1. What information about a user’s email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?
The information ascertainable from an email is varied. A recent email I received was from www.mytickets.com.au and from this I can see it was sent from newsletters@email.mytickets.com.au on Tuesday 28th April 2009 @ 11:58am with a subject of May madness – entertainment, comps, budget guides and free stuff! From the properties section I also learned the message type was (HTML), 43KB in size and that neither a read or delivery receipt was requested.
Return-Path: <781_Bounces+305003363_781@email.mytickets.com.au>
Delivered-To: dan.white@iinet.net.au
Received: (qmail 15535 invoked from network); 28 Apr 2009 01:55:08 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO icp-qv1-irony-in1.iinet.net.au) ([203.59.1.189])
(envelope-sender <781_Bounces+305003363_781@email.mytickets.com.au>)
by mail.iinet.net.au (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP
for <dan.white@iinet.net.au>; 28 Apr 2009 01:55:08 -0000
X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Filtered: true
X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Result: AuQMAA//9UnSwaE/gWdsb2JhbACCOxMFiw8Bh2SBHwEBFiK2FINzBYVe
X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i=”4.40,257,1238947200″;
d=”scan’208,217″;a=”162939775″
Received: from mail.email.mytickets.com.au ([210.193.161.63])
by inbound.icp-qv1-irony-in1.iinet.net.au with ESMTP; 28 Apr 2009 09:55:08 +0800
Received: by mail.email.mytickets.com.au (PowerMTA(TM) v3.5r6) id huph3k0jerg6 for <dan.white@iinet.net.au>; Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:56:09 +1000 (envelope-from <781_Bounces+305003363_781@email.mytickets.com.au>)
x-sender: 781_Bounces+305003363_781@email.mytickets.com.au
x-receiver: dan.white@iinet.net.au
From: “MyTickets” <newsletters@email.mytickets.com.au>
To: dan.white@iinet.net.au
Message-ID: <94bed65318604120b043c143341698c1@email.mytickets.com.au>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:58:21 +1000
Subject: =?utf-8?B?TWF5IG1hZG5lc3Mg4oCTIGVudGVydGFpbm1lbnQsIGNvbXBzLCBidWRnZXQgZ3VpZGU=?=
=?utf-8?B?cyBhbmQgZnJlZSBzdHVmZiE=?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the ‘cc’, ‘bcc’ and ‘reply all functions of email?
As an Executive Assistant, the majority of my work is derived from email. I use ‘cc’, ‘bcc’ and ‘reply all’ functions on a very frequent basis. When collaborating with other staff, especially senior management it is important I ‘cc’ all relevant parties, particularly when on behalf of my director. This ensures the appropriate staff are across issues or projects within the division. As with many Government departments, there is a form for just about everything and when sending completed forms to the shared service agency, I regularly ‘cc’ various staff in. This ensures the staff member I am sending the form on behalf of is aware it has been sent, their manager and the divisions’ HR consultant, should the need arise (more often than one would like to think) to provide proof of the time and date it was sent. Read receipt and delivery receipt are also fantastic functions of email programs
3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?
Good communication is an underpinning concept of ensuring your recipient can easily open any attachments you may wish to send. From a security perspective, I don’t open email attachments from anyone unless I know them and even more so open them unless I am expecting something. As an EA I send a lot of attachments, from pdf’s to visio charts, as most of this is sent internal, I don’t necessarily have to contact the staff member to see if they are able to open the attachment because I am well aware of the standard programs available i.e. Microsoft Office 2003 and Adobe 9. However, If on the off chance I need to send attachments outside of the organisation I either make contact with the party and confirm they will be able to open the doc or send in a .rtf format. By communicating with the other officer, I acknowledge the fact that ‘one size does not fit all’.
4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?
I have three (3) email accounts in total; gmail, curtin uni and iinet. All three have auto-forward rules in place to my desktop based email program; Microsoft Outlook. To manage all my email accounts I use a number of rules, all are vary similar in nature. I have rules set-up for facebook emails, BB emails, Ticketek and Qantas, they are all sent directly to the appropriate folder, where I can read at my leisure (lately, BB and facebook take precedence!!). As for filters, I haven’t found a need for their use. By using the automation feature it saves me time because all my emails come to the one place. It is a mini, personal, one-stop shop.
5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?
Ahuh! Now I cannot stand tardiness, everything has its place, including my emails. There is nothing worse than ‘electronic filing’ all over the place. I use Microsoft Outlook at home and Lotus Notes at work, both have a folder structure which is made up of categories and subcategories, very similar to the way I book mark my favourite/useful websites!! My home email account looks like this (see below). My folder structure is set-up this way because it suits me and how I operate my email account whereby I store similar emails on similar subjects, such as emails from my private health insurance and chiropractor in health.
