Switching to Gmail
It's OK! You can retain your existing email address for as long as you want :D
Updated 6 March 2018
Here is what we recommend
- Download & install the Google Chrome browser software
- Create a new Gmail address at www.gmail.com
- Add your existing email address (BigPond/Internode/Activ8/etc)
- Label the incoming emails so you can see which sender has been used
- Import your existing address book or contact list
- Import your existing emails
- Configure each of your devices (phone/tablet/laptop/desktop/etc)
- Confirm your email is send/receiving/synchronizing as intended
- Advise re use of Gmail features
When we have completed the changeover, here is what you need to do
- Advise all of your contacts about your new email address
- Noting that your previous email address(es) will work for as long as you want them to
- Not an essential step, your contacts will work it out over time!
- Identify who is still using your previous email address
- For regular contacts
- Simply reply and alert them to the change individually
- For organisations and web sites etc where you have used your previous email address as your login name
- Go to the organisation website and change your login email address to your new Gmail address
- Some organisations will only email you annually, ie for renewals etc
- So it will take between one and two years to be sure you have changed everything over
- Until you cancel whatever service you have with your existing provider, your previous email address will still work
- and you will know who is still using your previous email address
- When you do cancel your previous email address, make sure your provider actually cancels it
- otherwise, anyone still using will send you an email thinking you have received it but it never arrives
- test by sending an email message to your previous email address, it should "bounce back" with an error message
- For regular contacts
Please email computers@lcc.com.au or call us on 08 8682 1666 if you would like us to implement this process for you. We can do the entire job in our workshop, or on-site or we can login remotely, whichever you prefer. The cost will vary between $100.00 and several hundred dollars depending on how much we need to do. Once we understand your precise requirements we can give you a firm quote.