Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: pegasus!psrc@att.att.com Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: AT&T Mail and the Internet (one more time) Message-ID: Date: 23 Aug 89 00:27:44 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 55 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 321, message 2 of 8 In an earlier issue of the digest, Gary Crum asks: > What is the relationship between AT&T Mail and the internet? I'm not going to get involved in the discussion of "internet" vs. "Internet" vs. "USENET" vs. "world-wide UUCP network"; I'll just handle the AT&T Mail question. AT&T Mail is a commercial electronic messaging service. Since day one, we've accepted messages from registered systems using UUCP. We also have gateways to X.400, Telex, remote local area networks, and PROFS; XMODEM support for personal computers (and good front-end software for MS-DOS systems and Macintoshes); and delivery to FAX machines, remote printers, paper addresses, and telephones. We charge for message delivery and on-line message creation; receiving and reading messages is free. If you want to send e-mail to someone on AT&T Mail (or through AT&T Mail), you have to find someone to foot the bill. (I can get the current price schedule to the Digest, if there's enough interest.) The easiest way is to register your own system. The second easiest way is to find someone who's already registered, and who's willing to pass your traffic along (and settle the costs with you in some manner). Note that if you're sending lots of international FAX messages, these bills can be steep! If someone already on (or connected to) AT&T Mail wants to send e-mail to someone on the Internet, the situation is a little easier (since the billing's already been taken care of). Any gateway will work, so it should be easier to find someone to pass messages along. In practice, most commercial AT&T Mail users are only interested in exchanging messages with other commercial mail service users (and paper and FAX delivery). People who want to connect with the Internet (especially AT&T employees) usually have logins on UNIX systems that can connect to the rest of the network. If you're trying to reach someone, and the only contact information you have is an AT&T Mail address, let me know; I'll try to get the two of you in touch. (But please don't, as someone already has, tell me, "Such-and-so in on AT&T Mail, and his telephone number is this, how do I reach him?") The AT&T Mail Customer Assistance Center doesn't know what the word "Internet" means, let alone how to reach it, so calling them may not be much help. Yes, two of the other commercial e-mail services have just announced gateways to the Internet which are free (or where someone's picking up the bill). I've told my management about it. To register your system with AT&T Mail, or for other AT&T Mail questions, please call the AT&T Mail Customer Assistance Center, 1-800-MAIL-672 (1-800-624-5672). Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.