NMU is switching to the educational edition of Google’s G Suite for its new email and calendar platform. All students, faculty, staff and retirees should migrate their email and calendars from existing accounts to G Suite by July 31. Email addresses will remain in the current yourID@nmu.edu format. There is no software to download and install. G Suite can be accessed from any computer or mobile device connected to the Internet.

The educational edition of G Suite provides more features, unlimited storage, no advertising and more support than the personal (free) version of Gmail and Google Calendar. For a brief overview, watch this video. More details are available at the G Suite Learning Center’s Quick Start Guide here. To begin using G Suite today, visit the NMU opt-in page here. The NMU HelpDesk will be available to answer questions or resolve any issues.

“Once you opt into G Suite, the basics of sending and receiving email and viewing and scheduling appointments can be mastered very quickly,” said Chris Wagner, Help Desk manager. "Importing your messages from Webmail, or your messages and calendar items from Outlook, may take a few hours but doesn't have to be done right away and is not a part of the opt-in process. You will still have access to the older Webmail and Outlook items and services you have previously used before opting into G Suite. The import process is documented on the IT web site."

NMU chose G Suite after looking for an email and calendar solution that offers the following benefits:

Lower infrastructure costs: Email will be stored securely on Google's servers, so NMU will no longer need to maintain email servers on-site. Ability to consolidate our platforms: We can eliminate redundancy by moving all of our email and calendar platforms to G Suite. Lower support costs: Because Google hosts the email and calendar services, there's no more email client software to maintain on individual computers. Innovative solutions: NMU can leverage the ongoing creative and technical solutions of the G Suite platform to provide employees with powerful, easy-to-use tools for getting their work done Anywhere, anytime access to services: A key benefit of the Google-hosted solution is that we can access email, contacts and calendar from any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection, anywhere in the world More collaboration features — With Google's next-generation applications, we can collaborate with colleagues, customers and partners more easily and efficiently than ever before

NMU G Suite accounts will include the following services: Gmail; Google Calendar; Docs, Sheets and Slides; Hangouts; and Google Drive. 

Here are some of the key advantages:

Unlimited email storage: You can archive all of your email online, so there’s no need to worry about deleting messages or saving them in offline folders. Enhanced message organization and retrieval: With Gmail, you'll spend less time managing folders and looking for messages. Use tags, or "labels," to organize, store and find your messages more efficiently. And with the Google-powered search feature, you can find any message quickly and easily, whether it's in your Inbox or stored in your message archives. Easier calendar sharing: Google Calendar lets you quickly and easily share your calendars with each other and specify the details you want to show. Now it's easier than ever to find out if someone is in a meeting, on a business trip or on vacation. Integrated chat and video-conferencing: With Google Hangouts, you can communicate instantly with other G Suite users right from Gmail, as a chat or videoconference. You can also set your chats to be automatically saved in Gmail, so you can always retrieve important information. File storage and sharing: With Google Drive, you can store just about any type of file, open it and work on it right in your web browser, and quickly invite others to work or view it. You can access Drive from any smart device. Real-time collaboration: Using Google Docs, you can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, and you and your team members can view and edit them at the same time.

Please note that older NMU email services and messages on Webmail or Outlook Web Access (OWA) may be accessed until the Exchange and Owncloud servers shut down for good on Dec. 23.  

The NMU HelpDesk is located in Harden Learning Resources Center 116. It can also be reached at 227-2468 or helpdesk@nmu.edu.