The first thing many people do at work all over the world is check their e-mail. Electronic mail has changed the way people work and communicate.
Millions of end users now depend on E-mail software to communicate with each other by sending and receiving electronic messages via the Internet or their organizations’ intranets or extranets.
E-mail is stored on network servers until we are ready. When we want to, we can read our E-mail by displaying it on our workstations. So, with only a few minutes of effort (a few microseconds or minutes of transmission time), a message to one or many individuals can be composed, sent, and received.
E-mail software is now a component of top software suites and web browsers. Free E-mail packages like Microsoft Hotmail are available to Internet users from online services and Internet service providers.
Full featured E-mail software like Microsoft Exchange E-mail can route the messages to multiple end users based on predefined mailing lists and provide password security, automatic message forwarding and remote user access.
They also allow us store messages in folders with provisions for adding attachments to message files. E-mail packages may also enable us to edit and send graphics and multimedia as well as text, and provide bulletin board and computer conferencing capabilities.
Finally, our E-mail software may automatically filter and sort incoming messages (even new items from online services) and route then to appropriate user mailboxes and folders.
Electronic Mail: Application Software for End Users
