Teachers, Administrators and Staff:

In late July of this year two announcements related to the LPS email and calendar were made. First, it was announced that the previous web interface to email (Webmail Lite) would again be available. Second, it was announced that due to very costly new licensing requirements associated with the LPS mail/calendar server software, we would need to seek an alternative solution. In light of the need to change, Computing Services sought feedback on the two web email interfaces (Webmail Lite and Convergence) in an effort to understand what features were considered the most important.

The following themes emerged from the feedback

  1. Responsiveness, or speed of access, is very important along with the need to accommodate older computers
  2. The option to select either a simple or more feature rich interface depending upon preference
  3. Easy integration with mobile devices including smart phones, tablets (iPad) and the iPod touch

The district has selected the Zimbra email/calendar server software and is preparing for a transition to this system over the weekend of semester break.  The existing mail/calendar environment will be taken down after work hours on Friday, January 14th. A final synchronization of data to the new system including email, calendar dates and contacts will be performed first, and then the new Zimbra system will be put into production. Computing Services is gathering data replication metrics in an effort to provide the best estimate of what time the new system will become available. Based on current estimates the system will become available at some time on Monday, January 17th.

In an effort to provide as much information as possible, a Zimbra web site has been set up that already features a great deal of information with much more to come. Given the mission critical nature of email and calendar, Computing Services is working to make this transition as seamless as possible. In addition to the Zimbra web site, a Zimbra Update will be published via email each Monday through January 17th.  Please review these updates for important information related to the transition.

In summary, if you access email via the web, this does mean a change, however, significant efforts have been made to select an environment consistent with the feedback provided and to ensure the messages, dates and contacts in the existing system will be waiting for you in Zimbra. If you access email via Thunderbird you will be able to continue using that software and work is under way to automate the minor configuration changes required for Thunderbird to access the new server.

Kirk

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Kirk Langer – Director of Technology
Lincoln Public Schools ~ 5901 O Street ~ Lincoln, NE 68510
v: 402-458-3131 ~ e: klanger@lps.org ~ IM: klangerne (AIM)