| (c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved | | | | caught in an ISP's |
| -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | | | | "defense system." |
| A lady emailed me yesterday very upset over | | | | If you ever find your email messages don't get |
| the fact thather friend's Internet Service Provider | | | | through, orif you'd like to head off problems |
| (ISP) wasn'tdelivering important email messages. | | | | before they occur, thefollowing tips should help. |
| This lack of delivery caused a real problem for | | | | Encourage all your email contacts to "whitelist" |
| the two ofthem with ruined plans, missed | | | | your emailaddress in their email program. |
| appointments, and just plaininconvenience. | | | | Just like you can say which email addresses you |
| If you don't use email, this might not sounds like a | | | | don't wantto get messages from, you can |
| "bigdeal." | | | | specify a list of emailaddresses you always want |
| But this problem of non-delivery has dramatically | | | | accept. |
| affectedthe way businesses use email and is now | | | | In Yahoo or Hotmail you can set up your filters to |
| about to reachepidemic proportions for | | | | acceptemail messages from a certain source |
| consumers using email. | | | | regardless of thesubject line or content of the |
| To put things into perspective, imagine if every | | | | message. |
| time youdialed a friend's phone number you had | | | | It takes a little patience to set up, but it pays |
| no idea whether itwould ring or not. | | | | bigdividends by not losing important messages. |
| Now imagine how frustrated you would feel over | | | | With Outlook and Outlook Express, you can set |
| time if youkept dialing the same number and it | | | | up messagerules to always accept messages |
| never rang for you, butothers could get through | | | | from certain senders. |
| and your friend's phone numbernever changed. | | | | If you send messages to people who use AOL, |
| That's exactly how you'll feel when your personal | | | | try thistechnique. Get them to add you to their |
| emailsstart getting blocked for seemingly no | | | | address book |
| reason. | | | | "safelist" or "approved senders." |
| The problem of legitimate email messages not | | | | This helps AOL identify that the message |
| gettingthrough stems from the uncontrolled and | | | | recipient "knows"you and has a higher likelihood of |
| unstoppableonslaught of spam that currently grips | | | | actually wanting toreceive your message. |
| the Internet withseemingly no end in sight. | | | | Email AOL tech support for help on this if you |
| The fact that viruses can now "spoof" email | | | | encounter aproblem. |
| addresses andmake it look like someone sent a | | | | If filtering and "white" listing don't work, then |
| virus to thousands ofpeople doesn't help matters | | | | yourfriend needs to contact their ISP to sort out |
| either. | | | | the problem. |
| In an effort to cut down on spam, ISP's | | | | Their ISP can certainly figure out why messages |
| implement a numberof counter-measures, | | | | don't getthrough, but it may take some |
| including: text filters, spamdatabases, and IP | | | | concerted encouragement toget the ISP's |
| blocking. | | | | customer service to take the time toinvestigate |
| If your email message doesn't get delivered, | | | | the cause. |
| most of thetime it means you inadvertently got | | | | |