Webmail storage smaller than other schools
Published March 29, 2005
Amid recent announcements of larger e-mail storage limits from national companies, MU maintains a relatively low storage limit for its Webmail service.
Despite the one-gigabyte storage capacities of services such as Yahoo and Google's Gmail, MU offers an e-mail storage quota of 20 megabytes for students and 50 megabytes for faculty and staff members.
Other Big 12 universities offer significantly more storage.
The University of Texas offers its students and staff members a 100-megabyte e-mail storage quota. The University of Kansas gives students 50 megabytes.
KU also allows its students to register an e-mail account from an outside provider, such as Yahoo or Gmail, as their official school account.
Director of Telecommunications Beth Chancellor said she thought costs might be keeping MU's quota low. She did not have any specific details, however, and other Information and Access Technology Services officials were unavailable for comment.
There are three levels to the e-mail storage limit. After using 20 megabytes, students receive a warning and after 25 megabytes students can no longer send e-mails. At 30 megabytes, users are prevented from sending or receiving e-mail.
In an effort to keep students from reaching quota, IAT Services announced last week that Webmail will automatically purge messages in the "deleted items" folder after 60 days.
Many students are concerned the quota might not be enough.
"The (School of Journalism) keeps me well informed of all their events (via e-mail), but my mailbox space isn't anywhere near where it needs to be," MU freshman Michael Klos said.
Yahoo announced last week it would quadruple its e-mail storage limits from 250 megabytes to 1,000. Officials say the move will go into effect in mid-April.
Yahoo spokesman Dana Sacchetti said the move is a response to competitors such as Google's Gmail service, as well as feedback from customers.
"It is in response to listening to our customer base," Sacchetti said. "While many people were happy with the 250, there were several who wanted a larger storage capacity."
Google has been beta testing its Gmail program for nearly a year. Gmail has offered 1,000 megabytes since its inception.
Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said Google found users were generally happy with the storage limit.
"We found that one gig was enough for the average user for their whole life," Tyler said. "Some people use more than others, however."
With the move, both Yahoo and Gmail offer a mailbox that is 50 times larger than the one offered to MU students.
