#20005
Most people sending e-mail nowadays take no steps to prevent their messages from being intercepted. That's fine for many types of messages, but just as there are written messages that you wouldn't want to put on a postcard and would prefer to have protected by an envelope, there's a need for encryption in electronic communication. Besides, encryption can do more than keep things secret. The concepts on which encryption is based can be difficult, and most of the complication is handled behind the scenes by software. Nevertheless, it's useful to have a general understanding of how encryption works. Encryption software (often part of a Web browser or server, e-mail client, or other program) is built around the use of a special number, called a key, to convert information into a form that can be read only by someone who has the key needed to decrypt it.
Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (1997). Articles>Writing>Email>Security
#27049
It's supposed to make life easier, but e-mail has become a big pain. Enter the wiki, new software that could change the way you communicate.
Dahl, Darren. Inc. Magazine (2006). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email
#28840
Every Email You Send is a Customer Service Email
If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two. The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories. Each of these three types of emails requires a slightly different approach. Their purposes are different, and each should be optimized to perform their respective tasks.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#29113
A Generational Approach To Using Emoticons As Nonverbal Communication 
The purpose of this article is to help determine whether the use of emoticons in computer mediated communication (CMC) are truly nonverbal cues. A review of the literature revealed that the traditional nonverbal theorists failed to predict the future employment of nonverbal cues in electronic CMC. A variety of emoticons are then described including the traditional happy face 3 and sad face 3, numerous variations of faces employing keyboard keys, a number of abbreviations commonly in use, and FLAMING. Inasmuch as emoticons are presently in widespread though informal use, the problem of how and what business communication instructors should teach about emoticons is discussed. The conclusion reached is that of a generational recipient determinism. It is recommended that recipients who are Traditionalists (born before 1946) should not be sent e-mail with emoticons; those who are Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) probably should not be sent e-mail with emoticons; those who are Generation Xers (those born between 1964 and 1980) may be sent e-mail with some of the more common emoticons; and those who are termed Millenials (born after 1980 and coming of age after 2000) may be sent e-mail with generous use of emoticons.
Krohn, Franklin B. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#30184
Most e-mail obfuscation techniques I've tried tend to be bothersome and time-consuming to implement because they have to be applied to each and every e-mail address that you want to protect. Most require you to use lengthy inline script elements and inline event handlers. They may also invalidate your markup.
Van Gils, Roel. List Apart, A (2007). Design>Web Design>Privacy>Email
#25254
The History and Future of SMTP: SMTP's Adaptations to a Hostile Internet
SMTP is an abbreviation for 'Simple Mail Transfer Protocol', and is the standard internet protocol for sending email from one system to another. Although the word 'simple' belies the inherent complexity of the protocol, SMTP has proved to be a remarkably robust, useful, and successful standard. The design decisions that made it so useful, though, have given spammers and infectious code an easy way to spread their unwanted messages. Its recent evolution reflects the tug-of-war between those unsavory players and the administrators who want to protect their systems and their users.
Strauser, Kirk. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Communication>Standards>Email
#21301
How do you write an effective email that your recipient finds clear and easy to understand? There's more to it than just typing a few words and clicking the Send button. These notes give you some guidelines on the following: technical issues, document structure, the importance of knowing your audience, language issues and layout and visual design.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2002). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#31961
Should you use CSS or (horror of horrors) tables? And what do you do when images are ‘blocked’?
Greiner, David. Vitamin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#29134
Electronic mail (email) has rapidly become one of the most prominent communication media, and a substantial amount of information is processed by it in the contemporary workplace. It is well known that digital technology produces a "digital divide." In addition, it is well examined that the digital divide produces cognitive differences (e.g., knowledge gaps) among users. Yet, little is known about affective disparities. In addition, few studies on the digital divide were undertaken in organizational setting. This study considers the human side of the digital divide in an organizational setting and investigates if the digital divide exists in the workplace by examining multiple dimensions of communication satisfaction. The data from 303 university employees indicates that email experience differentiates communication satisfaction with amount of email and email use for equivocal tasks.
Ishii, Kumi. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Technology>Email>Workplace
#24406
Hybrid Language: A Study of E-Mail and Miscommunication 
Electronic communication is a hybrid of spoken, written and digital communication. Using linguistic theories and ethnographic methods, this paper examines how the unique language composition of email contributes to miscommunication between individuals. Until written language evolves to account for electronic media, careful reading and writing of email, recognition of its hybrid nature, and occasionally bypassing it as a communication channel, can assist in avoiding or correcting miscommunications.
Grosvenor, Laura. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Language>Correspondence>Email
#21073
Email usability can be dramatically increased or decreased by how URLs are designed and placed in messages. An example of one problem is described in detail in this article. Also, a couple of simple tips are provided to help you improve the URLs in your email messages.
Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2002). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#24119
"I Sent You the File as Plain Text!" And Other Lies
Procedures for how to send a file as RTF or plain text in the body of an email.
Stieren, Carl. Simware (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email
#26628
Incompetent Email Marketing = Lost Future Opportunities
Lack of personalization made an email newsletter completely useless to the recipient, damaging long-term customer relationship efforts.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Email>Marketing
#29060
The Influence of E-Mail as an Interoffice Communication Tool in Small Organizations
E-mail has significantly impacted the way we communicate in business, possibly going so far as to affect the social structure of organizations. One under-explored effect of e-mail is how it impacts communication in smaller organizations. Given the ability of regular face-to-face interaction, is e-mail necessary to boost communication? A report of employee attitudes in one small business did provide an opportunity to observe the impact of e-mail on communications and employee attitudes. As a result, it is suspected that interoffice e-mail may serve to link formal and informal communication channels, particularly in terms of including managers to the informal communications network.
Adrian, C. Mitchell. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Workplace>Collaboration>Email
#25199
Information Architecture: The Key to HTML Email Optimization
Over the years, email has established itself and still remains one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools to promote new offers, maintain regular dialogue with customers and generate demand for online and offline channels. However, with today’s epidemic of email overflow, email marketers face an instant verdict by the recipients.
Hurol Inan (2005). Articles>Information Design>Email
#31465
With recent press surrounding the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act and possible future charges for sending e-mail as well as virus creators competing with each other for infection rates, how can you ensure that your e-mail communications are still effective and reach their intended recipients? E-mail has qualities that make it an ideal communication vehicle. But for all of these positive characteristics, e-mail has taken a serious blow over the past six years. An anti-spam technology company estimated that 62 percent of all e-mail sent across the Internet was identified as some sort of spam by users of their technology.
Hoy, Richard. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#18254
Is It Safe to Email Editors? Spam Filters Are Causing Unexpected Problems
It wasn't so long ago that freelance writers hesitated to email editors because email queries and other communications might not be the right form. Now comes word that as many as one email in four never gets delivered, even email that the intended recipient wants. This startling number comes from 'More e-mail scandal' an article by Brian Livingston on InfoWorld's web site. Granted, most of the comments and research there is aimed at opt-in email, but it's apparent that other, legitimate emails are also going missing. The problem is twofold: spam and spam filters.
Wayman, Anne. About.com (2001). Articles>Communication>Email>Spam
#31462
Is Spam Ordinary Commercial Speech?
An informal poll within the U.S. indicates that more than half of respondents favor a law restricting "spam," that is, unwanted electronic advertising that everyone with an e-mail address has been exposed to but does not know how to stop. In the poll, 30 percent favor making false e-mail headers illegal, but only slightly more than 11 percent said spam restrictions would violate the First Amendment.
Morris, Stan. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#25953
Is Your E-Mail Getting Through?
Ever had an e-mail message go missing in cyberspace? With about half the e-mail messages sent daily being spam, it's no wonder that Internet Service Providers are installing spam blocking software. But are your legitimate messages being blocked too? Find out how to avoid triggering spam alerts with your everyday mail.
Bennaco (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#31466
Legal Issues Involved in Monitoring Employees' Internet and E-Mail Usage
Many employers have determined that there is a need to monitor employees' computer usage. According to a 2003 survey by the American Management Association, more than half of U.S. companies engage in some form of e-mail monitoring. Often, this is in addition to monitoring work-related communications and activities—including reviewing Internet usage, videotaping the work-site or recording employee telephone calls. More and more employers are engaging in some form of monitoring. Unfortunately, without a full understanding of the risks, employers may open themselves up to potential lawsuits. In addition, such techniques may result in low morale among employees who resent being told that they cannot use e-mail for personal messages and feel that their every move is being monitored.
Towns, Douglas M. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Legal>Email
#24455
Looking Toward the Electronic Future in the Classroom: Using Electronic Mail
In the last decade, electronic mail (email) has continued to gain popularity and use, especially in the business community. Growing email use has transformed business communication, making it necessary for business executives, scientists, and engineers to acquire knowledge and competence in electronic communication. Such changes make it necessary to teach skills for effective email communication in technical and business writing classes. Preparing students to meet unique communication challenges that they will face in today’s business world is valuable.
Kim, H. Young. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Correspondence>Email
#10165
E-mail lists are an e-marketers dream: mailing lists provide a highly targeted way of reaching people; email doesn't require you to wait until the customer remembers to go visit your site. Mailing lists allow you to extend the footprint of your website. In the literal sense (get space in the user's inbox and not just in the browser). And in the more interesting metaphorical sense: More services become possible when you can reach out to users and provide them with time-dependent information. Just remember the push fiasco: it is not the goal to lay claim to ever-increasing amounts of the users time; prompt them just enough to be useful but not so much that the email becomes a burden. Users will unsubscribe faster than you can say 'information overload.'
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Usability>Email
#23948
Managing Email Content—Challenges and Benefits
As more organizations embrace e-mail as their primary method of communication, most overlook the fact that e-mail contains evidence of business decisions, actions and transactions.
Abaza, Bisher. KMworld (2001). Articles>Knowledge Management>Email
#31523
The productivity of information workers is jeopardized by too much e–mail. A proposed solution to e–mail overload is the creation of an economy that uses a scarce synthetic currency that senders can use to signal the importance of information and receivers can use to prioritize messages. A test of the virtual economy with corporate information workers showed that people in a large company used different amounts of the currency when sending e–mail messages, and that the amount of currency attached to messages produced statistically significant differences in how quickly receivers opened the messages. An analysis of the network of virtual currency trades between workers showed the different roles that participants played in the communication network, and showed that relationships defined by currency exchanges uncovered social networks that are not apparent in analyses that only examine the frequency, as opposed to the value of interactions.
Reeves, Byron, Simon Roy, Brian Gorman and Teresa Morley. First Monday (2008). Articles>Communication>Correspondence>Email
#26271
If you are using email to market your small business, here's what you need to know about the new spam law, the CAN-SPAM Act, which went into effect on January 1st.
Benun, Ilise. Creative Latitude (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Email
