IMPORTANT New charges for @zirkel.us (Google) email accounts

We are no longer able to offer free @zirkel.us Google accounts. Effective July 1st, 2022, the cost per Google email account will be $6 per month for active ZIRKEL Internet customers and $10 per month for non-ZIRKEL Internet customers. If you do not take action before June 1st, we will automatically migrate you to the new Google Workspace in June and you will be billed accordingly starting July 1st. However, if your email account has not been logged into for over 4 months your @zirkel.us email account will be permanently deleted.  

If you would like a FREE email solution you can migrate to an individual Gmail account or an alternative email service of your choice. We have just 3 1/2 months before we need to start migrating accounts, so we recommend that you get started on this transition as soon as possible. If you are an active internet customer, be sure to provide us with your new email address if you choose to switch.

To help us prepare for the migration, we ask that you complete this form, letting us know if you are going to keep your ZIRKEL email address or migrate to a new account.  

If you decide to migrate to a new email provider, please read through our notes below before getting started. There are a few ‘gotchas’ that need to be considered before starting.  Note that these instructions are primarily for users migrating to a new Gmail account.  Be aware that the transition to a new account can be a bit cumbersome. If you’ve spent years organizing your email into folders, the folder structure WILL NOT transfer with the emails themselves – your emails will simply be placed in your archived mail folder of the new account.

Tip: To make this process as easy as possible, please log into your new email account with one browser and your ZIRKEL email account in another browser. Alternatively, you can open one account in a traditional browser tab and the other account in an incognito tab.  This will help create some separation between the two accounts.

Set up a Mail Specific App Password 

• • This is important – follow this step first.
    • Log into your current @zirkel.us account and set up a Mail specific App Password within your current account.
      • Tip: If you don’t see the option for App Passwords, you’ll need to first turn on 2-Step Verification for Gmail.  
    • Once you’ve set your App Password, write it down or store it in a document / notepad on your computer. You’ll need it during the next step in the process. 
    • In Step 6 of the Create a Gmail Application-Specific Password section, do not worry about following the on-screen instructions – just make sure you’ve saved the password and click the Done button.  

Migrate your Emails from existing ZIRKEL Gmail Account to your new Gmail Account 

• • Once you have the app specific password stored securely, you can follow these steps to move or copy your email from one gmail account to the other. Note the following comments: 
    • During step 9 of the Make Your New Gmail Account Fetch Messages section, make sure you enter your entire @zirkel.us email address as the Username and your Mail Specific App Password as the password.  
    • After step 15, it moves to the next section, Make Your Gmail Accounts Recognize Each Other.  Note that the instructions for this section can get a little confusing. Follow steps 1-4, but from there our experience differs from the instructions.
    • After step 4 of the Make Your Gmail Accounts Recognize Each Other section, you’ll be presented with a box with instructions for sending mail through your SMTP server. Keep the settings provided, but enter your App Specific Password again in the Password box and then click Add Account. You’ll now be provided with a verification box.
    • At this point, you’ll get an email into your @zirkel.us account that provides you with a confirmation code to enter into the verification box mentioned above. Once you’ve pasted the confirmation code, click Verify, and the box should disappear.
    • You’ll now get an email to your new Gmail address. You may need to do a privacy and security check; once complete, the email from your @zirkel.us address will start importing within a newly created label in the new account.  Email will import in batches of 100-200, so if you’ve got a lot of messages, it will take some time for all of them to filter in.
    • Once all of your email is moved to your new account, update all your friends, family, vendors, subscriptions, etc. with your new email address. Do this before June so you have a month or more before your old account is disabled.  
    • You can also set up a Vacation Responder within your @zirkel.us account to let people know that they need to reach out to you via your new email address

Migrate your Google Calendars to your new Gmail Account

• • Navigate to the following URL for instructions on how to migrate your Google Calendars from your @zirkel.us account to your new account.  

Migrate your Google Drive Docs to your new Gmail Account

• • Navigate to the following URL for some options regarding migrating your data from your old account to your new account. We suggest trying Method 2.  
  • An alternative to Method 2 listed in the URL above is using Google’s Takeout Service.  Here is a helpful video for Google Takeout. This option allows you to export more than just your Google Drive files, but can be complicated depending on your level of technical expertise.

 

It’s been quite a long run with Google’s free email account services, and we regret it has come to an end and apologize for the inconvenience this transition may cause. Please let us know if you need some help with this process. We will be happy to schedule an appointment for you with one of our local team members to make the transition as easy as possible. 

Thank you for your continued support of ZIRKEL, the Yampa Valley’s premier local Internet service provider.

Your friends at ZIRKEL