A> General Information - This covers concepts, requirements and such other questions.

B> Product Features - This cover questions on features, limitations and hints on how to maximise the benefits.

C> Trouble Shooting - Questions posed by users during installation, configuring etc.

1. What is SpearMail?
2. What are the difference between a mail server and a mail client?
3. How is that SpearMail can provide multiple e-mail ids out of a single POP Account?
4. How will the email addresses of my employees read?
5. What is a domain name and how do I get one registered?
6. How secure is my mail?
7. Do the users need to go through a complicated learning curve?
8. Do I need to dial out every time?
9. What are the hardware / software requirements?
10. Will I have to install SpearMail on every user's machine?
11. Can I use SpearMail only for Internal mail?
12. I have a Novell NetWare based network. Can I install SpearMail?
13. What kind of modem do we need for using SpearMail?
14. Does SpearMail require a dedicated machine?
15. Does SpearMail use ISP time even for local mails?
16. Is SpearMail Y2K compliant?

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1. What is SpearMail?
   SpearMail is an e-mail server. It acts as a post office for Internet mail clients. It is more like a carrying and forwarding agent of your mails. Using SpearMail you cannot read or write e-mail. You will read and write mails using e-mail clients like Outlook, Outlook express, Netscape Messenger or Eudora.
   
   SpearMail will ensure that mail sent is forwarded to the right recipient at their desktops.
   
   Additionally, with SpearMail you need not have permanent connection to the net. Users can read and write mail offline and SpearMail will send and collect all their mail in one go.
   
   To sum up:
   1 Internet account + SpearMailª = E-mail system for the entire organisation.



2. What are the difference between a mail server and a mail client?
   Mail Servers as the name suggests are capable of servicing many users (clients). Typically Mail Servers will collect and store both incoming and outgoing mails. Users hardly ever need to interact with mail servers. Mail Clients are the ones, the users use to read and write mail. Mail Clients pass on all the messages to the Mail Server and collect mail meant for the user from the Mail Server.
   
   Mail Clients need to be installed on each and every desktop. Mail Server needs to be installed in only one machine.
   
   SpearMail is a Mail Server, while Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora are Mail Clients.



3. How is that SpearMail can provide multiple e-mail ids out of a single POP Account?
   SpearMail can provide this function through e-mail parsing and sorting. All e-mail messages addressed to an organization are forwarded to a single mail box, called a POP3 (Post Office Protocol Version-3) account. SpearMail can collect e-mail messages from this mailbox and distribute it to the users by sorting the mail. Users can then read the mail from their desktops
   
   Implementing this solution is extremely simple.



4. How will the email addresses of my employees read?
   If you have a domain name: username@domain name
   example: jack@videoworks.com
   
   If you do not have a domain name: Your ISP Mailbox Name (username)
   example: vworks@bom3.vsnl.net.in(jack)



5. What is a domain name and how do I get one registered?
   A domain name uniquely identifies your company across the entire Internet. After you register your domain name with InterNIC, by paying $70 (approx. Rs.3200), you will have a registered domain name like www.yourcompany.com. The same domain name can be used for hosting your web site also. With a domain name you can provide addresses like; user@yourcompany.com to all your employees.
   
   You can then configure so that all e-mail received by your employees will be redirected to your VSNL* or any other mailbox. (VSNL is the dominant ISP in India.)
   Spearhead can assist you in registering your domain name



6. How secure is my mail?
   SpearMail understands that privacy is very critical in any mail system. All mails are stored in encrypted database.
   
   Nobody can snoop around.



7. Do the users need to go through a complicated learning curve?
   The Internet mail users need not interact with SpearMail at all. They can use their chosen e-mail clients like Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, etc.,



8. Do I need to dial out every time?
   No. SpearMail comes complete with its own dialer that can be scheduled to connect to your ISP at pre-determined intervals and process e-mail collection and delivery.



9. What are the hardware / software requirements?
   
   1. Hardware Requirements
      • 486 Machine or above
      • 16 MB RAM (32 MB or above recommended)
   2. To use Internet Mailing Features
      • A modem attached to your machine
      • Dial-Up Networking installed and configured
   3. LAN Configurations
      • TCP/IP must be configured on every machine that will connect to SpearMail
      • Every machine has that needs to have e-mail access needs to have an e-mail client software
   4. A TCP/IP Internet Access Account
   
   Note: If you are satisfied with using SpearMail only for local mailing needs, then Internet connection is not needed.



10. Will I have to install SpearMail on every user's machine?
    No. SpearMail being a server needs to be installed on only one machine that is a part of your network.



11. Can I use SpearMail only for Internal mail?
    Yes, in which case you do not even need an Internet Account.



12. I have a Novell NetWare based network. Can I install SpearMail?
    The network server can be based on NetWare, Windows NT or Unix. Only requirement is that you should have atleast one Windows 95/98/NT machine in the network on which SpearMail can be installed. You will have to install and configure TCP/IP on your network. The help manual of SpearMail provides step by step instructions on how to set up the TCP/IP Network.



13. What kind of modem do we need for using SpearMail?
    Any modem that is supported by the Internet service provider's network can be used. If you have frequent connection problems then please set the modem parameters, particularly the modem initialisation settings properly.



14. Does SpearMail require a dedicated machine?
    No. SpearMail is designed for working in a multitasking environment. You can use the machine on which you have installed SpearMail for normal use. However, it is recommended to have a dedicated machine if it is 486 based.



15. Does SpearMail use ISP time even for local mails?
    No. SpearMail transfers local mail instantly.



16. Is SpearMail Y2K compliant?
    Yes, SpearMail has been tested for Y2K. It will not produce errors in processing date data in connection with the year change from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. This is provided all other software and/or hardware products exchange date data with the SpearMail properly.

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1. What happens when the connection gets closed when SpearMail is either sending or receiving the mail?
2. How can I know whether a mail sent by me from my e-mail client has been sent out or is still in the database?
3. When the recipient of my mail replies by hitting the Reply button, will I receive the mail through SpearMail?
4. In other similar mail servers, one can read mail of others as it is stored as Text file. How does SpearMail assure privacy and confidentiality?
5. Does SpearMail support attachments and MIME?
6. What happens to mail addressed to a person not on SpearMail's user list?
7. How can I ensure that I get all my mail while I am on the move?
8. How can I ensure that my sales brochure is sent automatically, when I receive a query from a prospective customer?
9. Many of our users have e-mail accounts on various other sites on the Internet. How can I integrate them with my local mailing system?
10. To save bandwidth can I limit the size of e-mail that certain users can send and receive?
11. Can I Use SpearMail along with Proxy Server?

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1. What happens when the connection gets closed when SpearMail is either sending or receiving the mail?
   SpearMail will either retrieve the mail in the next attempt or send the mail in the next attempt. Mail is not deleted till the process is complete.



2. How can I know whether a mail sent by me from my e-mail client has been sent out or is still in the database?
   All you have to do is send an e-mail To mailserver@yourdomainname with "Status" mentioned in the subject line. SpearMail will immediately respond back with the status of the mails that are waiting to be dialed out.



3. When the recipient of my mail replies by hitting the Reply button, will I receive the mail through SpearMail?
   Yes, provided you have configured your e-mail client appropriately.



4. In other similar mail servers, one can read mail of others as it is stored as Text file. How does SpearMail assure privacy and confidentiality?
   It is unfortunate that some mail servers do not understand importance of privacy and confidentiality. SpearMail does not store your mail in a text file but in a encrypted database.
   It is almost impossible to crack open the database and read your mail.
   
   Note: If a mail is stored in text files, then you can read others mail, without knowing his password. All one needs is a simple software like Notepad!



5. Does SpearMail support attachments and MIME?
   Yes, When a mail containing a file attachment is sent through SpearMail, it relays the message exactly as it was received. Message integrity is strongly maintained.



6. What happens to mail addressed to a person not on SpearMail's user list?
   Whenever SpearMail retrieves mail for a person not in the user list, SpearMail stores such mail in the default admin account. This also ensures that even e-mails addressed to user names that are wrongly spelt will never be lost as it finds itself in an Orphan Mail account. By default this will be your admin account. SpearMail can be configured to assign any user to be in charge of this Orphan Mail account.
   When you use SpearMail no mail is ever lost!



7. How can I ensure that I get all my mail while I am on the move?
   To receive your mail while you are away from the office, you can sign up with free e-mail service providers like Hotmail. You then need to configure SpearMail such that it forwards all your mail to your Hotmail account.
   For further details refer help on User Configuration.



8. How can I ensure that my sales brochure is sent automatically, when I receive a query from a prospective customer?
   Step 1: Create a separate user account called Sales (or Info).
   Step 2: In the User properties ->Autoresponder, set the right properties
   Step 3: In the subject line, write " Response to your Mai" SpearMail will automatically send the brochure whenever it receives a sales query. For further details refer to the Help file.
   As SpearMail does not impose any limitations on the number of users, you can create accounts like support, response, info etc easily and configure the auto responder utility to maximise your customer satisfaction.



9. Many of our users have e-mail accounts on various other sites on the Internet. How can I integrate them with my local mailing system?
   SpearMail will allow users to download mail from their private mailboxes. Please refer help on User configuration for more details.



10. To save bandwidth can I limit the size of e-mail that certain users can send and receive?
    Yes. Please refer help on User Configuration for more details.



11. Can I Use SpearMail along with Proxy Server?
    Yes. In Local Configuration you need to provide different port numbers and not the default ones. Please refer help file for further details.

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