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Managing Email
If you utilize a computer at home or work it is likely that
you use email. Email is an electronic message that is sent
from one computer to another following a specific protocol
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP). As email's popularity
has grown so too have the inherent problems with email.
In order to send email you must have the exact spelling of
the email address. If there are any typographical errors in
the recipient's email address then an unintended recipient
could receive the email message. When creating an email address
avoid characters that cause confusion, like the number 1 (one)
and the letter l (el), computer fonts often cause those two
characters to have similar appearances. Try to create an email
address that cannot easily be misspelled.
As email has become a popular communication medium the email
address should not be too long or complicated, but easily
said in a phone message. Choose an email address that is easy
for others to remember, as a pen is not always handy.
Unfortunately spam, unsolicited email has become common place,
though many countries are taking action to make spamming illegal,
these measures will unlikely have any short term effect on
your email inbox. Many email clients that are used to read
and respond to email messages, include basic filtering options
that will sort your email messages into folders, based on
rules that you define. Email messages can typically be stored
and filtered by sender, subject and contents. There are also
a number of 3rd party tools available for limiting the amount
of spam received. Spam filters typically use different filtering
technologies. When evaluating whether a spam solution fits
your needs consider sorting filtered email into a specific
mailbox for review prior to deletion. This will prevent any
important messages from being unintentionally deleted.
As with almost anything, the best defense is a good offense.
It is best not to post your email address in public forums,
where spammers can harvest it. If you have a website consider
typing out the email address: 'name at domain.com', without
using the "@" symbol, as this will prevent the address from
being abused by email harvesting bots. Another alternative
is to provide a contact form rather than an email address.
Resources: Email Clients - http://www.messaging-software.net/e-mail-client-software.htm
Spam Filters - http://www.email-software.org/spam-filter-software.htm
About the Author -
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net
a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless
messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be
found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.small-business-software.net
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