Seminar on E-mail

E-mail

E-mail is a service provided by the internet. Persons with internet address can exchange messages and files. When you send e-mail from your computer, it reaches the e-mail address of the receiver. Sending and receiving files is almost simultaneous. It is also an inexpensive medium of communication. Even if the computer of the recipient of the mail is switched off, the message remains at the site. The e-mail service providers give you another facility to store your e-mail to the mail box. E-mail can be used to send messages as well as other documents. Sending documents along with messages is called attaching.

The e-mail address will have two parts to it: User name and Domain name. In the e-mail address, Chief minister@kerala.gov.in ’ Chief Minister’ is the user name. Domain name (gov.in) appears to the right of the symbol@ (pronounced as ‘at’). The user name distinguishes between thousands of users who use the same domain name

Sending e-mail, reading mails: Just like sending a letter, e-mailing also involves two activities. (1) Preparing content of the mail. (2) Sending the mail. To prepare content you don’t need internet. Sending the mail needs internet connection.

Preparing content: Open Outlook Express in MS Office. You can go to Outlook express from programme menu or by clicking the icon in the desktop.

Click New Mail or Compose Message button in the tool bar according to what is available in the MS Office package. A blank forum is displayed.

In the textbox with the caption To, type the e-mail address of the person to whom mail is being send. If the same message is to be send to more than one person, type all the address in the same box, with semi colon. Subject bar provides you space for indicating the content of the message. By clicking on the empty area in the screen, the message can be typed. By clicking ‘send’ you can send your mail. If the internet is connected, click send and your mail will be sent.

E-mail attachments: you can send a picture, story or other such material along with your e-mail. This is known as attachment. The material to be attached should be saved as a file. Address and content may be prepared as for regular e-mail. Click the button Insert File in Outlook Express. In Messenger click Attach. A dialog box is opened. Now select the files to be attached.

Warning: When there are attachments to e-mail you receive, a paper clip icon will be displayed. To save the attachment as a separate file, copy this to another folder and save.

Reading the mails received: How will you check whether you have any mail? If you have Messenger in your computer, click the button Get Message in the tool bar. In Outlook Express, open Inbox and click Send and Receive button. If there are no mails the following message is displayed in the status bar. ‘No new message on the server’. If there are messages you can see them listed in the Inbox folder. You can read the message by double clicking on the relevant entry. To save the mail, select Save from the file menu. Give name to the file and click OK.

Reply to mail: To send a reply to the person who has e-mailed you, click the Reply button. A window showing the e-mail address of the person who has mailed to you will be displayed. Type your reply. Click send. You can also forward a mail you have received to another address. Select the mail in Inbox and click Forward button. A copy of the mail you have received is made. You can edit this, if you want, before forwarding to another person. Type the e-mail address in the box against To. Click Send. The mail has been forwarded to the address you have specified.

Advantages of E-mail

(1)   Easy to use: E-mail frees us from the tedious task of managing data of daily use. It helps us to manage our contacts, send mails quickly, maintain our mail history, store the required information, etc.

(2)   Speed: The e-mail is delivered instantly, anywhere across the globe. No other service matches the e-mail in terms of speed.

(3)   Easy to prioritize: Since the mails have subject lines, it is easy to prioritize them and ignore unwanted files.

(4)    Reliable and secure: Constant efforts are being taken to improve the security in electronic mails. Thus making it one of the secured ways of communication.

(5)   Informal and conversational: The language used in in e-mails is generally simple and thus makes communication informal. Sending and receiving e-mails takes less time, so it can be used as a tool of interaction.

Disadvantages of E-mail

(1)   Viruses: These are computer programs having the potential to harm a computer system. These programs copy themselves and further infect the computer system. The recipient needs to scan the mails, as viruses are transmitted through them and have the potential to harm computer systems.

(2)   Spam: E-mails when used to send unsolicited messages and unwanted advertisements create nuisance and is termed as spam. Checking and deleting these unwanted mails can unnecessarily consume a lot of time, and it has become necessary to block or filter unwanted e-mails by means of spam filters.

(3)   Hacking: The act of breaking into computer security is termed as hacking. After the e-mail is sent and before it is received by the desired recipient, it “bounces” between servers located in different parts of the world. Hence, the e-mail can be hacked by a professional hacker.

(4)   Lengthy mails: Since the content is too long and not properly presented the learner may lose interest in reading it.

(5)   Need to check the inbox regularly: In order to be updated, one has to check his e-mail account regularly.