This time of year many people ask us how they may access their e-mail while away for the summer. Perhaps you want to stay in touch with your friends over the summer or you need to check in with your office while on a business trip. By using the following instructions, you can access your e-mail over the summer or anytime you are away from Penn State.

Step 1. Before you leave

• Remove mail that you may have been storing on the server.

• Have you signed up for any automatic mailing lists? If you would rather not receive these while away, cancel your subscriptions or put a hold on them. If you leave your subscription services active, and do not check your mail while away, you may have hundreds or even thousands of e-mail messages waiting for you when you return. This may cause problems with software. The "welcome" message you probably received when you signed up should contain instructions.

• Option 1: Dial into a nearby scampus - If you are within the local calling area of a Penn State campus you can connect through its dial-up lines. See http://cac.psu.edu/internet/dialup/ for a list of phone numbers. Once you connect, handle your mail as usual.

• Option 2: Use a new account - If you already have an account at your new location that you can use for e-mail (another university, business, or other Internet Service Provider), you can forward your e-mail to that account. To set this up, go to https://www.work.psu.edu/ on the Web and select "Change your forwarding address." You will be prompted for your Access Account user ID and password. After you enter the information, your directory entry will be displayed. It should contain something like "xyz123@email.psu.edu" (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID). Change this address to your new destination (for example, me123@aol.com.) Be sure to type it correctly! Then submit the change by selecting the "Change" button. Once this is complete, all mail addressed to xyz123@psu.edu will go to your new address. If and when you return to Penn State, you will need to change this entry back to xyz123@email.psu.edu (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID) so that you can again receive mail through your Access Account. Note that this will forward only e-mail sent to xyz123@psu.edu (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID). Any mail sent to xyz123@email.psu.edu cannot be forwarded, but will remain on the server until you return (or your account is removed). If you do plan on returning, tell everyone to continue to send mail to you at xyz123@psu.edu (where xyz123 is your Access Account user ID).
  
  

• Option 3: Pay for an ISP - If neither of the above options are available to you, connect through a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP). These services are usually not free, but they often charge a flat rate for unlimited usage and provide a local telephone number. The fees for these services vary, but typically run approximately $20 per month. Before you sign up with an ISP, consider how much time you are going to spend online. If you're going to connect strictly to check your e-mail, long-distance charges for dialing into Penn State's modems may be more economical.

• Option 4: Apply for free Web-based e-mail - Free Web-based e-mail is available from companies such as Yahoo and Hotmail (www.yahoo.com and www.hotmail.com respectively.) Your e-mail and address books are saved on their servers and password protected. Since they are on the Web, these accounts can be accessed wherever you can access the Web (for example, home, a friend's house, community library, Internet cafe). Once you have your web account set up, you can use it to check your mail on Penn State's server, or you can forward your mail to this web account (see Option 2 above). One caveat: these sites are paid for by advertisements, so there are advertisements on their Web sites and they usually add a one-line advertisement to each e-mail you send using their service.

Step 3. Set up your e-mail software

Once you have your Internet connection, you need to set up whatever software you're going to use to read your mail. If you don't have Eudora or a dedicated e-mail program available, you can use Netscape Communicator, which has built-in e-mail capabilities.

The following instructions pertain to using Penn State's servers for mail access. If you are using a different service, then ask your local network administrator or customer support representative for configuration instructions.

You need to configure the software with your Access Account information and Penn State's server information. (See box for Penn State e-mail server addresses.) Then you can simply tell your e-mail software to "check mail." If you use America Online (AOL) as your ISP, you'll need to either forward your mail from your Penn State account to your AOL account (see Step 2, option 2) or use Eudora, Netscape, or another POP Mail client to check your mail. AOL e-mail software is set up specifically for your AOL mailbox and it can't be set to read e-mail from elsewhere. After you make the connection to AOL, you can launch your e-mail program (Eudora, etc.) and use it normally.

Whichever option you choose should be set up and tested ahead of time, if possible. If you need assistance call the Help Desk at (814) 863-2494 or 863-1035 or send e-mail to helpdesk@psu.edu.