Keeping Your Email Box Organized & Ready for Business

Learning how to get the most organization from your email software is very likely the most important skill you can learn to conduct a successful online home business.

Generally, phreakers use auto dialers to scan numbers that answer with carrier signals. When a system answers, it is then compared to the known programming formats. Phreakers will also manually dial into your Voice Messaging system and attempt to breach your systems security features.There are three primary email applications on the market that folks use to manage their incoming POP3 email. Those three are:

• Microsoft Outlook Express
• Eudora
• Netscape Mail

SET UP EMAIL FOLDERS2. Control your urge to check your email all of the time. I have my email program set to check email every 4 hours, which is twice a day for my workday, rather than having the program check it automatically during the day. I know that many of my clients will procrastinate on what they need to do by deciding to read their email rather than to do the pressing items on their to do lists. Limiting your ability to read your email will result in getting productivity--I guarantee it!1.1 Vulnerability: Some systems are installed with the default factory passwords still activated or unchanged. This is the most vulnerable setup. Phreakers know your PBX / Voice Messaging system factory passwords and will try that password once connected.6. Workstation/Internal modems3.2.3 Protective Action 4: Create and maintain an internal agreement with all Voice Messaging system users. At a minimum the agreement should cover:NETSCAPE MAIL: Click File - New Folder. Then from the drop-down menu, select the folder that you wish to be the folder directly above your new folder, before clicking OK.You can tame the email beast, but it'll take a little effort and energy and due diligence to make it all work. Implement these steps, and you'll stop dreading receiving email.To setup email filters:3.2.2 Protective Action 3: Mailbox passwords should be as long as possible and employees should be encouraged to use the longest password.Phreakers also recognize �signatures� of systems. When a phreaker dials in and listens to the Voice prompts and instructions of you voice mail system, he/she recognizes what system they are communicating with and use that information to hack into the system.OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Tools - Message Rules - Mail. A wizard will open to help you create your new email filters. Just follow the instructions provided to direct mail based on certain criteria into certain folders.OUTLOOK EXPRESS: 1. Click File - Folders - New --- alternatively, you may also right click an item in the Folder window --- and then type in the name of your new folder. Highlight the folder above where you would like your new folder to be placed, and then click OK.5.2.1 Protective Action 2: Ensure that authorization code entry is blind or hidden when entered on display phones and that redial of authorization codes is blocked. You may need to contact your vendor to activate these features.Let me share one important lesson I l've learned about computer software. One should never be afraid to try new things. Learning how to get the most out of your software relies upon your willingness to dig in and learn how to use it.3.2.1 Protective Action 2: Pass-thru dialing allows mailbox owners to dial into a Voice Messaging system and dial a code for an outside line. Not only does this open your company to possible phreaker activity; it also exposes your company to employee fraud.6.1 Vulnerability: Workstation/Internal modems not only provide phreakers with access to system resources, it also exposes your data network to hackers, worms and viruses.Emptying your trash bin compresses the mailboxes from where the email was originally filed. This is absolutely paramount to the protection of your email data. If you go too long between compressing your email data, then your email data could become corrupted and you might need assistance in recovering your email data.4.2.1 Protective Action 2: In cases where it is imperative that an extension be allowed to perform external transfers or call forwarding, create an internal procedure that sets:FILTERING EMAIL3. Voice Messaging SystemsCopyright 2006 Donna GunterPhreakers take advantage of system interface vulnerabilities, known security (factory) passwords, and use social skills to obtain access to your system resources. Once a phreaker has successfully hacked into your PBX system, he/she may exchange the information with other phreakers, implement Call Back schemes, or place long distance calls that are billed to your company.1. The rule of handling email is the same as handling paper correspondence. Only handle it once. When you've read it, decide at that point to delete it, answer it, or file it for later action. Don't let you email inbox grow to 1000 or more messages--that becomes incredibly overwhelming and drains too much energy from you every day. I receive roughly about 600 pieces of email a day, so if I didn't do something to manage it properly, I'd be drowning in email.3. Set up filters (in Eudora) or rules (in Outlook) to automatically shuffle email into appropriate folders. I have numerous mailboxes set up in Eudora to house all of the posts of the discussion lists I belong to or newsletters I receive or daily correspondence that I get from clients. In many cases, I have sub-mailboxes set up under my primary mailboxes to further categorize the email that I receive. I've set these mailboxes up over time, and in many cases at the point where the email arrives in my inbox. It may take you 30 or so days to set up filters or rules for your email, but the effort will be very worthwhile. Now, when I check email, the mailboxes containing new mail appear across the bottom of my screen, so I can quickly eyeball them and figure out what on which emails immediate action is needed.2.2 Protective Action 1: Implement the protective actions in Step 1.7.2.1 Protective Action 2: Educate your employees on existing scams and how to identify possible scams. Existing/common scams:As part of the war against spam, most ISP's use filters every day in an attempt to keep the spam out of your mailbox. In fact, I even use filters to sort my incoming mail trying to catch the spam my ISP missed.You�ll never stop the attempts by phreakers to access your system, nor can you easily identify access attempts, but you can take steps to safeguard your PBX / Voice Messaging system.4.2. Protective Action 1: In most cases External transfer and/or Call forwarding isn�t needed. Many employees like to Call Forward calls to cell phones when out of the office � this is counter productive to your Voice Messaging system. Instead, instruct employees to allow calls to be routed to their mailbox and to check their mailboxes regularly when away from the office.1. Factory Passwords

Once you learn how to use your software to its full potential, then your life will be greatly simplified and your effectiveness will be dramatically improved.

Author: Stone Evans