J. A. Powell, Jr.
Nor Gloom of Night ...
In the last few columns I have been the "Johnny Appleseed" of e-mail trying to encourage the use of e-mail. I feel like the first guy to own a fax machine. There is no one to send messages to until more people jump on the bandwagon.
Since my last column, our firm has installed an e-mail server to handle all of our e-mail. This article will recount some of the trials and tribulations that I have experienced in trying to get our system up and running.
If you will remember, e-mail is the ability to send messages between users using only computers. E-mail can supplement regular mail and faxes. E-mail can be sent to the other side of the room or the other side of the world.
The power of e-mail extends beyond the ability to send just simple messages. Word processor documents, spreadsheets, photographs or just about any file in your computer can be attached to your e-mail and sent. Just think of the convenience of being able to type a pleading and being able to send it to the opposing side by just clicking the "Send To" button. Instantly, your document is sent out from your computer to your Internet service provider. From there it is routed to your opponent's Internet service provider where it is downloaded to the other attorney's computer. A message would appear on that computer notifying the user of the new mail. This process can take only a few minutes regardless of where your worthy opponent is located.
The mail is routed around the world to its ultimate destination using the e-mail address you entered in the e-mail program. For example my e-mail address is jpowell@mmlp.com. The mmlp.com part of the address is called the "domain name". We have registered our domain name to make it easier for others to enter our addresses. The mmlp part of the domain name is our firm's initials. Your domain name can be anything not already taken or you can use your Internet service provider's name such as "Redi.Net". The jpowell part of my address is my mailbox. This is where my mail is stored until I read it.
If you are using Windows 95, you already have an e-mail program on your computer. You may have wondered what the "Inbox" icon on your screen is for. It is the program you would use to create your e-mail. Other e-mail programs include Eudora, Pegasus or Outlook. These are known as the e-mail "client" because they need a server to transport your e-mail. This server can be as simple as setting up a Post-office on your network within your firm using the "Inbox" program. This would allow you to send e-mail to other people on your network only. The server can be as complex as the one at your Internet service provider. This would allow you to send e-mail over the Internet to anyone else in the world also using the Internet. The third type of server is one that automatically routes your mail either to the people within your office or to other people on the Internet.
The third type of server is the one we have installed. When someone in Atlanta sends me e-mail to jpowell@mmlp.com, it is routed from their Atlanta Internet service provider to our domain name. From there, it is routed to our Internet service provider's mail server where it is stored until downloaded by our e-mail server. Once an hour, our server calls the Internet service provider's mail server and downloads any waiting mail. Our server then looks at the address of the mail, sees that the mail belongs to me and routes the mail to my desktop computer where I get a message that I have new mail. If the mail is addressed to someone else in our firm, it is routed to that person.
If I send mail to that person in Atlanta and his address is jsmith@bigfirm.com, my desktop computer sends the mail to our mail server. It looks at the address, sees that this mail is not going to someone within our firm and forwards it to our Internet service provider's mail server. Finally, it is downloaded to J. Smith.
I have not before made a specific recommendation for a vendor but I have learned the hard way that mail servers are not something that even the average computer geek can install properly. I know, I tried. I would recommend that you hire someone that has done this before such as the folks at Redi.Net at 743-9966. We did use Mindspring as our Internet service provider but changed to Redi.Net because of their expertise in setting up mail servers.
I hope that everyone will give e-mail a try. It is worth the effort. If you would like to send e-mail to anyone in our firm and you don't know the address, just use their first initial and their last name with @mmlp.com. For example, J.B. Marshall's address is jmarshall@mmlp.com. Everyone in our firm has their own mail box.
If you regularly call the secretary of state to check on corporations, you know the frustration of receiving partial or inaccurate information. Say you want to sue We Don't Care, Inc. You call the Secretary of State to get the agent for service. The operator looks up We Do Care, Inc. by mistake and gives you John Smith in Atlanta as the agent for service. You not only have the wrong name, but you don't know whether John Smith is in Fulton or Dekalb counties.
To solve this problem, fire up your web browser and go to www.sos.state.ga.us/corporations/corpsearch.htm. There you can do your own search of Georgia corporations and find out all you need to know to sue We Don't Care Inc.