Support for server-based email hosting will end on July 1, 2020
Ecosite Web Hosting will be moving away from outdated POP3 and server-based email hosting effective July 1, 2020.
We have prepared the following FAQ reference to help answer any questions you may have.
Server-based email hosting refers to any email accounts which exist on the same server as your website hosting. The web hosting service must be online at all times in order to send and receive email.
Over 80% of all technical support requests we currently receive are related to email deliverability problems from using POP3 and/or server-based email accounts.
The most common issues include:
- Mailbox quota exceeded – when your mailbox is full, emails can no longer be delivered and are ‘bounced’ back to the original sender.
- Unable to send email from one or multiple devices – most often caused by email blacklisting which occurs when a POP3/server-based email account is compromised and used to send out mass spam emails. It can be extremely difficult to have your email removed from a blacklist.
- Unable to receive email on one or multiple devices – prolonged spamming of email accounts as result of only basic spam protection can prevent legitimate emails from reaching your inbox.
POP3 and server-based emails consume hard drive space on your web hosting server. As emails are received, more space is consumed, reducing the speed and stability of your website. If the website crashes, your emails will also stop working.
By comparison, customers who use a dedicated email service such as Microsoft 365 do not experience such problems. They also benefit from 50GB of cloud email storage space, 99.9% uptime and reliable synchronisation of email across all of their devices. Microsoft 365 comes with the added advantage of 24/7 technical support by phone or email from Microsoft in the unlikely event that an issue does arise.
Moving to this new platform will effectively eliminate the most common email problems our customers face with the current email system. That means less time and frustration waiting for support requests to be resolved and more time to focus on your business.
By separating your email and web hosting services, this will enable us to optimise our servers so that you receive the maximum benefit from our fast, Australian web hosting services, designed for websites.
There are seven key reasons:
- Single point of failure – if one breaks, everything goes down
- Outdated technology – 30 year old email standard that no longer meets the needs of modern business.
- Web hosting servers are designed for websites, not emails
- Reduced security and poor spam filtering
- Server-based email shares the same IP address as your website
- All of your emails are stored only on the server or a single computer/device
- Emails take longer to send and receive
Top reasons to move to Microsoft 365:
- Dedicated business-grade email
- Simple setup on any device
- Data protection, superior security and anti-spam
- Reliability & dedicated support
- Easily expandable
Click here to learn more about the benefits of Microsoft 365
From July 1, 2020, Ecosite Web Hosting will no longer offer support for any email issues arising from continuing to use the old server-based email system.
The question your business really needs to ask is “Can I afford NOT to move to a business-grade email solution?”
The aim of the migration is to improve the reliability of your business’s email system. By choosing not to migrate, you run the very real risk of complete data loss or potential financial harm to your business as a result of lost emails or email delivery issues.
If you choose to continue using the old email system, please keep in mind the following:
- Your email accounts will not be deleted, however, any support for email issues will be billable at a rate of $99/hour inc. GST.
- All POP3 mailboxes and server-based email account quotas will be capped to a maximum of 2GB of online storage.
- We are unable to accept liability for any loss arising from continued use of the old system.
No. Your current website and associated hosting will continue to run as normal without interruption.
The time required to complete the migration to Microsoft 365 depends on a few factors:
- the total combined size of your email accounts
- the number of accounts to be migrated
- your internet connection speed (including upload and download bandwidth).
On average, it takes between 2-6 hours to completely move an email account to Microsoft 365.
Large volumes of data, multiple email accounts or a slow internet connection can cause the process to take longer than this.
No, you will not lose any emails. All Inbox Items, Sent Items, Calendars and Contacts are backed up. If you are doing the backup process yourself, ensure that you follow the provided instructions closely.
Licensing costs for Microsoft Exchange are calculated based on the number of email accounts you require. Many businesses may find that they currently have accounts that are not actively used. By identifying these, you can save money by only paying for the accounts you need.
Pricing starts from just $8.00/month per user (mailbox) on the Business Basic Plan (email only) or $19.00/month per user on the Business Standard Plan (Email + Microsoft Office: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.)
The base setup fee for all new Microsoft 365 accounts is $99.00 inc. GST. This fee includes the following:
- Create Microsoft Account for customer
- Add and verify customer’s domain name with Microsoft servers
- Setup mailboxes (email accounts) for each required email address
- Monitor mailbox creation process until completed (this is called propagation time)
Important Note – The base setup does NOT include backup of existing emails or migration to Microsoft 365. The client is responsible for backing up and migrating existing emails to Microsoft 365 (instructions provided)
An Assisted Migration Service is also available.
For more information see the FAQ sections below
- What is the difference between Self-Migration and Assisted Migration?
- How much does Assisted Migration cost and what does it include?
Self-Migration
Detailed instructions will be provided on how to backup your existing email accounts and migrate them to your new Microsoft 365 email system. There is no additional fee aside from the standard setup fee.
Assisted Migration
We will backup your email accounts and migrate them for you. This may require remote access to your primary computer where your emails are normally accessed from. We have partnered with our preferred IT provider, Sydney Onsite Computer Services to offer this option to all customers if required.
All assisted migrations incur a minimum fee of $150.00 inc. GST. which includes:
- Backup of all existing email accounts
- Migration of email data to Microsoft 365
- Setup of email on a maximum of 2 computing devices (desktop or laptop).
The final fee may be higher as this does not take into account certain variables such as:
- the total combined size of your email accounts
- the number of accounts to be migrated
- your internet connection speed (including upload and download bandwidth).
For example, an email account which is 3GB or larger will take significantly longer to backup and upload to Microsoft 365 than a 500MB account.
We recommend requesting a quote prior to ordering on 0410 667 822 if you are choosing the Assisted Migration Service.
No problem! Simply call us on 0410 667 822 or email us here and we will be happy to help with any questions or concerns you may have.