Enterprise Messaging System - Cloud Services (EMS-CS)

USDA is embarking on some exciting, innovative, and cost-effective upgrades to our e-mail services to benefit all of our end users.  Starting August 2011, ARS will migrate all e-mail accounts to the upgraded USDA e-mail system called “Enterprise Messaging Service – Cloud Services” or “EMS-CS” for short.

From a practical standpoint, you will not notice a difference in your day-to-day functions once you are migrated to EMS-CS.  Your current e-mail address will not change and your e-mail messages will not be lost during the transfer to the new system.  You will access your email either through your current Outlook client, or in some cases, an upgraded version.

EMS-CS has a number of features that will be of great benefit to you, including:

• Larger mailboxes: Each user receives 5 GB of mailbox storage and the ability to send attachments up to 30 MB.
• Antivirus/Anti-spam: Multiple layers of protection will protect your time and data.
• High Availability Infrastructure: The system architecture features redundant systems providing fault tolerance and automatic restoration.
• Mobility: Mobile access is available from all phones capable of receiving e-mail including Windows Phone, iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry devices.

The migration to EMS-CS begins on August 8, 2011 and will take several weeks to move every user.  As the time approaches for your migration, we will send you additional bulletins to let you know the specific date.  We will also be asking each of you to help prepare for the migration by doing some simple tasks such as cleaning up your mailboxes, the details of which will be provided in a separate e-mail closer to your migration date.

Larger mailboxes: Each user receives 5 GB of mailbox storage and the ability to send attachments up to 30 MB.

Antivirus/anti-spam: Forefront Online Protection for Exchange is included, providing multiple filters and virus-scanning engines to help protect you from spam, viruses, and phishing scams.

Mobility: Mobile access is available from all phones capable of receiving e-mail including Windows Phone, the iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry devices.

Shared calendar and contacts: Users can compare calendars to schedule meetings with Exchange Online and have access to collaboration features like shared calendars, groups, global address list, external contacts, tasks, conference rooms, and delegation.

High Availability Infrastructure: The system architecture features redundant systems and datacenters providing fault tolerance and automatic restoration.

Q: How large are the mailboxes in EMS-CS?
A: You will have 5 GB account size for your new mailbox.

Q: Is Enterprise Vault still going to be active after the migration?
A: For the short term, yes, Evault will still be active. However, your new messages will no longer be archived by Evault. Instead they will be archived by ProofPoint. You can access ProofPoint by click on the folder under your Inbox.

Q: Will I lose my eVaulted messages if I don't restore them from the server prior to migration?
A: No, you will not lose eVaulted messages. However, it will be harder to access these messages as you have to login to the web interface to retrieve them. Furthermore, the Evault web interface can only be accessed when connected to ARSnet vpn.

Q: Are we still going to use MessageScreen?
A: Yes, MessageScreen will still be filtering emails temporarily. Once everyone is migrated, ForeFront will be filtering emails.

Q: Will webmail (OWA) still work?
A: Yes, OWA will work but the link and interface has changed: https://mail.usda.gov (link is also posted on software dashboard)

Q: Will Mac users be able to use Apple's Mail program?
A: Apple's Mail program has the capabilities to send/receive email messages from your new EMS-CS account. You can also synchronize your contacts and calendar. However, you will only have the basic features using Mail versus using Outlook 2011.

Q: How will my mobile device be affected?
A: Mobile devices will need to be updated and reactivated as well. The reactivation process ranges from doing a security wipe (just email and contacts) to simply updating an existing account. This process depends on the type of device. Additional information will be provided closer to your transition date.

Q: When am I scheduled to be migrated?
A: A schedule will be kept up to date at this link: http://144.92.64.228/software/ems-cs/schedule.html

Q: Can I be scheduled for a different day?
A: Yes, but please contact us asap if you wish to be rescheduled.

Q: Will the Personal Folders or Archive Folders in Outlook be migrated as well?
A: Personal Folders and Archive Folders are saved in a file on your local hard drive (PST). The email servers do not see messages in PST files, therefore the data file will need to be imported to your new profile if EMS-CS does not update your current profile automatically.

Q: Will I still be able to access shared calendars/mailboxes/contacts?
A: Following the migration of your mailbox, you will be able to share calendars/mailboxes/contacts with anyone else that is currently migrated as well. Shared calendars, mailboxes, and contacts are not trasitioned to EMS-CS. They will need to be setup for sharing again once you are migrated.

To see the latest migration schedule, please click here to download the spreadsheet (.xls).

***Please note that the date listed in the spreadsheet reflects the date you come into the office and your email is already migrated.  In other words, the date is not the date the migration takes place.