source: Woody’s Travellers Watch
Travel@woodyswatch.com
It's great to see more and more business travellers using 'Outlook
Web Access' (OWA) on the road. This is a webmail way to access corporate
mail systems using Microsoft Exchange Server.
When you open OWA in a browser it looks much like normal Outlook. You
can read, delete, reply and forward email plus manage your contacts, calendar,
notes, tasks and public folders. There are some limitations (you can't
move a message from one folder to another) but it works pretty well.
If your company uses Exchange Server but you don't have Outlook Web
Access, ask your network administrator. OWA is installed by default on
Exchange Server so it's probably ready for you even if the network
gods haven't told you. If you're sneaky you can try finding it
from a browser linked to your intranet by trying urls that have a company
server name plus '/exchange' (the default folder) such as http:///exchange (e.g. http://mailmachine/exchange).
Outlook Web Access can be used inside a company network too. If you're
away from your work desk or computer has broken you can access your mail
from any browser. But OWA is mostly used by staff accessing mail from
outside company premises. Provided your mail server is accessible from
the Internet you can use OWA from any net terminal anywhere in the world.
The link to access OWA will probably be different away from the intranet,
something like http://mail.dagg.com/exchange but your network gurus will
give you the exact link.
However you access OWA you'll be prompted for your login name, password
and possibly domain. This not only gives you access to the company mail
server but also tells Exchange Server which mail account to display.
Security Tip: when you're using OWA from any computer not yours make
sure you DON'T check the 'Remember this password' box. If
you do so anyone could access you email from that public terminal after
you walk away. When using someone else's computer on your intranet
the same thing applies, you don't want someone else looking at your
email.
With OWA available from anywhere, you might not have to lug your laptop!
If you don't have much email or it's just a short trip then many
business people have decided to leave their laptop computer at home and
just check their email at public Internet terminals (cafe's, hotel
business centres and some airline lounges).
