WiscMail quota increased at no charge, new administrative interface

Monday, November 03, 2008

As of November  1, the WiscMail service has made additional email storage available to WiscMail users who've reached 90% or more of their current quota, at no additional cost.

Last spring, the WiscMail service team researched options and costs for expanding quota allocations. "Though we'd been hearing that campus wants access to more free storage, in reality only 1,438 of the roughly 68,5000 WiscMail customers (about 2%) have surpassed their base quota allocation of 200 MB," notes Patrick Brennan, WiscMail service manager.  "Nonetheless, we are projecting future growth and so we've made the decision to eliminate hard quotas in favor of allowing customers to increase their storage allocation as needed," he adds.

WiscMail customers who need more storage can take advantage of the additional capacity if/when they receive an automated message from WiscMail saying they are at 90% of their existing quota. The message will include instructions for increasing to the next level.  (See program details below.)

Departments using WiscMail Plus will see an approximate 25% decrease in their monthly storage charges due to reduced costs the WiscMail service team was able to leverage.

New Administrative Interface

Another significant change that took effect November 1 was an improvement to the administrative interface for both end users and WiscMail Plus domain administrators. End users will now have access to several new features, including the ability to remove unused alternate email addresses (e.g., name@facstaff.wisc.edu addresses) and improved filter creation.

Domain administrators will see significantly increased performance, the ability to set and control alternate email addresses, and improved daily reports and monthly billing features.

WiscMail Quota Program Details

  • Base quota will remain at 200 MB per WiscMail user.
  • Effective November 1, the quota warning message system will allow customers to update their quota configurations, through an automated process, based on the following criteria:
    • The ability to increase quota by 100 MB will be offered to customers who reach 90% of their 200 MB, 300 MB and 400 MB allocations at no charge.
    • The ability to increase quota by 500 MB will be offered to customers who reach 90% of their 500 MB, 1 GB, 1.5 GB, 2 GB and 2.5 GB quotas at no charge.
    • A periodic "true-up" process will identify accounts that are using far less than their allocations and will readjust quota allocations downward.
  • Current system limitations cap quota values at 3 GB. This will be expanded as WiscMail systems are upgraded.
  • Only users who've reached at least 90% of their current quota are eligible to increase their storage.