schedules.
  • Better Contact Management.
  • Improved functionality and added features within Calendar and Tasks.
  • The ability to view multiple mailboxes.
  • Better support for non-Internet Explorer users using the OWA Light option.
  • Increased flexibility when creating Out of Office messages with the ability to create separate internal and external messages.
  • Access to your home directory and staff intranet documents from within OWA.
  • Ability to view mailbox size within OWA.
  • The ability to manage Mobile Devices from within OWA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this upgrade apply to Macintosh users on campus

Yes, our campus agreement with Microsoft includes Microsoft Office 2008 for campus Macintosh computers as well. While our goal is to upgrade everyone by department, you can contact the Technology Service Center at any time and enter a request to have your MAC upgraded if you would like.

For reference; please note that MS Office 2008 utilizes the Entourage mail client which is the Windows Outlook equivalent made for MAC.

If I am using Office 2003 will I be able to open Office 2007 files?

Yes, but you will first need to have a compatibility pack provided by Microsoft installed (Caveat: Not all features are guaranteed to work as the older version does not have certain functions installed). The compatibility pack is available from Microsoft.

Is Microsoft Office 2007 very different from Office 2003?

Yes, the normal methods of accessing commands (menus and toolbars) have been replaced with a “Button” and a “Ribbon”. For those that would like to see the Microsoft Office system in action, please visit the Microsoft Office 2007 Online Demo. If you would like to see the differences in person with hands-on training during one of our scheduled Instructor-Lead classes focused on Microsoft Office 2007, please visit the e-Learning Calendar for times and dates.

Can I get a copy for my home computer?

Faculty and staff are covered under the Microsoft License Agreement to have one copy for install for business related home use. If you would like a copy you may come by the Technology Service Center, sign a home user form, and receive a copy free of charge. We currently have a version for Windows and version for Macintosh computers. This software is NOT provided to students for home use and should in no way be installed on your office computer.

How do I learn more about Microsoft Office 2007?

Microsoft has published many resources to help you learn more about the new version of Microsoft Office. Here are a few helpful Sites to look at:

Will there be training available for Microsoft Office 2007?

You can also review training classes for Office 2007 products via the e-Learning Calendar. More details on these dates will be added as training dates are identified

Comments/suggestions:
Chris Steele – 942-2333

Issues/Work requests:

Technology Service Center
Phone: 942-2911
Toll Free: 1-866-942-2911
E-mail: ITSupport@angelo.edu
Walk-up: Located in Math-Computer Science Building Room 111.
Web: Submit a Work Request via the web. Using the web option, you can enter new requests and view your active and completed requests. You are able to track your request from open to completion, twenty-four hours a day. Log in with your technology access account and password that you use to log on to your office computer each morning.