Electronic Mail (E-mail)

TOPIC: Electronic Mail (Email)

CLASS: SSS Two

Definition of Electronic Mail

i. Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients.
ii. It can also be defined as a system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network.

E-mail Services

The following are services provided by email
a. Sending/receiving emails
b. Chatting: The exchange of messages online in real-time with one or more simultaneous users of a computer network
c. Task List: Task is a feature designed to help you keep track of the things you need to do.
d. Share updates, photos, videos and links.

Steps to Create an Email Account

Follow the steps below to create an email account
i. Click On a web browser
ii. Visit an email service provider web address e.g. www.gmail.com
iii. Click on the Free Sign Up Button
iv. Enter all mandatory fields (First Name, Last Name, Gender, etc.)
v. Click the "Accept" - Button underneath

Email Address

An email address is the name of an electronic postbox that can receive and send email messages on a network.

Components of an Email Address

1. User Name: The user name is found on the left-most part of an email address, before the "@" symbol.
2. The "@" symbol: (read as "at") is placed between the user name and domain name, without spaces or
3. Domain Name: An email address domain is found to the right of the "@" symbol.
Domain Name consists of the second and top-level domains, separated by a dot
a. Second Level Domain: the second-level domain is the name of the business, organization or Internet service provider that owns that domain.
b. Top Level Domain: Top level domain is what appears right-most in an email address, after the second-level domain.
Some top-level domains are generic such as .com, .net and.gov, and are referred to as gTLD or generic top-level domains. Others are country-specific such as .gov.mt (Malta), and termed ccTLD or country-code top-level domains.

Email Address Samples

Procedure for sending an Email

i. Log in to your email account
ii. Click Compose.
iii. A new blank email window will open up. In the ‘To’ box, type in the email address of the recipient.
iv. You might want to include someone else in your email to ‘keep them in the loop’. You can do this by clicking CC (Carbon Copy) or BCC (Blind Carbon Copy), which will open another field. ‘Cc’ means ‘carbon copy’ and ‘Bcc’ means ‘blind carbon copy
v. Type in the subject of the email. The subject field allows you to give the recipient an idea of the topic of your email, like a heading.
vi. Type your message in the main body field of your email.
vii. Email text can be formatted in a similar way to text in a word document.
viii. Click the Send button at the bottom of the compose window.

Relationship between “TO”, “CC” and “BCC” in Email

TO	CC (Carbon Copy)	BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)
Sents to primary contact(s)	Sents to Secondary contact(s)	Tertiary contact(s)
Used for emailing individual or multiple contacts	Used for emailing individual or multiple contacts	Used for emailing individual or multiple contacts
Email addresses viewable by all	Email addresses viewable by all	Email addresses viewable only by the sender

Steps Involved in chatting

i. Click on Contacts
ii. Select the name of the person you'd like to chat with, and click the Chat link to open a chat window.
iii. Enter your message in the text field, and press Enter.
iv. Wait for your contact to respond!

Differences between Email Address and Website Address

Email Address	Website Address
It has username and domain name	It has only domain name
It usually requires login credentials to be accessed	It does not usually require authentication
Designed to be accessed by one user	It can be accessed by all users
They are case sensitive	They are not case sensitive
It has the @ (at) sign	It does not have the @ (at) sign

Advantages of Email

i. It is very fast.
ii. It is secure
iii. Formatted files can be shared through attachment
iv. lower cost than conventional mail