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e-mail Last modified: Thursday, June 16, 2005
Short for electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk. Most mainframes, minicomputers, and computer networks have an e-mail system. Some electronic-mail systems are confined to a single computer system or network, but others have gateways to other computer systems, enabling users to send electronic mail anywhere in the world. Companies that are fully computerized make extensive use of e-mail because it is fast, flexible, and reliable. Most e-mail systems include a rudimentary text editor for composing messages, but many allow you to edit your messages using any editor you want. You then send the message to the recipient by specifying the recipient's address. You can also send the same message to several users at once. This is called broadcasting. Sent messages are stored in electronic mailboxes until the recipient fetches them. To see if you have any mail, you may have to check your electronic mailbox periodically, although many systems alert you when mail is received. After reading your mail, you can store it in a text file, forward it to other users, or delete it. Copies of memos can be printed out on a printer if you want a paper copy. All online services and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer e-mail, and most also support gateways so that you can exchange mail with users of other systems. Usually, it takes only a few seconds or minutes for mail to arrive at its destination. This is a particularly effective way to communicate with a group because you can broadcast a message or document to everyone in the group at once. Although different e-mail systems use different formats, there are some emerging standards that are making it possible for users on all systems to exchange messages. In the PC world, an important e-mail standard is MAPI. The CCITT standards organization has developed the X.400 standard, which attempts to provide a universal way of addressing messages. To date, though, the de facto addressing standard is the one used by the Internet system because almost all e-mail systems have an Internet gateway. Another common spelling for e-mail is email. Also see Why E-Mails Bounce and Getting Rid of Spam in the Did You Know section of Webopedia.
All about the World Wide Web  A comprehensive site containing information about different aspects of the Web including: e-mail, browsers, newsgroups, finding information, and histories and overviews. ROKSO Home Page  Database of known spammers who have repeatedly violated ISP's anti-spam regulations. 8 Ways to Take Names Some creative, but ethical, methods for getting visitors to opt-in to your e-list. Communicating effectively in e-mail Focuses on the content of e-mail: how to say what you need to say. DeLiberation product page The DeLiberation Consultative Framework is a service that supports group discussions via e-mail. This site provides links to a press release, product information, and customer success stories. Email access with virtual servers Virtual Mail Service page describes how you can use email as a useful business tool. By using email aliasing, it allows your company to have e-mail addresses linked to your own domain. E-Mail Assistant information page Describes E-Mail Assistant, an internet marketing and communications software package developed Arial Software. ForeverMail's home page Home page for ForeverMail, a provider of personalized e-mail services. With this service you can customize your e-mail name and domain name. Information on available domain names, as well as pricing information for this service can be found here. Internet Mail Standards Describes what Internet mail standards are and contains links to related RFCs, Internet draft documents, and IETF working groups. The Spamhouse Project An organization that works with ISPs to identify and remove spammers from the Internet. Yahoo!'s e-mail page Yahoo!'s directory of e-mail. Domain.com Domain name registration, Web hosting, e-mail services, domain search, and SEO services. Eye on Spam Powerful weapons have emerged in the war against spam, so why isn't the problem going away? A 2002 Datamation article. How Secure is Your E-mail? If your business communicates any confidential information across the public Internet or your intranet, e-mail encryption is a solution you should implement sooner rather than later. Internet Mail Consortium Group dedicated to solving the unsolicitied bulk email (UBE) problem.	Related Categories Business Tools Electronic Mail Related Terms ABEND ACAP attachment autoresponder Bayesian filter BCC BinHex CCITT cloaking CMC edress e-mail address e-mail appending e-mail spoofing finger gateway hard bounce IMAP instant messaging mailbox mailing list MAPI MIME MTA MUA MX record nym nym server online service opt-in e-mail POP ROKSO snailmail SNMP soft bounce spam SPF username Uuencode workgroup computing