About E-Mail

What you can do with e-mail

Electronic mail is as significant to communications as the penny post was for mail delivery or the telegraph for electronic transmission. Using e-mail you can have a message delivered within minutes to anyone in the world who has an Internet account.

With e-mail you can:

• Send messages to individuals.
• Send messages to pre-defined groups.
• Attach formatted files such as word documents and spreadsheets.
• Attach photos, music, videos, or any other kind of file..
• Subscribe to electronic newsletters or magazines, or write your own and distribute them.
• Be involved in electronic discussion groups, or host them yourself.
• Answer requests for information automatically with a prepared reply, or put up a vacation notice.

For the company and the individual, there can be significant savings in time and communication charges through using e-mail. Teams work better together, staff do not need as many meetings, and people stay informed. But there is a dark side too in the form of time wasted by spam and hoaxes, and damage caused by mail-borne viruses.

What you need

To use E-mail, and assuming you have an Internet e-mail account and mail program, you need to know the person's address, something about the construction of an e-mail message, some familiarity with e-mail etiquette, and an anti-virus program.

• The E-Mail Address: Basic format is explained.

• Anatomy of a Message: Learn the parts of an e-mail message.

• Send E-Mail Exercise: Send an e-mail with all the parts.

• Reply to E-Mail Exercise: There is more to reply than meets the eye.

• E-Mail Etiquette: Knowing the etiquette of e-mail makes everything go more smoothly and can save time.

• Finding E-Mail Addresses: The short answer is that the e-mail directories are very poor but sometimes you can find a name in a web search. It may be easier to look for the phone number and call.

• E-mail and Viruses: You aren't likely to get a virus from the text of a message, but you can from the attachment. Protect yourself.

• Web-based E-Mail: Do you share an email account at work and would like a private account? Do you travel and need to pick up your email? A Web-based email service like HotMail or Yahoo Mail is the answer.

• E-mail Further Reading: Check these Web sites to learn more about e-mail, etiquette, acronyms, and fighting spam.