The document discusses the features and functions of email. It describes what email is, how to send and receive emails, and how to add attachments. It also covers email addresses, contacts, signatures, and out of office replies. Some advantages of email are its speed, low cost, and ability to send attachments and reach multiple people simultaneously. However, disadvantages include security issues like viruses, spam, and phishing scams.

1. Features of E-mail
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2. Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation you will:
Understand what e-mail is
Know the features of e-mail
Describe what an attachment is, what form it
can take and why it is used.
Learn about encryption and how it can help
prevent e-mail fraud.
Be able to explain at least two advantages of
email
Be able to explain at least two disadvantages
of email
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3. What is e-mail
E-mail stands for electronic mail.
E-mail allows users to
communicate electronically
with other people who have
e-mail.
E-mail costs nothing to
send and is very fast.
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4. What does the software do?
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5. Contacts
The e-mail addresses of
the people you know can
be stored as contacts in
your address book.
A contact group is a list of
contacts that are grouped
together under a single
name. Often called a
distribution list.
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6. E-mail layout
E-mails appear in your inbox. When you open an e-mail:
It tells you who it’s from.
It gives a description
of the content.
It also provides the
name of any
attached files.
The message
appears below.
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7. Sending a reply
To reply to an e-mail, you just have to click on the reply button.
The e-mail address of the person you are replying to will
appear automatically
Addresses can be
added if you want to
reply to more people.
Attachments can be
added.
The new message is
typed here.
The original message will appear below the new message.
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8. An e-mail address
Made up of 3 parts:
• username (of e-mail box holder)
• organisation that hosts the e-mail account
• country of origin
• eg. cjrobertson@tiscali.co.uk
username organisation/ country
ISP
• an ISP is an Internet Service Provider
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9. Signature
Signatures can be set up that will be
automatically placed at the bottom of the
email before it is sent.
These can be formal or informal
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10. Attachments
All e-mails are text files.
Other types of files can be forwarded as an
attachment to an e-mail, such as pictures,
software, audio and movie clips
The symbol for an attachment is a paper clip.
E-mails and attachments can be saved
and/or deleted just like any other files.
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11. Out of Office Reply
An automated reply to an email that states
you are not available to reply.
People who use email for business will find
that when they are unable to check their mail
this is useful.
The date of your return would normally be
sent with the out-of-office reply.
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12. Calendar
Can be used to enter events, special
dates and birthdays.
Appointments with reminders can be
set up.
Meetings can be scheduled, contacts
added and e-mails automatically sent to
the invited attendees
Calendars can be shared between
many people.
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13. Problems with e-mail
Spam is the e-mail equivalent of junk mail.
It is often sent by companies trying to sell their products to
people who haven’t asked for information about them.
Spam takes up a lot of Internet bandwidth and it can be
annoying for people to have to wade through lots of
messages they don’t want to find the ones they do.
Many countries are trying to make it illegal to
send spam.
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14. Phishing and fraud
E-mails are sometimes used by criminals to steal money.
They send e-mails to thousands of people in the hope
that a few will fall for their trick.
Phishing e-mails pretend to be from banks. They ask the
customer to enter their bank details because of some
problem. They then use these details to steal money.
Other frauds pretend to give away free gifts or prizes.
Another common fraud is to pretend to need help to get
lots of money out of another country. They just need a
bank account to pay it into…
The websites that fraudsters set up are usually closed
after a few days, which makes them difficult to trace.
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15. Other problems with e-mail
A virus is a piece of code which can sometimes damage
the files on your computer.
It is possible to pass a virus on through e-mail.
It is best not to open an e-mail
unless you know where it has
come from, especially if it
has attachments.
You should always virus
check e-mails, even from
people you do know.
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16. Advantages of e-mail
• Fast communication
• Cheap
• Attachments can be sent with the e-mail
• Provides a written document
• Can be sent to many people at one time
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17. Disadvantages of e-mail
• Virus can be sent with the email unknown
to the recipient
• May be insecure
• Used for spam
• Used for phishing
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18. Summary
E-mail stands for electronic mail.
E-mails arrive in your inbox and you can reply to them
or forward them to other people.
E-mails can be sent to more than one person at a time.
You store details of contacts in your address book.
Contact groups or distribution lists can be set up.
Signatures and out-of-office replies are useful.
Attachments are files sent with e-mails. These can be
text documents, graphics, photos, videos, audio,
programs.
Security is a disadvantage
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