If you use a computer at home or work it is likely that you utilize electronic mail . Email is an electronic communication that is sent from one computer to another following a distinctive protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP). As emails popularity has grown so too have the inherent problems with electronic mail .

In order to send electronic mail you must have the exact spelling of the e-mail address. If there are any typographical errors in the recipients e mail address then an unintended recipient could receive the e mail communication . When generating an email address avoid characters that cause confusion, like the number 1 (one) and the letter l (el), computer fonts fairly often cause those two characters to have similar appearances. Try to create an e-mail address that cannot easily be misspelled.

As electronic mail has become a popular communication medium the email address should not be too long or complicated, but easily said in a phone communication . Choose an e-mail address that is easy for others to remember, as a pen is not always handy.

Unfortunately spam, unsolicited email has become common place, though many countries are getting action to build spamming illegal, these measures will unlikely have any short term effect on your e mail inbox. Many e mail clients that are used to read and respond to e mail messages, add basic filtering options that will sort your electronic mail messages into folders, based on rules that you define. Email messages may typically be stored and filtered by sender, subject and contents. There are also a number of 3rd party tools available for limiting the amount of spam received. Spam filters typically use different filtering technologies. When evaluating whether a spam solution fits your needs think about sorting filtered e mail into a explicit mailbox for review prior to deletion. This will prevent any important messages from being unintentionally deleted.

As with almost anything, the best defense is a nice offense. It is best not to post your e mail address in public forums, where spammers can harvest it. If you have a website think about typing out the e mail address: title at domain.com, without using the "@" symbol, as this will prevent the address from being abused by e mail harvesting bots. Another alternative is to provide a contact form rather than an email address.

Resources: Email Clients - http://www.messaging-software.net/email-client-software.htm

Spam Filters - http://www.electronic mail -software.org/spam-filter-software.htm

Sharon Housley manages selling for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon may be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com, and http://www.small-business-software.net