BT Office 365 email disaster and bullying.

For posterity here is the recent discussion I had at BT. It will undoubtedly be deleted  shortly so I thought I would preserve it.

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Accepted Solution
Difference between Microsoft Office 365 and Business Email Lite

a week ago

Can someone please explain in simple terms what Business Email Lite is and what you get as part of that package.

The only page I can see on the support pages says Office 365 looks like this and lite looks like that.

I think I understand that The Office 365 for small business seems to be a fully web enabled cloud based system.  Which needs connected to the internet all the time to opertate.

I don't think I want or need that, but cannot locate a lit of facilities offered by "lite" to decide if it is too basic.  For example does "lite" allow me to set out of office? or is it just a call up and download "pop" system?


Cheers
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[ New ]
Options

a week ago

Hi Midgebait,

The email lite account is just a basic pop account, however there are options to setup an out of office message and add contacts online or set the account up in outlook.

It does not allow messages to be setup as an IMAP account as in the inbox sent items, drafts etc are the same on all devices.


Thanks,

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reetp
[ Edited ]
yesterday - last edited 3 hours ago by Moderator    DaveA

Same companies, same spyware, same .

Business Lite is just the cutdown version of the full Office 365 system. It basically just gives you an email address, and is used by M$ as a way to try and get you to take up the full on paid for Office 365 (kind of equivalent to Gmail + Google Docs)

Effectively BT have palmed the whole email system off to M$.

With the 'Lite' version, regarding connection, as a user nothing will change apart from your account settings. You can get to logon and pick up email as and when. The only time connectivity is an issue is if you use the full version to get documents etc etc. - guess there must be an 'offline' mode.

If you only access your emails via POP/SMTP then there will be few differences apart from SSL, and it's slow. And it will remove whatever mails it considers you don't want. Their choice, not yours.....

If you use the webmail system then you get a slightly different interface from the current version. It's the normal cutdown version of Exchange Online. What is a amazing is that it would appear that M$ normally charge about USD10 per user per month normally for this. Must be a helluva backhander passed back there someplace. I guess they will make their money by scouring your email (like BT has) and using that information to sell someone some more stuff someplace.
 
Cynical ? I would be. M$ don't so anything for nothing. And BT are not charging you any more..... so there must be money to be made someplace.

Me ? I don't need or trust M$ or Google any more than BT, and am moving all my email off their services to my own systems where they can't get to them so easily, though I believe that BT (and many other ISPs) scan ALL your internet traffic for their own purposes without your permission. The trouble is proving that they do.....



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Hi,

Right your homework for the weekend is to post up evidence to back up all the accusations you've made in this post.  If you don't then it gets deleted on Monday when I come in.

I'm fed up with people posting opinionated rants without anything to give it ground to stand on.

 Don't like Microsoft?  Fine.  Don't like BT?  Fine.  But if you're going to make comments like the above then you better be prepared with something to even half prove it.

Dave

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ReetP

>Right your homework for the weekend is to post up evidence to back up all the accusations you've made in this post.  If you don't then it gets deleted on Monday when I come in.

Don't work a full week then ? Easy life. Oh well, it'll be here for a day or two for people to read. Deleted Monday ? If it hadn't have been for the last remark I'd have not replied but I never respond well to bullies. So I had a quick 3 minute read around and here's the results. Want any more ?

M$ trying to get you to upgrade ? You ought to read your own website. I'm sure my mail box will be full of 'offers' to upgrade before long :

See here :

http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18557/c/2048,3872,3882

and the link here :

http://business.bt.com/domains-and-hosting/office-365/

Looking at your data ? As I said, it's VERY difficult to prove, as you well know. But it doesn't make me wrong. The BT Phorm mess was proof enough that they want to see what you are up too. They are corporations that want to make cash to pay their shareholders.

Anyway, have a read here :

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/08/how-microsoft-will-profit-off-webmail-without-reading-your-inbox/

"In response to questions from Wired on Wednesday, Microsoft did not elaborate on the specifics of how it deploys ads in Outlook.com. In her review Tuesday, Wired Gadgetlab reporter Alexandra Chang said the ads still seemed somewhat tailored to her: “When I was using Outlook.com, a bunch of gadget deals and one flower ad appeared, which seemed pretty accurate to my digital profile.” Bruce Hall, general manager of Windows Live and Internet Explorer, told her Outlook.com would rely on its newsletter filter, which grays out mailing-list messages you likely never read, to engage in some modest ad-targeting based on the newsletter’s sender."

And this :

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/hands-on-with-microsoft-outlook-com/

Now, I grant you that the current offering via BT doesn't appear to show any ads (I don't use it but had a quick login to see). But it doesn't mean that mails aren't read. And doesn't mean the data won't get used in one way or another. Or that we won't get ads later in one shape or form. (How come my old junk hotmail test account was full of junk despite the fact that I never gave out the address ???)

Then look at things such as browser Search plugins, 'handy' desktop 'help' systems et al. And they dont take ANY data from you ??? Sorry, but unfortunately I wasn't born yesterday. EVERYONE is at it. The ironic thing is that the government would LOVE access to the same data, but can't get it. But the coporations take it without a by your leave in most cases, sell it for profit, and you have NO right to do anything about it. Can't vote them out.

Would YOU like to advise us all how BT can afford to palm off all it's email to Microsoft without anyone paying ???? Just smell the money and you will find the reasons behind moves like this.

>I'm fed up with people posting opinionated rants without anything to give it ground to stand on.



Get over it. The company you work for are a complete bunch of amateurs. If I treated my customers the same way, I'd be out of business in 5 minutes. Fact. If they provided some decent customer service, then maybe we wouldn't be 'ranting' here (bearing in mind there isn't really anywhere else where we can publicly decry them that might get noticed by them). If it wasn't for losing a whole pile of my (costly) time with a changeover that wasn't wanted or needed which was poorly implemented and poorly supported, then I wouldn't have had reason to complain, would I ?

And being told I CAN'T complain just adds insult to injury.

>Don't like Microsoft?  Fine.  Don't like BT?  Fine.  But if you're going to make comments like the above then you better be prepared with something to even half prove it.



No I don't like either of them. I can avoid M$ but regrettably at the minute BT is my only option as a provider.

So I'll ask YOU again. How is BT affording to pay M$ bearing in mind that the normal cost for a basic account 'Office 365' account is around USD10 a month (or whatever they charge over here). My bill hasn't gone up, and nothing is for free.

So either BT are paying M$ and have a methiod of getting that money back, or M$ are doing it for free and using the data for their own purposes.

Or have you got another explanation ?