o365 Testing Accounts

Office 365 - Apps, Email, & More

Office 365 will come in a few specific flavors, here is a brief description of the functionality available to subscribers of the service:

Email

  • Office 365 is a cloud-based email solution. Your Test account will come with a first.last@tufts.edu format, but you will always need to authenticate to the cloud portal (portal.microsoftonline.com)
  • Email will share calendaring and global contact lists, but things like calendar delegation and sharing will have special rules between mailboxes "On-Site" at tufts and those "In the Cloud." From an email address, and mail delivery perspective the average user will be unable to tell the difference between an on-site and cloud-based account.
  • Configuration of accounts for sending and receiving email is the primary difference between on-premise and cloud-based email.
  • If a cloud account tries to log in on-premise, or an on-premise email account tries to log on in the cloud, the login will fail.

Apps

  • Office365 allows individuals to download office productivity apps to their mobile devices, tablets, as well as full office suites on up to five computers
  • Members of the Tufts community, once activated and licensed, will be able to visit the microsoft online portal (portal.microsoftonline.com) and perform the following tasks
    • Use a Microsoft cloud-based Sharepoint 2012 drive
    • Download and install office productivity suites (depends on the device) on the mobile device
    • Download and install office suite (windows/mac)
  • Authentication for apps will be driven using your Tufts Username and Tufts Password

  • Apps can be delivered to the phone via SMS (a link is sent) or device via email. They are also available in the major app stores (iTunes Appstore, Google Play Store, etc.)

Types of test accounts

We'll provide you one or two accounts for testing. See below for details:

  1. Your Tufts Username and Tufts Password is your primary account and it will give you access to any Apps desired or required.
  2. A Test o365 Email account will be provided only if you're also part of email testing. Apps are functionality separate from email and can be ignored if needed.

How to test

Apps
Once notified you have been licensed for o365 Apps

  1. Visit the Microsoft o365 Portal - portal.microsoftonline.com
  2. Enter your Tufts email address, i.e. lee.raymond@tufts.edu
  3. Before you enter in a password, you will be redirected to the Tufts ADFS authentication servers. These servers allow us to use our Tufts Username and Tufts Passwords without needing to use unique Microsoft credentials
    • These are the same servers that allow for authentication through tufts.box.com
  4. Enter in your Tufts Username and Tufts Password
  5. You will be dropped into the Microsoft Skydrive which is where any online documents will be saved. You may be prompted to allow your account to upgrade to the newest sharepoint version, you can accept the upgrade prompt
  6. In the upper right hand corner, use the gear dropdown and select "Settings"
  7. From the settings menu, select and download software for your mobile phones, or desktops.

Email
Once notified you have been licensed for o365 Email

  1. Visit the Microsoft o365 Portal - portal.microsoftonline.com
  2. Enter your Tufts email address, i.e. lee.raymond@tufts.edu
  3. Before you enter in a password, you will be redirected to the Tufts ADFS authentication servers. These servers allow us to use our Tufts Username and Tufts Passwords without needing to use unique Microsoft credentials
    • These are the same servers that allow for authentication through tufts.box.com
  4. Enter in your Tufts Username and Tufts Password
  5. You will be put directly into your cloud-based OWA mailbox.

Information on the Tufts IT Knowledgebase is intended for IT Professionals at Tufts.
If you have a question about a Tufts IT service or computer/account support, please contact your IT support group.