University Computer Help Desk

Accessing Exchange calendar and email at home or on the road

You can access your Exchange calendar and email at home or any time you are away from the office.

When you are at home or traveling, you can access your Exchange calendar and email. You can log in to Outlook Web App (OWA) or you can use an Exchange client like Outlook.

Outlook Web App

Outlook Web App (OWA) is available at https://owa.illinoisstate.edu/ and offers the same core features as are available in Outlook, including mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, shared calendars, vacation automatic replies, safe sender lists, and more. OWA works in all modern browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari on both Windows and Mac OS X.

Mobile Users (Laptops)

If you have a laptop and move between on campus and off campus, you will continue to have access to Exchange regardless of your location.

Outlook 2010 - Outlook Anywhere

Outlook 2010 will automatically detect appropriate settings based on your location. This feature, known as Outlook Anywhere, ensures that Outlook is always configured for your location. Regardless of whether you are on campus or off campus, you will have access to your Exchange calendar, email, Global Address List (GAL), and other Exchange features.

Outlook 2011 & Mac Mail, iCal

Outlook 2011 and Mac Mail/iCal allow you to access your Exchange calendar and email from off campus. However, not all Exchange features are available when moving from an campus to an off campus location. For example, the Global Address List (GAL) is unavailable to these clients from off campus. Instead, these clients rely upon the offline address book, which allows you to search for people and locations without connecting to a "live" version of the GAL.

Mobile Devices

You can configure Exchange on a number of mobile devices:

You can use your mobile device to access Exchange from both on campus and off campus.

Exchange At Home

The Microsoft Campus Agreement (MCA) allows faculty and staff to install Microsoft Office (including Outlook) on a personal computer. Please contact TechZone for details and restrictions.

VPN Connection

In most cases, you do not need a VPN connection to access Exchange from off campus. Only Outlook 2011 and Mac Mail/iCal benefit from a VPN connection, which allows those Exchange clients to access the GAL as if they were on campus. Otherwise, you do not need a VPN connection for accessing Exchange.