Configuring Your ECmail with a Mail Client

Your Emerson ECmail is always available in a web-access version at ecmail.emerson.edu. You can also set up your favorite mail client (Mozilla Thunderbird, for example) on your computer to check your ECmail from anywhere.

The following instructions use the newest version of Apple Mail, but the steps will be similar for other clients, and the server addresses will be the same.

If you are a staff or faculty member trying to set up email in your office, contact the Help Desk at ext. 8080 for assistance.

If you've never set up an account before in your client, you'll likely be presented with a wizard to help you. If not, or you already have other accounts set up, you'll need to find your account preferences pane to add a new account.

Enter your full name, as you'd like it to appear in email messages, as well as your full Emerson email address, and ECnet password.

Now, you'll need to specify what kind of account this is: IMAP or POP. We strongly recommend you choose IMAP; see the special note below.

The incoming server is owa.emerson.edu. You'll also need your ECnet username and password. Some clients will autofill this information from the last screen.

POP vs IMAP

POP and IMAP are methods email clients use to access your email. The difference is important to understand. We strongly recommend using IMAP!

• POP is the old standard. When it accesses your messages, it downloads each message and deletes the original from the server. What this means is, if you ever need to access your ECmail while away from your computer using ecmail.emerson.edu, your inbox will be empty!
• IMAP is the new standard. Unlike POP, IMAP downloads a copy of each message and leaves the original on the server. So, when you need to access ecmail.emerson.edu, all your messages are there intact!

Next, you need to specify the outgoing server, which is also owa.emerson.edu. You'll need to log on to the outgoing server, just like the incoming server. So, check the box for "Use Authentication" (or something similar, like "Use SSL") and enter your ECnet username and password one more time.

When you continue, you may be presented with a summary screen, giving you the opportunity to look over your configuration settings and make sure they're correct. When you're ready, click the appropriate button to finish the setup process and take your new account online.

That's it! You'll now be able to send and receive your ECmail with your email client!

Help! I can receive my ECmail, but I can't send anything!

Are you at home? Some ISP's (Internet Service Providers) block the use of external outgoing email servers: they only allow the use of their own. If this is the case, you may want to contact your ISP for further support, but the solution is to change your configuration to use your ISP's outgoing server (smtp.comcast.net, perhaps) and authenticate with the proper username and password. Your ISP's support can assist you with this information!

You'll need to leave the incoming server as Emerson's to receive your email properly. Don't worry, the emails will still show as coming from your @emerson.edu account.