ACCESSING YOUR OFFICIAL SCHOOL E-MAIL ACCOUNT

All future correspondence to Montana school districts will be delivered via e-mail to your official school e-mail account on METNET. To Login and access mail in your official account:

  • Go to the METNET webpage at: http://www.metnet.state.mt.us

  • Click on the LOGIN option

  • Enter your USER NAME and PASSWORD. Passwords are Case Sensitive. Press OK (Your USER NAME will be LE and then your 4 digit legal entity code i.e., LE1234). If you don't know your PASSWORD call 406-444-1626.

  • Click on the MAILBOX icon

If you know of a school or district who does not have internet access, we have a telephone line available for dialup access. All you need is a computer and a modem. The number is 406-444-4851. Don't have a computer? Contact Scott Buswell (SBuswell@state.mt.us) at 406-444-3563. He can help you obtain a decent computer from the State of Montana's Surplus Computer Program.If you have questions or problems, call our help desk at 406-444-1626.

The "Push" Method*

You can configure your official e-mail account to forward messages to individual accounts at your school or district.  E-mail that reaches the official account will be auto-forwarded to your e-mail at work, “"pushing"” e-mail to your mailbox.

OPI is not responsible for misdirected or lost e-mail auto-forwarded from the Official e-mail accounts.

* This is the least reliable method for several reasons:

  • This method relies on the user to type in current and correct e-mail addresses,
  • You must have correctly configured e-mail servers,
  • School districts frequently change Internet service providers and
  • As people move in and out of positions each year – the auto-forward information needs to be updated.
  • When individual accounts no longer exist or the individual user’s mailbox is full our servers must deal with bounced e-mail traffic.

If you use this method, it is your district's responsibility to make sure that your “auto-forward” addresses are correct and your e-mail servers are functional. 

OPI is not responsible for misdirected or lost e-mail auto-forwarded from the Official e-mail accounts.


There are several ways to receive Official E-Mail to your personal accounts:

You can also use your browser to get and read your email. Here's how:

Forwarding Your Official E-mail to Other E-mail Accounts
If you have e-mail accounts other than METNET, you can auto-forward to any number of outside e-mail accounts.
Here's how to forward official e-mail to other e-mail accounts:

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(Figure 1.1) Click for larger Image

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(Figure 1.2) Click for larger Image

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(Figure 1.3) Click for larger Image

FirstClass E-Mail Software version 5.6 (other versions are similar):

  • Login to METNET with your assigned User ID and Password. (Figure 1.1)
  • From the menu bar, click on the Edit menu item. (Figure 1.2) This will give you a pull-down menu of commands.
  • Click on the Preferences command. The Preferences dialog box will open (Figure 1.3) with a series of folder tabs running across the top.
  • Click on the Messaging tab.
  • Click on the Mail Rules tab that appears below the main folder tabs.
  • In the Automatically Forward area, change Local Mail to Yes and Internet mail to Yes.
  • In the Forward to box, enter your Internet e-mail address.
  • Click on the OK button located in the lower right of the dialog box.
That's it! The next time OPI sends you a METNET e-mail message, it will be delivered directly to the Internet e-mail accounts you entered!

Forwarding Your Official E-Mail to Other E-Mail Accounts

Internet Web Browsers (version 4.0 or higher)

Establish a connection with the Internet, using Internet Explorer, Netscape or any other browser.
  • Change the address to read:
    http://www.metnet.state.mt.us/Login/
  • Once the page is loaded, a login dialog box is displayed. (Figure 2.1).
  • Enter your assigned User ID and Password.
  • Click on the Preferences button, which is the fourth icon from the right located at the top of the page. (Figure 2.2).
  • The Preferences screen will open; scroll down the page until you see Automatically Forward. (Figure 2.3).
  • Change Local Mail to Yes and Internet Mail to Yes
  • In the Forward to box, enter your e-mail address (youraddress@your.domain).
  • Click on Save.
  • Exit all screens.

Now your METNET e-mail will be delivered directly to your Internet e-mail box.

If you have questions, please call our METNET help desk, Toll-Free 1-888-231-9393, Local (406) 444-1626.

Visit our Knowledge Data Base on the Web,
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/FAQ/

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(Figure 2.1) Click for larger Image

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(Figure 2.2) Click for larger Image

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(Figure 2.3) Click for larger Image


Configuring Your Browser to Access Your METNET Account

If you supplied us with your Certification number when you registered on METNET, it's easy to configure your browser to access your METNET account. POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving e-mail. POP3 is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. POP3 is built into both Netscape and Internet Explorer.

Questions or problems? Send a message to AskAdmin@metnet.state.mt.us ; please include a complete description of your problem.


Configuring Netscape

Select EDIT-->Preferences from your Netscape Menu; select Mail & Newsgroups-->Mail Servers. Click in the Incoming Mail Servers Box, select Edit......type in mail.metnet.state.mt.us

Netscape Preferences

Complete the Outgoing Mail Server fields, with mail.metnet.state.mt.us as your Outgoing Mail Server as shown above; make sure your METNET user ID is correct, and select OK when done.
Then, type mail.metnet.state.mt.us in Server Name, select POP as server type, and type your METNET User ID in User Name. Select OK when done......

Netscape POP Info

Configuring Internet Explorer

Select EDIT-->Preferences from your Internet Explorer Menu and scroll to E-Mail-->General. Complete the Personal Settings with your name and METNET e-mail address, and Sending Mail with mail.metnet.state.mt.us in the SMTP host field.....

Internet Explorer Preferences

Finally, complete the Retrieving Mail section with your METNET user ID in the Account ID field and mail.metnet.state.mt.us as the Mail host; select POP3, and type your METNET password in the Password field. Select OK and you're done!