In <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] writes:
> I have a situation upcoming where I will have a company email account
> requiring dial up from all over the country, long distance. I will also
> have an personal email that will be available via local calls from anywhere
> in the country. Does anyone have any experience with any tools or services
> that could redirect mail being sent to my company email address to the
> personal email address? I have heard about permanent email addresses that
> purport to do something of this nature.
A couple of possibilities;
(pardon the sprinkling of NetMail mentions, but it's the mailer I know best
<grin> and I can cite specific examples using it)
Most email systems have the ability to redirect a mailbox to somewhere else.
Unix' sendmail and our NetMail both obey 'aliases' files...others have
similar functions. Some mailers even have the ability to selectively filter
messages (yeah, NetMail is one) such that you can forward messages to another
address based on heuristics/rules. Even different addresses for different
rules. I have filters on my mailbox so that messages from certain addresses
get auto-forwarded to another mailbox. Some other servers do this; some
clients as well, but that doesn't help you if your client is in your suitcase
in the overhead rack of an airplane.
Gary(?) mentioned web based interfaces. A mailer with a web-based interface to
read mail is also useful for folks on the road. Since the messages (which are
read but not selected to be deleted) stay on the server, you can connect in
from anywhere and check your mail.
POP3 and IMAP servers also can be told to work this way; by selecting to
"leave mail on server" you can effectively roam around, checking your mail
from wherever you connect. Dialing into local access numbers around the
world, but connecting to your home mail server (via pop or imap over tcp/ip)
to get your mail. (NetMail and freeware NetMail include bundled POP3 servers
which support the "leave mail on server" option). Packages like Eudora,
Pegasus, and Exchange/Outlook can be used as your mail client. When I go on
the road, I load Eudora up on a laptop and connect into our POP server from
wherever. Works great, lasts a long time [(c) Denys.]
(An important caveat is that if you're using a POP or IMAP server for email
and don't select the "leave mail on server" -which is often NOT the default
setting- you'll end up with caches of your messages on the various hard
drives of the PCs you've used if you roam around. The effect is that new
messages are downloaded to your client AND deleted from the server each time
you check for mail, so if you decide not to delete a message later, it's on
your PCs hard drive, not on the server anymore... so if you connect next
time from somewhere else, your read -and you thought saved- email will no
longer show up. Many mail administrators PREFER that users DON'T elect to
"leave mail on server" -- preferring to let users fill up their own hard
drives with old mail archives, instead of the central server where storage
impacts everyone else as well.)
As also mentioned, free e-mail services like HotMail will provide you with a
mailbox which you can "web" into (as long as you don't mind a few commercials)
though you still need local Internet access to get to them.
The forwarding option can work, but there's that time window where perhaps
you're back in the office but the forwarding hasn't been reset, so that
important mail is still being sent off to the other account...
Hope that helps...
-Chris Bartram
3k Associates, Inc.
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