The Office of Information and Technology is offering students, faculty and staff a secure way to check their Ohio State e-mail account anytime and anywhere through webmail.osu.edu.

Ohio State University Webmail is a part of the new e-mail system OIT implemented this fall. The server will allow users to check their OSU mail from any computer with Internet access.

Cathy Bindewald, spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Information Officer, said there have been many requests for a server like Webmail.

“It has been desired by the campus community for a while,” Bindewald said.

OSU e-mail users have been concerned with using other servers such as Campusi.com and Mailstart.com to check their e-mail because of security reasons.

“When I give my name and password, I don’t know what they’re going to do with it,” said Chris Williams, senior in chemical engineering.

Bindewald said security issues were the mail reason OIT created Webmail.

“We have concerns with security,” Bindewald said. “You never know the viability of these companies.”

Charles Morrow-Jones, director of enterprise networking, said some servers track amounts on incoming spam and will mistakenly delete important messages. OSU Webmail will give users all incoming e-mails.

The server also will provide five times more storage space for e-mails than Hotmail or Yahoo, Marrow-Jones said. Warning e-mails will be sent out if a user’s box is getting too full.

Another feature of the server are vacation messages. The feature responds to messages a user receives, notifying the sender that the user is away.

“It’s fast, easy to use and secure,” Williams said.

The OIT Web site and help desk at 688-HELP are available for anyone who is having trouble using the server.

OSU Webmail was made available on the first day of fall quarter classes, but Bindewald said OIT was cautious about publicizing the server until they were sure it worked smoothly.

Freshmen were aware of the server as soon as it became available, and all other students and faculty were informed over the past two weeks.

“We saw about 35,000 users at the beginning, and now we have seen the usage growing over the past couple weeks,” Morrow-Jones said.

OSU e-mail users have contacted OIT about their satisfaction.

“It has been wonderful, we’ve gotten a lot of thank you notes,” Bindewald said.