Member Avatar for dobi

Hello
My Girlfriend has an Exchange e-mail account. Or i should better say 2 accounts. One at a University and another at her new job which she will start full time at the end of the semester.
Her University account was easy to set up in outlook express since all the needed info was provided.
The other Exchange acccount from her new job makes some problems. She would love to get it working with OE because e-mails would be readable offline and other reasons, because she will be doing somne fieldwork in her new job.
After telling her boss at her new job about setting up outlook (OE) for exchange he was interessted too and said he could need it too.
He's answer from the responsible IT guy was simple:"...our firewall won't allow it."
Sorry....i am not an IT guy....but i don't believe this guy.
I must say it is a government job, but nothing secret.
Is there a way to figure it out oureself or is it possible that their firewall won't allow it?

We already set up an new account in OE with the in and outgoing servers like shown in the adressbar when loging in in IE. Username and pasword also entered.
OE tries to authorize but then quits.

Any help is welcome.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by JustinNH

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Outlook Express is not a native Exchange client. OE only speaks POP3/IMAP/SMTP, so it cannot use Exchange's MAPI/RPC protocol that provides mailbox sync, calendars and true offline cached mail. To get the offline Exchange experience you want you need a full Outlook profile (Cached Exchange Mode) or the server must offer POP3/IMAP access that OE can use.

There are two separate technical limits to consider: protocol support and network policy. Exchange MAPI/RPC uses ports that are often blocked by perimeter firewalls; servers can also be configured to only permit internal MAPI or access via Outlook Anywhere (RPC-over-HTTP) on TCP 443. Many organizations intentionally allow only OWA or require VPN/Outlook Anywhere for external clients for security reasons.

Practical next steps:

  • Ask IT whether POP3 or IMAP is enabled and, if so, for the exact hostnames, ports and whether SSL/TLS is required. (If enabled, POP3 with SSL on port 995 will download messages for offline reading; IMAP on 993 caches less reliably.)
  • If POP/IMAP is not allowed and full Exchange features are required (calendar, contacts), request an Outlook profile or ask whether Outlook Anywhere or a VPN option exists.
  • For quick connectivity checks, try from a command prompt: telnet mailserver.example.com 443 (or 993/995) to see if the port is reachable. If the port is blocked you’ll get no response.

As pointed out, SSL is commonly required. As suggested, organizations often restrict external protocols for policy reasons—so the IT staff may be following a deliberate rule rather than a mistaken belief. Do not attempt to bypass corporate controls; work with IT to get an approved solution.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

if its a secure job it probababy requires SSL

Member Avatar for JustinNH

I'm a little confused with this one. The company has an exchange server(s) but people can't use Outlook with it? What's the point of having a mail server then? The next logical question would be what does the company use for the email client?

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