1. What is Junk E-mail?
Junk e-mail (a.k.a. spam) messages are unsolicited e-mail advertisements. Depending on what service or product they are advertising, these messages may be offensive or even fraudulent. Sorting through these messages is time-consuming and annoying.
2. What does the Spamcontrol filter do? How does it work?
Spamcontrol is a free feature that helps protect subscribers' email addresses from junk e-mail. It operates on ParaSun's e-mail servers, using advanced technology to accurately identify junk e-mail. Its rule for identifying junk e-mail are updated constantly, adapting to changes in the way junk e-mailers try to mask junk e-mail as legitimate messages. Blue Mountain Digital Internet subscribers can choose how their junk e-mail messages are handled by selecting an option in the WebMail Preferences (under Options”, then “Spam Filters”) or by going to http://spamcontrol.bluemountaindigital.com. If they wish, subscribers can even choose not to use Spamcontrol and allow any junk mail to continue through to their Inbox. (See “What are the configuration options? Which one should I choose? Below.)
3. What are the configuration options? Which one should subscribers choose?
There are three different options for handling junk e-mail:
“Spam filter OFF” - which allows all junk mail to be delivered (that is, no filtering occurs)
“Quarantine Suspected Junk E-mail” - which holds junk mail in a quarantine folder for up to 10 days
“Delete Suspected Junk E-mail” - which deletes all suspected junk mail (note: deleted items cannot recovered)
This information is displayed when subscribers set up their Spamcontrol Preferences.
4. How do subscribers activate filtering?
Subscribers can activate Spamcontrol by modifying their Spamcontrol Preferences in WebMail under “Options” and “Spam Filters” or by going to http://spamcontrol.bluemountaindigital.com
5. Do subscribers need any special e-mail programs to use Spamcontrol?
No. Spamcontrol operates on ParaSun's e-mail servers, not on personal computers. No additional software is required and the e-mail program subscribers currently use will continue to work when using Spamcontrol.
6. Do subscribers have to pay to use Spamcontrol?
No. Spamcontrol is available to all Blue Mountain Digital Internet customers free of charge.
7. How do subscribers know Spamcontrol is working?
If subscribers select “Quarantine” as their junk e-mail configuration option they will be able to see any e-mail that has been identified as spam by viewing the Quarantine folder in WebMail at http://WebMail.bluemountaindigital.com remember, junk e-mail will be automatically deleted from the Quarantine folder after 10 days). If subscribers selected “Deleted” then they will notice a significant decrease in the amount of junk e-mail they receive.
8. What do subscribers do if e-mail messages have been filtered incorrectly?
If subscribers are using Spamcontrol to Quarantine or Delete suspected junk e-mail, they also use Whitelist and Blacklist features to increase the accuracy of the filtering. By adding the e-mail addresses of their friend's ands associates to their Whitelist, e-mail from those senders will be assured of not getting caught by Spamcontrol. Adding e-mail addresses to the Blacklist of senders of spam or e-mail addresses that subscribers DO NOT want to receive e-mail from will ensure that messages from those senders will get caught by Spamcontrol in the future.
9. Does the Spamcontrol detect messages containing viruses?
To some extent, yes. While Spamcontrol focuses on detecting junk e-mail, many messages that contain viruses have similar characteristics as junk e-mail messages and will often be detected as junk e-mail. However, using Spamcontrol is not a substitute for using anti-virus software.
10. Does anyone read the subscribers' e-mail?
No Spamcontrol is a computer software system. Detection and filtering of junk e-mail is therefore accomplished without human interaction with the messages.
11. Do subscribers need to take any additional measures to avoid junk e-mail?
While subscribers should not require other anti-spam software programs for their Blue Mountain Digital provided e-mail, regular precautions should still be taken to help avoid becoming a target for junk e-mailers.
12. Will Spamcontrol filtering only work with e-mail that subscribers receive through WebMail, or will it also work if they use e-mail software on their PC (such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora, etc.)?
Spamcontrol filtering will work on any e-mail received through Blue Mountain Digital provided e-mail
Account tat has the preferences set on. Once subscribers have set their preferences for their account via WebMail, the filtering will also take effect on the e-mail for that account if they check it using e-mail software such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora, etc.
