General:
Spam:
Using WebMail:
Using Outlook:
Logging In:
Synchronizing Smart Phones:Q: Why can't I use Express or Netscape Mail?
A: Outlook Express and Netscape mail are POP clients. POP stands for Post Office Protocol and is an early type of internet mail. Outlook Express and Netscape mail are POP clients and are best used for personal home computers where the user doesn't need access to Global Address Lists or Calendars and will not be accessing their mail from multiple locations.
Why POP mail is not a good choice for PSUSD
Not Portable - POP clients download and store mail on your local computer. This mail is not available from home or from other computers. This is a problem if computers are moved to different classrooms.
Security - POP clients are often set up to remember your username and password. If this is the case anyone accessing your computer can read your mail and send out emails using your account. Even if your POP program requires a password to get new mail or send mail, the old mail and your contacts will still be viewable by anyone accessing the computer.
Data Safety - If your hard drive fails or becomes corrupt your mail and contacts will be lost.
No Collaborative Tools - POP clients do not have a Global Address Book or Calendar. Each POP client has to have it's own set of Contacts and Distribution Lists and there is no Calendar function at all.
Use on a single computer - Mail sent from or delivered to a POP client can only be viewed on the computer that downloaded or sent it. Using more than one computer to access your email creates confusion when mail that is on one computer doesn't show up on the second computer. Imagine needing an email that you sent from your home computer, but you are at school. You would have to wait until you were able to access your home computer to view your sent mail. With POP there is no easy way to synchronize the mail sent and received on multiple computers.
Outlook Web Access has many advantages over using Outlook Express or Netscape Mail.
Portable - You can access your email and Calendar from anywhere in the district or anywhere in the world. All you need is internet access and a web browser (Internet Explorer is recommended.)
Security - You have to log on to the server to view your mail or calendar or to make changes to the calendar or send mail. Even if someone has access to your computer, they will have to logon to Outlook Web Access to see your mail or make changes to your Calendar.
Data Safety - Easily recover accidentally deleted items using the Recover Deleted Items interface. You can recover items that you have accidentally deleted for up to 3 days after deleting them. Your email is also stored on a district server and is protected against data corruption due to a power failure or network problems.
Collaborative Tools - Keep your important dates on Outlook Web Access' Calendar and a reminder can be configured to let you know in advance that your appointments are near. Also check on the availability of attendees and schedule meetings with multiple attendees. You can keep track of your appointments on the Calendar and other users will be able to schedule meetings around the times when you are available. Meeting requestors will only see your time marked as Out of Office or Busy; they will not see the details of your appointments.
Use on multiple Computers - You can access your email, Contacts, and Calendar from any computer with internet access and a web browser (some features work best when using Internet Explorer.) Since your information is stored on the server, there is nothing to syncronise, you can use all of the features of Outlook Web Access from any location.
Out Of Office/Vacation message - Outlook Web Access can be easily configured to send out an automated response when you will be away from your mail for an extended period of time. You can use this feature to send out alternate contact information when you are on vacation or otherwise not checking your email.
Q: What is SPAM?
A: SPAM is unsolicited commercial email. It often takes the form of an e-mail message sent to a large number of people without thier consent. SPAM is usually sent to promote a product or service.
Q: How do I know if the email I just received is SPAM?
A: If you receive email that is trying to sell you a product or service that you didn't specifically request, is offensive in nature, or is from someone you don’t know it is probably a form of SPAM.
Q: How do I block or report SPAM?
A: Forward all SPAM to spam@psusd.us by following these steps:
Select the SPAM email by highlighting it or opening it and then clicking on the Forward button.
In the To: field type spam@psusd.us then click on Send.
Q: Why it is important for forward your SPAM to spam@psusd.us?
A: By forwarding SPAM to spam@psusd.us the sender of the email and certain aspects of the email are added to the list of SPAM in our SPAM filtering appliance, thus blocking similar SPAM in the future.
If you do not forward the SPAM to spam@psusd.us the SPAM filtering appliance will learn that you have accepted that email and may allow other similar types of SPAM through.
Q: What is a SPAM Filtering Appliance?
A: PSUSD’s SPAM filter is a smart device; it learns from the SPAM it receives and calculates weather or not an email is SPAM or legitimate.
The system is not able to block 100% of all SPAM but it is one of the best there is, and by forwarding any SPAM you do receive you will increase the chances that your email will be SPAM free.
Q: How Do SPAMmers get my email address?
A: SPAMmers use several methods to obtain valid email addresses.
Scanning of web sites for embedded email addresses known as mailto links and extracting email addresses from the web pages.
Searching internet newsgroup postings for valid email addresses.
Sending email to all addresses at a given domain using a process known as a brute force attack, if you respond to these messages you are telling the SPAMmers that your address is valid.
Q: How can I lessen the amount of SPAM that I receive outside of PSUSD?
A: Avoid responding to messages that are from senders that you don't know. Responding tells the SPAMmers that your email address is valid and as a result you will receive more SPAM.
If you post to internet newsgroups change your reply address so that it includes a SPAM blocker. This is simply an obvious word added into your real email address so that other newsgroup users can still send you email. You can put instructions into your posts on how to reply . The use of SPAM blockers prevents the scanners from being able to recover your address. As an example: instead of using username@psusd.us use something like username@REMOVEpsusd.us.
For other SPAM email concerns, please contact the helpdesk.
Last updated: 9/30/2010 10:49:21 AM