Email via Mirapoint
- Webmail & Webcal Guide - Email
Best Practice
- How to access email
- Email - How to...? Guides
- Access to Email from home
- How to forward JCU email to another address
- How to set up an auto-reply (vacation message)
- Graduates Email Address for Life
- Email Limits
- Charging
- Using Academic Subject Mailing Lists
- Email Aliases
- Email Spam and Attachments
- Viruses & Email
- Misuse
- Got another question?
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How to access email
To access email you need to have a computer account code (also known as login ID or username), password and email address.
Computer Account codes normally take the form of jc654321 or sci-abc
If you are unsure of your computer account details please contact InfoHelp
Undergraduates
Undergraduate students can normally access their JCU email via Webmail using a web browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer.
The advantage of Webmail is it allows you the flexibility of access to your JCU email from anywhere in the world, using a web browser connected to the internet. All you need to do is go to the following secure web page and log in:
Staff & Postgraduates
For most Staff and Postgraduates who have their own office computer, email can be accessed by either the above method or an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird.
Email - How to...?
For help with using email, please refer to the following:
Students & Staff
Staff & Postgraduates
Outlook 2003 (setting up and using)
Thunderbird (setting up and using)
Access to Email from home
It is recommended that JCU staff and students purchase access to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) if they intend to access JCU email and JCUNet from home. Check the Australian Internet Service Provider List to find an ISP near you, or the Yellow Pages under Internet Access Providers.
Mirapoint is probably the easiest way to access JCU email from home. Simply type https://mail.jcu.edu.au in the location/address bar of your web browser.
Alternatively you can set up Outlook or Thunderbird to access your JCU email by way of your ISP. Check out our information of the settings you require.
JCU Staff and Postgraduates also have the option of dialling in to JCU using the Australia-wide Dial IP Service, this offers access to JCUNet. For more information see the Dial IP Service Guide.
How to Forward JCU Email to another Address
To forward mail to another address, login to JCU Webmail via Mirapoint at: https://mail.jcu.edu.au
Select the Options link from the top right, under the Mail setting choose Forwarding. Type in the email address you wish to forward your mail to, and select Yes in the Forward Messages option (you can Stop forwarding or Reset the address at any time by switching this option to No). Click on Apply at the top to save the changes.
How to Set Up An Auto-reply (Vacation Message) for email
You can set up a vacation or auto-reply message by logging into Webmail and selecting the Options link from the top right, under the Mail setting choose Auto-reply. Type in the subject and message you want others to receive when they email you and set the Auto-reply to Message option to Yes (you can Stop the auto-reply at any time by switching this option to No). Click on Apply at the top to save the changes.
Graduates Email Address for Life
Once you have graduated from JCU, you are eligible to have a JCU email address for life - more information about applying for this forwarding this facility can be found at the Graduates Online FAQ
Email Limits
Your email is your own responsibility - it is important to look after it.
The amount of disk space allocated to you on the mail server is finite. Students are given a 100MB limit and staff are allowed a 250MB limit on mail storage quota.
The amount of space you use depends on how you access and store your email.
For those using IMAP (Webmail, Outlook or Thunderbird) this space allocation houses the Inbox and the storage folders.
For those using POP (Outlook or Thunderbird) only the Inbox is stored on the server within the space allocated.
If the amount of email stored in your account surpasses your allocated mail storage quota (100MB for students, 250MB for staff) you will be sent an automatic warning message. This message will remind you to weed out those emails in your Inbox and storage folders that you do not need.
Regularly maintain your email space!
Any old messages left in your Inbox are at risk of being removed if resources on the mail server become critically low. Delete messages you do not need and save those you do need into folders.
Please refer to the ITR Policy Automatic Email Purging
Charging
All emails into and out of your JCU account are not subject to Internet Accounting. This may change. For the time being the costs associated with email receipt and delivery are covered by a central funding allocation.Email Aliases
There are a number of email aliases and lists provided at JCU to facilitate communication between users in particular oraganisational units or students in particular courses and subjects. A full list of these is available from the Contacts page.
Email Spam and Attachments
Spam is unsolicited email, usually sent in bulk. James Cook University MailScanner uses a virus protection program called Sophos, which scans all incoming and outgoing email message attachments for potential virus threats.
Not only does MailScanner scan for known viruses, but it also protects against possible unknown viruses or threatening files hidden inside email attachments whose filenames match any given pattern. This can include generic patterns that trap filenames attempting to hide the true filename extension (eg. ".txb.vbs").
For further information on spam and the JCU MailScanner, along with guidelines for naming and safely opening attachments see InfoHelp's Email Spam and Attachments Guide.
Viruses & Email
You can't catch a computer virus from an email - well, not directly anyway.
It is possible to catch a computer virus if you open an infected email attachment.
The University uses SOPHOS Anti-Virus Protection Software on the central mail system to check and clean all incoming and outgoing email messages. SOPHOS is available for installation on all University-owned computers, please contact InfoHelp for more details.
The University also uses SOPHOS Anti-Virus Protection Software on all the General Access and Teaching Computer Facilites (GATCF). This virus scanner runs in the background and checks the files and folders on the hard drives of these machines and also any disks inserted into the machines.
The virus scanner is updated every time a new virus signature is available.
JCU has a site license for SOPHOS Anti-Virus protection software. JCU Staff and students can install SOPHOS on their office and home computer.
On your own personal computer at home, it's your own responsibility to protect yourself from computer viruses.
You really need to think about virus protection and not be promiscuous with your disks. For more information on viruses and SOPHOS check out InfoHelp's Computer Viruses Guide
Misuse
Your email is your own responsibility - it is important to look after it.
If you misuse the email service you can find yourself without an account for a particular period of time, depending on the severity of the offence.
This means that you could be denied access to computing facilities, email and the world wide web.
For further information please the the ITR Policies on Unsolicited or Spam Email and Guidelines for Communicating to the University Community.
For more information on Computer Usage Policies please look at the Information Technology and Resources Policies.
If this information is inadequate, incorrect, or can be improved in any way, please let us know