PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 6, Sept. 21, 2000

YOU'VE GOT MAIL!
UI e-mail now accessible on the Internet

Becky Mabry, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; mabry@illinois.edu

When you’re away from the office, you can now check your e-mail by accessing the Web, thanks to the Computing and Communications Services Office.

Just go to any computer connected to the Internet and point your browser to https://webmail.uiuc.edu. Type in your net ID, password and choose either the student or staff cluster, and voila, any mail in your "in" box will appear.

After that, the system is so simple it’s pretty much point and click, said Randy Cetin, CCSO associate director.

"There are some nice graphical icons for replying to or creating messages. There’s not a lot of glitz to it," Cetin said. "It’s fairly basic, which is what we were looking for.

"The real benefits though, in addition to the user interface being simple, is that it provides a very convenient way for users who are at an airport, at a café or at a conference -- or a student home for the weekend -- to easily check their e-mail."

Even on campus, it’s easy to check one’s mail from another office without having to reconfigure that person’s machine, he said.
"Another important point is that it’s secure," Cetin said. "It uses encryption so if you’re some place new and have no idea about the integrity of the network, because of the encryption you have a higher degree of security that no one is eavesdropping or capturing your password."