Messaging systems
A messaging system is used to send messages to people in different locations who may receive the message at a later time.
Traditional systems
A telephone is a system for transmitting sounds or speech between distant locations along telephone lines.
A fax, or facsimile, machine is a system of transmitting and reproducing documents by means of signals sent over telephone lines.
Voice mail
Voice mail, or v-mail, allows communication with other people by storing and forarding spoken messages.
Electronic mail
Electronic mail, or email, allows communication with other email users by sending and receiving electronic messages using a computer.
Email can be written to anyone who has an email address.
Most email messages contain two main parts: the header and the body of the message.
The header contains four main parts that the sender fills in as required:
Email address (To: ) is the address of the person receiving the message.
Carbon copy (Cc: ) sends the same message to other people apart from the main recipient (optional).
Blind carbon copy (Bcc: ) sends a copy to other people without revealing that these other people got the message (optional).
Subject is the topic of the message or a brief description.
The body of the message is typed using the email software or is imported or copied from a word processor.
The user can reply to an email message simply by clicking on the 'reply' icon.
Forwarding messages involves sending messages you received to someone else.
An address book is used to store email addresses.
A mailing list is a group of people who may want to receive the same messages.
A signature is several lines automatically appended to outgoing email messages.
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