Email – Method of Exchanging Digital Messages

Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages across the Internet or other computer networks. Originally, email was transmitted directly from one user to another computer. This required both computers to be online at the same time. Today's email systems are based on a store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver and store messages.  An email message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the email's content. The message header contains control information, including originator's email address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field.

The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk. Some electronic-mail systems are confined to a single computer system or network, but others have gateways to other computer systems, enabling users to send electronic mail anywhere in the world. Companies that are fully computerized make extensive use of e-mail because it is fast, flexible, and reliable.

Email is sent to the message to the recipient by specifying the recipient's address. You can also send the same message to several users at once. This is called broadcasting.  Sent messages are stored in electronic mailboxes until the recipient downloads them. To see if you have any mail, you may have to check your electronic mailbox periodically, although many systems alert you when mail is received. After reading your mail, you can store it in a text file, forward it to others or delete it. Copies of memos can be printed out on a printer if you want a paper or hard copy.  Usually, it takes only a few seconds or minutes for mail to arrive at its destination. This is a particularly effective way to communicate with a group because you can broadcast a message to everyone in the group at once.