Emails

JI read by authorizedusers),which both work

G IN T R OD U C T IO N
E along similar lines,make email more secure.
o
! Email ([Link]) is a means of
tr
G sendingmessagesbetween computers. E mai l and other formr of
5
o To send and receiveemail you need accessto
x correrpondence
e the Internet. An Internet ServiceProvider (rs n)
will provide you with connection software, Thereare severalareasofbusiness
o
which is often free. This will give you Internet communication where more traditional forms
o
access,storagefor incoming mail, and the of correspondenceare still the most suitable.
capqbilityto read your [Link],you For example,personaland sensitive
need email software, generally already correspondencesuch as messagesof
installed in modern computers,so that you can congratulation, condolence,or complaint are
write, send,receive,and readmessages. usually best done by letter. Confirmation of
contracts,memos which are confldential and
Ad v a n ta g e r must be signedto acknowledgereceipt,and
any correspondence which may be neededfor
Thereare numerous advantagesto [Link] is legal or insurancepurposes should not
personaland easyto [Link] can be usedboth normally be sent by email. You might find a job
within and between companies,and is an on the Internet,but most companieswould
effective wayto communicate quickly and still expectyour applicationto consistof a
easily with people all over the world. It is completed form with a covering letter.
especiallyuseful for short messagesand for
everydaycorrespondence, [Link] up a
E mai l addreres
meeting, passing on information, and making
or replying to a request. Typical email addressesIook like this:
Youcan pick upyour email messages,
dfranks@[Link]
even when you are travelling, via a laptop or
corneyg@[Link]
palmtop. With compatiblesystems,youcan
accesstext and graphicdocuments,and The first part of the email addressis usuallythe
spreadsheets. And whatever you sendor surname and initial of the person you are
receivecan be quickly and easily filed. contacting, or the name if itjs a department, or
a shortenedversion ofit. The secondpart,
which appearsimmediately after the @(at),is
D i s a d v a n ta g e s the name of the rsn or organization,or again
The disadvantagesof email include technical an abbreviation of it. Usually,the last part of
problemswhich may result inthe unexpected the addressincludesthe domain name suffixes
non-deliveryof messages,or attachments referring to the type of organization(e.g.'.co'
arriving in unreadable form. A non-technical for'company','.ac'('academic')for a university)
disadvantageis that, paradoxically,the ease and to the country from which the message
with which messagescan be sent resultsin was sent (e.g.'.no'forNorway,'.uk'for the
Iarge amounts of 'junk' and unnecessary UnitedKingdom).
communication, which waste time. Other examples of domain name suffixes
As with faxes,a major drawback is the lack referring to types of organizationinclude:
of privacy and security. Do not use email to .biz business
communicate confidential information. It is .gov governmentofice
sometimessaidthat an email messageis like .org non-profit-makingorganization
a postcard - anyone can read what you have (e.9.a charity)
written. However, digital signing and .pro profession([Link],Iaw)
encryption (coding data, so that it can only be
 If the name of a country in its main language Attachments o
differssignificantlyfrom its name in English, Iconsof anyarrAcHMENrs will appearhere. ID
this is reflectedin its domain name suffx, e.g: The amount of header information, and the
orderin which it appears,will vary according
ii
.de Deutschland(Germany) xo
.es Espafia(Spain) to the software being used,so do not worry if
!,

.za ZuidAfrika (SouthAfrica) the messagesyou sendand receivedo not look I

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exactlylike the one in the example. o
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q,

L A YOU T ' =
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Belowis a typical email message.
Thepresentationof the text in an email is
usually lessformal than in a [Link] this
i1'.,tLlIt I lr)llll lllIll
exampleMs Kaasenhas usedthe formal
Theheadergivesessentialinformation about DearSir/ Madam,but shecould simplyhave
the [Link] to the basicdetails headedher m essageForthe attention of the
shown in the sampie,it may include: [Link] ending with
Yoursfaithfully,sheusesthe lessformal
c.c.
I lookforwardto hearingJromyou.
This standsfor carboncopies,which means
much the sameas it doeson a letter
[Link] insert the email \,'r r - r t11i ,

addressesof anyoneyou want to sendcopies

This is like the signatureblock in a letter,
of the messageto.
although it usually includesmore details,e.g.
b.c.c. the sender'scompanyor private address,and
This standsfor blind carboncopies,which, as telephoneand fax [Link] program
in a letter,you shoulduseif you do not want your email softwareto add your signature
the main recipientto know who has received automaticaliyto the end of outgoing
copres>seePage14. messages.

I H e a derinf or m at ion

Subject:

', I Messagetext f) D e a rSi r/ M a d a m

Pleasewouldyou sendme detailsof yourquadsoundsystems,advertisedin the

Aprileditionof 'SoundMonthly'?
I am particularly
interestedin the Omegarange.
I look fonvardto hearingfrom you.

r I Si g nat urbloc
e k O BeatrixKaasen(Ms)
Bredgade51
D K 12 6 0
CopenhagenK
Tel/ Fax:(+45)741583
Email:kaasenb@[Link],dk
14
|! ST Y tE [Link] | .[Link] orrr
E
o
! Email is a relatively recent development, and TLAs(three-letteracronyms)
tr
t! becauseit is perceived as a quick and informal In orderto keep email messagesshort,people
5
o means of communication, people are often sometimesuse abbreviationsfor common
x
e unclear about the style and conventions they expressions, just asthey do in text messaging.
should use in businesssituations. Theseare known asTLAs (three-letter
o
As a general rule, although email acronyms),although someof them are more
o
correspondencemay tend towards informality, than three letters [Link] is a list of some
it shouldfollowthe sameprinciples as any of the most commonlyused TLAs:
other form of businesscorrespondence. AFAIK asfaraslknow
Here are somebasictips about style: BFN byefornow
- In general,email messagesfollow the style Brw bytheway
and conventionsusedin letters or [Link] coB closeofbusiness
example,youcanuse salutationssuch as FYr for your information
DearMr Pintoor DearTom,and row inotherwords
complimentary closessuch as Yourssincerely NRN no reply necessary
or Bestwishes. However,if you knowthe oroH ontheotherhand
recipient well, or if you are exchanging a
seriesof messageswith one person,you may UseTLAs with great care,and onlywhen
dispensewith the salutation and you have estabiished a friendly, informal
complimentary close. relationshipwith your [Link]
- Do not confusepersonalmessageswith should not be be usedin letters and faxes.
[Link] businessmessage, Emoticons
the same rules of writing apply as for a Emoticons(a combination of the words
Ietter: write clearly,carefuIly,and emotion andicon),alsoknow as smileys,are
courteously;consideraudience,purpose, often usedin informal email correspondence.
clarity,consistency,conciseness, and tone. They expressemotions which may not be
- Usecorrectgrammar,spelling, evident from the words alone,e.g.:
capitalization, and punctuation, as you
a smile
would in any other form of correspondence. -)
afrown
- Do not write words in capital letters in an -(
;) aw i nk
email [Link] can be seenasthe
equivalent ofshouting andtherefore have a On the whole. it is better not to usethem in
negative [Link] you want to stressa word, businessmessages,asthey may be considered
put asteriskson eachside of 1t,e.g.*urgent*. unprofessional, especially ifyou do not know
- Keepyour email messagesshort and to the the recipient weII or are not sure that he or she
point. Peopleoften receive a Iot of emails at will understandthem.
work, so concisenessis especiallyimportant.
- In general,limit yourself to one topic per
[Link] helps to keepthe message
brief and makesit easierfor the recipient
to answer,f,le, and retrieve it later.
- Checkyour email messagefor mistakes
beforeyou sendit, just as you would check
a letter or a fax message.
 A s k in gf o r a n |D
estimate o
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Hereis an exampleof f
rnd _l 10 x
a n e m a i la s k i n g f o r an G

EsrtMATEto refit a !,
Fib Edil Yiew Lnsert Fgrmat Actions 3
[Link] arethree o.
o
[Link] 3
ro...
-I
I PeterLane that the email is q u ite !,

[Link] is acceptable,
as here,to omit the
salutationand the
Refitof HaltonRoad store complimentaryclose
w h e n t h e s e n d e ra n d
recipienthavebeenin
touch with eachother
lll
previously. xg,
Planof oremises list Architect'sdrawinos 3
Eo
o
r,Vithreferenceto our phoneconversation this morning,I wouldlikeone of your 3
g.
representatives to visitour storeat 443 HaltonRoad,London,SE4 3TN,to givean estimate
for a [Link] contactme to arrangean appointment?

As I mentionedon the phone,it is essentialthatwork is completedbeforethe end of

February20-, and this would be statedin the contract.

I attachthe plansand specifications.

JeanLandmpn(Ms)
Assistantto K. Bellon,ManagingDirector
SuperbuysLtd,SuperbuyHouse
WolvertonRoad,LondonSW167DN
Tel.:020 8327 1651
Fax: 020 8327 1935
[Link]@[Link]

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