Receiving a professional email on your phone while traveling between Aix and Marseille, only to find that you can’t respond because the session has expired: this situation is common in the academy. The academic webmail works, but using it daily requires some adjustments that most staff discover through trial and error. Understanding how to make the most of this messaging service avoids many frustrations, especially since the strengthening of authentication.
OTP Authentication and Roundcube: What Has Changed for Logging In
Since 2025, access to the academy’s Roundcube webmail goes through the ENT with a mandatory OTP VERDON authentication. In practical terms, the simple username-password combination is no longer sufficient. A temporary code, generated by an app or a physical key, is required for each new session.
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Why this change? The academy has aligned its practices with the enhanced security requirements applied in the public service. The benefit is real: a stolen password alone no longer allows access to the email inbox.
The downside is that the login procedure takes a few extra seconds. And if you lose access to your OTP generator (broken phone, deleted app), you need to contact the academic manager to resolve the situation. Always keep an active recovery method.
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Setting Up an Email Client with Academic IMAP and SMTP Servers
Roundcube via the browser is suitable for checking emails occasionally. For daily use, configuring an email client on a computer or mobile device offers far superior comfort: real-time notifications, offline management, folder organization. A comprehensive guide on professional messaging in Aix Marseille details best practices for staying reachable in all circumstances.
Technical Settings to Enter
Have you already set up a Gmail or Outlook account on your phone? The principle is the same, but the server addresses change. Here are the details to enter:
- IMAP Server (incoming): the address provided by the academy, with the secure SSL/TLS port. The IMAP protocol synchronizes messages across all your devices, unlike POP, which downloads them to a single device.
- SMTP Server (outgoing): the academic SMTP address, also with encrypted connection. Without this setting, your replies will not be sent from your email client.
- Username: your full academic address ([email protected]). Note that some clients only require the part before the @, while others need the full address.
A common pitfall: entering the wrong port or forgetting to enable encryption. The client will then display a connection error without a clear explanation. Always check that SSL or TLS is checked.
Special Case of Substitutes and Contract Staff
Short-term contract staff sometimes receive their credentials with a delay. The email inbox is only functional after account activation via the ENT. Without this initial login via the browser, no email client will be able to synchronize.
Message Retention and Limits of Academic Messaging
The academic email inbox is not an unlimited storage space. When the quota is reached, new messages are rejected, without systematic notification to the sender. This is a real issue at the end of the school year when administrative exchanges intensify.
Some habits can reduce the risk:
- Delete large attachments after saving them locally or on a shared space.
- Regularly empty the “Sent Messages” folder, often neglected even though it takes up as much space as the inbox.
- Archive old emails on a local disk rather than leaving them on the IMAP server.
Another limit to be aware of: synchronization with institutional calendars is not available. Despite repeated requests from staff, Roundcube does not offer a native link with academic calendars. To schedule a meeting, you still have to juggle between the messaging service and a separate tool.
Email Signature and Accessibility: Two Often Ignored Settings
Creating a Useful Professional Signature
A well-constructed signature saves your correspondents time. It should include your name, position, institution, and a phone number. Nothing more.
Avoid quotes, heavy logos, and legal disclaimers copied from an online template. A three-line signature is read, a ten-line signature is ignored. In Roundcube, the setting can be found in the account settings, under “Identities”.
RGAA Compliance and Digital Accessibility
The academy displays RGAA (General Framework for Improving Accessibility) compliance in addition to GDPR. In practice, this means that the webmail interface is designed to be usable with a screen reader or keyboard navigation.
If you work with a colleague with visual impairments, prefer plain text over HTML format in your emails. Tables and images embedded in the body of the message are often poorly rendered by assistive technologies.
Forwarding to a Personal Address: Convenient but Risky
Forwarding your academic emails to a Gmail or Outlook inbox is technically possible via Roundcube settings. The process takes less than a minute.
The benefit is clear: centralizing everything in a single application. The risk is equally significant. Academic messages may contain personal data about students or colleagues. Forwarding them to a service hosted outside the European Union poses a GDPR compliance issue that the academy does not cover.
Forwarding does not exempt you from regularly checking the academic webmail. Some system messages (HR notifications, security alerts) are not always forwarded correctly, especially when they contain internal links to the ENT.
Maintaining the habit of opening Roundcube at least once a week remains the most reliable method to ensure you don’t miss anything, even with active forwarding.