General FAQs
| Why are these hostnames being decommissioned? | Following the completion of the migration to Exchange Online and O365, these hostnames are no longer technically required. It is also in line with security best practice on the platform to remove legacy infrastructure |
| How do I know what hostname am using? | In the first instance it is recommended that you contact your Primary Local Administrator (PLA). Each PLA has been provided with a list of accounts in their organisation that are using the soon to be decommissioned hostnames. You can use People Finder to identify your PLA |
| What is IMAP & POP? | These protocols are ways of accessing email on the platform. Typically, they are used by application accounts that process high volumes of email. Further Microsoft guidance on POP & IMAP can be found here |
| I don’t think I use IMAP or POP, why am I being contacted? | Analysis has been used to identify accounts that are using the hostnames identified. They may have been configured previously by your LA as part of your local organisation setup.
If you don’t believe you require access to these protocols, it is recommended that you contact your PLA or LA and ask them to disable them through the NHSmail Portal |
| How do I update IMAP or POP to use the correct hostnames? | Access / permissions to change your IMAP & POP configuration will vary across organisations and is dependent on how you access email. It is recommended that you liaise with your PLA, LA or IT manager for guidance on whether they need updating and instruction on how to do so |
| I have been contacted regarding the use of legacy Exchange hostnames. What does this mean? | Usage of these addresses is most likely being driven by processes running in the background on your devices – analysis has shown this to be mainly from older Apple, Android or Mac devices |
| How can I stop using the legacy EAS hostname? | Ensure your mobile device is up to date and using the latest supported software. If your organisation uses a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, request your LA to ensure the latest profile is pushed to your device. Further guidance can be found here |
| How can I stop using the legacy mail.nhs.net & outlook.nhs.net addresses?
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Traffic to these addresses is mainly from MacOS clients. One option is to create a new mail profile on your Mac device, instruction on how to do so can be found here. This should prompt the device to use the correct O365 address |
Local Administrator FAQs
| My application uses POP, IMAP & SMTP. Do I need to update it? | If your application uses pop.nhs.net, imap.nhs.net or smtp.nhs.net then yes, it will need to be updated and configured to use the correct O365 addresses. These can be found here |
| My application uses send.nhs.net for high volume sending. Do I need to update it? | No – send.nhs.net is unimpacted by the planned works. It is recommended that you continue to use this hostname in order to avoid hitting Exchange Online sending limits |
| My application is managed by a third-party provider. Should I inform them of the work? | Yes – if your managed application uses these protocols, they will need to be updated by the 7th September in order to continue functioning |
| Can we update the hostnames at any time? | Yes – the hostnames can be updated at any time in advance of the 7th September |
| How can I identify which of my users are impacted? | The PLA for each organisation with impacted users has been contacted with the account details |
| How do I disable POP, IMAP & SMTP for my users? | You can disable these protocols through the NHSmail Portal. Instructions on how to do so can be found here |
| Is relay.nhs.uk being decommissioned? | No – this hostname is unimpacted by the planned works |
| How can we support users identified as using legacy Exchange hostnames? | Guidance on how to support users / devices from utilising eas.nhs.net, mail.nhs.net and outlook.nhs.net can be found here. Typically, these will be older Apple and Android mobile devices that require software updates or MacOS clients that need to be manually configured to use outlook.office365.com |
