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Microsoft Outlook and Office 365 Harmony – Ready Set Go !

April 10, 2019

Information Technology Management (ITM) has lots of exciting news to share with the organization, so thank you in advance for taking the time to read this message in its entirety.

Our business unit has been busy getting ready to migrate our Microsoft Outlook Champions from Lotus Notes e-mail/calendar on April 22nd and planning has gone so well, we are officially moving up the transition date for the rest of the organization to April 29th, which is two weeks ahead of schedule. As part of the transition, ITM is simplifying and harmonizing TRCA’s email addresses by moving every viable account to the following format: firstname.lastname@trca.ca as of April 29th, marking the end of ‘.on.’. We understand that it will take stakeholders time to change their address books, so ITM will also maintain your existing email addresses and ensure that all emails are forwarded to your new accounts and to allow you to continue using your current business cards.  With these changes we will also be updating our email signatures – we will send you the link to the new signature standard prior to your email migration.

As part of this transition, ITM has been working hard to ensure that all TRCA staff have access to the Microsoft Office tools they need to complete their jobs. It is our pleasure to announce that all TRCA laptops and desktops will be upgraded between now and April 26th with Microsoft Office 365 software. The upgraded Microsoft Office 365 suite will support all files and accordingly, ITM will be removing all previous versions as part of the transition.

Effective April 29th, TRCA is also harmonizing our instant messaging platform. Microsoft Office 365 has a very powerful and effective instant messaging solution called ‘Teams’, which will give TRCA staff the ability to message anyone in the organization, while also ensuring that all communications can be retained as corporate records. To ensure that Teams becomes the sole source of TRCA instant messaging, Lotus Notes Sametime chat and Mitel Mi-Collab messaging platforms will be deactivated as of April 29th.

To support everyone during this time of change ITM has developed a detailed and thorough plan including all the support needed to ensure success for all users. Please find below what we need you to do to prepare, some of the new features and how we will support you in this move. If you have any questions, we encourage you to reach out to your Division’s Microsoft Outlook Champions or ITM staff, at your earliest convenience.

For staff who are on leave or away during this migration we will assist you with your migration once you return to the office.

What do I need to do to get ready?

You have a very important role to play in TRCA’s move to Outlook.  Here are some of the key items you need to do to get ready.

  1. To benefit from the functionality of Microsoft Outlook, all TRCA staff need to copy their archived Lotus notes emails back into their e-mail accounts by April 18th (April 12th for all Champions). To accommodate this change, all space restrictions have been removed from your e-mail accounts and you are able to transfer all archived e-mails at once. If you fail to bring over your archived messages, they will not be lost, however, it will become inefficient for you to find them. To facilitate the copying process, please click here for email archive copy instructions and if you have any questions or require further guidance, please reach out ASAP.
  2. Get ready for the Office 365 software Upgrade.
    1. Champions – on April 10th at noon please ensure your computer is connected to the TRCA network and turned on and that all Microsoft applications are closed.
    2. All other TRCA staff – on April 17th at noon please ensure your computer is connected to the TRCA network and turned on and that all Microsoft applications are closed.
    3. ITM will update your computer remotely while you are at lunch.
  1. Take advantage of informal Outlook Training from QuickHelp or sign up for a TRCA classroom training session by clicking here.
  2. Become familiar with Microsoft Team Chat, TRCA’s new corporate instant messaging solution.
  3. Update your profile picture with a head shot that you have or one that is taken by our Communications and Events business unit. If you don’t have a head shot, click here for picture day details.

New features and benefits with Outlook

Outlook has several features and benefits to help you manage your email communications.  Here are some of the key benefits for TRCA:

  1. Full integration with the Microsoft Office 365 suite which will ensure proper notification of all OneDrive and Teams sharing as well as the same look and feel as other popular Office software.
  2. Mail box size of 100 Gigabytes – click here for more details.
  3. Automated email archiving is turned on for email that is older than 2 years.
  4. Unlimited storage space for archived email.
  5. Easy access to your email from mobile devices. You can use the Outlook app or your favourite email app.  Mobile device email setup will be provided prior to your migration.
  6. Better spam email management as TRCA will leverage the power of Microsoft to prevent spam.
  7. The ability to include video meeting options in your calendar invite to easily setup multi person video meetings, using Teams.
  8. Setup delay delivery of email for emails you want to compose but not send immediately.
  9. The ability to use email even if you are not connected to the office network or the internet.

These are only a few of the benefits of using Outlook.  Once we migrate to Outlook we will be sharing more tips and tricks of our new email system.  For more details on Outlook please click here.

Here is how we plan to support you

  1. You will receive an email a few days prior to the email migration with a “Pre-Flight Check List” as a step-by-step guide.
  2. On April 29th (April 22nd for Champions) you will receive a welcome email with some tricks and tips and important things to do on day one in Outlook.
  3. We have setup a website for you to reference – Office 365 Harmony
  4. On April 29th, ITM staff will be dispatched to all TRCA locations to ensure a smooth transition.
  5. The ITM Service Desk is always available to help you online, in person or by phone 416.661.6600 ext. 4357 (HELP)