SpreadMsg E-Mail Filtering and Forwarding Agent is included in the free "Lite", the registered /EM, and the registered Professional versions of SpreadMsg Wireless Messaging software. Below, you will find information on all of its features, and how to configure and use it.
The SpreadMsg e-mail agent will, at user-specified time intervals, automatically connect with the ISP or network server where your mail is stored. Both POP3 servers found at ISP's, and IMAP network servers, such as Exchange Server, are supported as email sources. The EMail Agent will login, then scan and analyze each new waiting message according to your specifications. If your rules are met, messages are created and delivered to the wireless or wired destination you specify, such as text (alpha) pager, digital cellphone, laptop, PDA, another email forwarding address, etc.. All this is done without disturbing your email, so it remains available for use with your regular email client software! And, you can launch other applications, scripts, or batchfiles as a result of rules being met. Autoresponder features allow the contents of pre-defined files to be used as response messages.
Any time you are away from your PC, the SpreadMsg e-mail agent can be watching for your important email, using filters, rules, and conditions that you specify. If mail that meets your criteria is found, SpreadMsg will notify you, or send you customized parts of your email via wireless or other delivery. For example,
* If you are waiting for an important response from a business associate, SpreadMsg e-mail agent can alert you to its arrival, and even send you the message itself.
* If you want to monitor weather conditions in any area, SpreadMsg e-mail agent can alert you, and you can control its sensitivity with keywords, like "warning", or "flash flood", or "tornado", etc.
* If you want to know if _any_ message arrives from "john doe", or if the text body of any message contains "stock alert", SpreadMsg e-mail agent can do it!
* If you are bidding in an online auction, SpreadMsg e-mail agent can alert you if you have been outbid - and even tell you at what price!
* If you want to know if you receive any message that has any of the words "order", "purchase", or "request for quote" in the message, SpreadMsg e-mail agent will let you know, and/or forward to you specific parts from your waiting e-mail!
* If you get investment alerts, or any other update via a specialized e-mail service, SpreadMsg e-mail agent can transform them into wireless messages and deliver them to you!
...these are just a few of the many powerful uses for the SpreadMsg e-mail agent!
In the free, "Lite" version of SpreadMsg, the E-Mail Agent has full features, but is restricted to a single rule template. (SpreadMsg software is initially supplied as a free "Lite" version. The Lite version does not "expire". Two moderately-priced registered versions of SpreadMsg software are available as upgrades, and they have many more powerful capabilities. Please see the Version Section for a complete description of the various features in each version).
To Register or Upgrade, jump to Secure Online Ordering & Catalog
Setup of E-Mail Server Info
The SpreadMsg E-Mail Agent needs to know where to look for your email. You will need to provide the name of your POP3 internet email server, and your username, password, and your complete address on that system. Your ISP (internet service provider) can give you this info if you do not know it. A separate entry tab is provided to enter your IMAP network server settings.
You can test your entries by clicking the "Test E-Mail Server Login" for both POP3 and IMAP servers, found under the Online Menu item. SpreadMsg E-Mail Agent will login to your server, per your entered information, and display its activity progress, and number of messages currently waiting, at the bottom of the screen window.
Rules for E-Mail Scanning and Filtering
At a periodic interval which you specify, the SpreadMsg E-Mail Agent will connect to your email server, so that it can scan the waiting emails per your instructions. It will go through all the new waiting emails, evaluating each one. Important: Rules, as detailed below, must be saved to a Template, and that Template made "active" in order for those rules to be used for email scanning. Templates are covered later in this section.
Content to Detect in Message Fields
For POP3 scanning rules, you may specify textual content to look for in either the "From" address field, the "Subject" field, or the "Body" text of the e-mail. If you define more than one of the three fields, the rules will be applied with "and" logic - that is both or all three must be satisfied for the entire rule to be met. If, instead of looking through your messages for a specific content to be "present", you may also chose to scan for the "absence" of content by preceeding the desired content with the "!" character (without the quotes).
For IMAP scanning rules, the user is able to define a custom Search Criteria definition, which is then acted upon all new waiting messages.
If Content Rules Are Met, Then...
This is where you tell the SpreadMsg E-Mail Agent what actions to if your rules have been met for a particular message (this is still part of the Template). The "Create A Message Using" section is where you define the content of your outbound message. The choices are:
From/Subj - This sends a brief message advising you that you have received an email message from xxxxx, regarding subject yyyyy, where the from and subject info are filled in from the original message.
First 80 characters - This creates and delivers a message consisting of the first 80 characters of the body text of the original message. This is quite useful for quick notifications, or where message delivery size is restricted on the device you are using to receive the notifications.
Body Text - Here you can specify that all or part of the body text of the scanned message, (that particular message which met your rules), will be used for your outgoing message. If you want to use "part", save the Template first, then Edit it (editing choice is found under the Templates menu item). The powerful SpreadMsg Parser (see image below) will let you extract specific text areas for your use. This resulting textual block will then be delivered to the destination you specify.
File Contents - This uses the contents of a disk file as the body for your outgoing message. So, you can have pre-defined responses that get applied to sertain incoming emails - "autoresponder" type features.
And Deliver It To
Other Actions
Templates
Once a set of rules are defined (as described above, consisting of content scanning, choosing outbound message content, and action to take if template rules are met, such as message delivery) they may be saved as a "template" for future use. Templates may be made active or inactive at any time, either directly at the PC, or via remote email command. Up to 50 templates, depending on SpreadMsg version, may be defined and be activated at the same time, permitting an enormous amount of flexibility for email scanning and filtering.
Once saved under a template name, those rules will remain available until changed. All active templates are used during every session when the SpreadMsg E-Mail Agent checks your e-mail. So, you may choose any or all of your templates to be "active" and working for you as the Agent scans your email.
Online Operations
Once you have rule templates defined and saved, you may begin online operation of your E-Mail Agent. If you have not already done so, as described above, test your e-mail server entry information to be sure you get a successful login.
Select the interval you want the Agent to check your email by entering a value, in minutes, into the "Check For E-Mail Every ... minutes" window.
Then, click the START button.
The Agent is Running! Click STOP to halt its operations. You may use the OK button to hide the SpreadMsg E-Mail Agent window, or to return to the Main Screen of the SpreadMsg application.