Every member of SAMNet gets a free email account. Your email address is your username at samobile.net. for example, if your username is JoeSmith, then your SAMNet email address will be joesmith@samobile.net . In SAMNet, you may send either a standard text message, or a voicemail message. If you choose to send a voice message, recipients can click on the attachment to hear an audio message you have recorded. Email may be accessed via SAMNet, via your web browser by loggging in with your username and password to www.samobile.net , or used with a third party email program. We'll first cover email features within SAMNet, and then discuss configuring a third party email program such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Mac Mail, or other email programs. If you are reading this in a web browser, press the letter H to quickly navigate forward, and Shift+H to move in reverse to those sections of special interest to you.
If you've not yet done so, launch SAMNet by pressing Control+Alt+N. If you have new unread messages sent to your address at samobile.net, you will hear an audio message saying, "Email.†The first link will say "You have 2 messages," or whatever number of messages are currently pending. Simply press Enter to see a list of messages, and use the up and down arrow keys to browse them. Press the delete key to remove any you never wish to read, or press Enter on a message, and then press Alt+N to begin reading the next message.. If you read a message, then close it without deleting or moving to the next one, that message will remain in your inbox. If you take no action on one or more messages, the next time you start SAMNet, the number of messages in your inbox will be announced again, to insure that some action is ultimately taken on them.
From SAMNet Home, choose Email, and choose from one of the following options: Read New Email, Send a Message, read Saved Mail, Sent Items, Go to Trash Folder, Email Technical Support, Manage Addressbook, Create Folder, Edit Default Signature, Third Party Accounts, and finally for advanced users, Set POP3/IMAP Password.
Choosing Read New Email will display any messages on which you haven’t taken action. Press Enter to begin reading the message. Press Tab to jump to any web links in the message, and press Enter on any link to go to that Web page. After the email message, you will find two checkboxes: the first says "Quote Original Message in Reply.†Check this box with the spacebar if you intend to reply, and want to include the text of the original message. The second checkbox says: “Add the sender to the addressbook when I reply.†Check this box with the spacebar to add the email address to your address book, which is very useful if you believe you will be emailing this person at any time in the future.
Next are seven buttons. The first is the Reply button, discussed in great detail below. Second is Reply to All, which will send your message to all email addresses in the To and CC fields. Third is the Forward button, which leaves the To and CC fields blank for you to enter one or more addresses to which you want to pass along this message. Next is the Delete button, which deletes the current message. A copy is placed in your trash folder for seven days, giving you one week to change your mind. After that, the message is deleted permanently and cannot be recovered. Next is the Add to Sync List button. This will copy voice messages and create audio files of text messages for transfer to one of many supported digital players for reading on the go. For a list of devices that support this feature, and how to transfer SAMNet content to one of these supported devices, please read the section titled “Digital Talking Book Players: Listen Where You Want.†Finally, the last item is the Report Spam button, which should be used when the message contains questionable or illegal subject matter, or you do not recognize the email address of the sender. After this button, you will find the Next button. Pressing this begins reading the next message, which can also be done by pressing the keyboard shortcut Alt+N. Next is a drop-down list of available folders. Next to this is a "move" button. If you want to keep this message for future reference, first choose the folder where you want it to be stored by opening the drop-down list with Alt+Down Arrow, then tab to the Move to Folder button and press Enter or Spacebar to relocate the message. Next is the Create Folder button. Choose this to add folders to help you sort your messages in a structure that is meaningful to you. Finally, you will see a list of the default folders: New Mail, Saved Mail, Sent Items, Junk, and Trash, in addition to any new folders you have created.
The Reply button, like all buttons, is activated with the Spacebar or Enter key. You are then presented with the option to Send a Text Message, Send a Voice Message, Cancel, or Return to Main Menu.
After choosing to send a text message, you may add multiple addresses in the To field by separating each with a comma and a space. For example, to email your buddies Joe smith, Pete Moss, and Rob Zombie, you would write something like the following, but without the quotes: “joesmith@MyInternet.com, PMoss@ZMail.edu, zombie.rob@anywhere.org†Tab once to the CC field where you can enter the address or addresses of others you wish to receive this message. Tab again to the BCC field. BCC stands for blind carbon copy. Email addresses inserted here will get the message, but those people in the To and CC fields will not see addresses in the BCC field, and therefore will not know these people are also seeing this message. You may enter a total of thirteen recipients in the To, CC, and BCC fields combine. This is to ensure that your account is not a target of spammers.
Just after the To, CC, and BCC fields is the edit box to enter your subject. Give some consideration to what you put here, as it will determine the importance your recipients will give to your message. Tab again to land in the edit box labeled "Body†which is where you type your message. Once you have entered your text, press Tab to find a few options related to sending your message. First is a checkbox to include your signature in the email message you have just written. A signature is text you can optionally add to the end of any message you choose. It can be as simple as your name, or it can contain complete personal or business contact information. After the Include Signature checkbox are three buttons. The first is to check your spelling, and is also invoked by pressing F7. For help with using SAMNet's spellchecker, see Section 21: Spellchecking Text. The next button allows you to attach a file to your message. More on attaching files is discussed a bit later in this section. The final button is the Send button. Once pressed, your message has been sent, and there is no going back. Note: emails may go through many computers before reaching their targets; therefore, it is important to never send any personal information you don't want falling in to the wrong hands. This includes, but is not limited to credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, banking info, and similar information. Finally, a link is provided to return you to the email menu.
In addition to sending text messages, SAMNet provides a way for you to send voice messages as well. If you find typing difficult or painful due to a physical impairment with your hands, this may be a more workable solution. Some SAMNet members also like to exchange the occasional voice message, much as some might exchange a picture, as a way to get to know someone a bit better. Because voice messages take a bit longer to download, and often take more time to play, please give some thought to what you want to say before recording. Voice emails may be up to five minutes in length.
To compose a voice message, start by filling in the standard To, CC, BCC, and Subject fields. The edit box labeled “Body†that is present when sending a text email is replaced with buttons to Record, Stop, and Play the message. Press the spacebar on the Record button, and say what's on your mind. You will hear an audio beep to let you know the computer is recording. When finished, Tab once to the Stop button and press the spacebar. Tab once more to the Play button to hear what you have recorded. If you like how the message sounds, Tab one final time to the Send button. When making a long recording, you will get an audio prompt alerting you that you are nearly out of time. If you have made a recording and realize you forgot to mention something, you can add to the file by pressing Alt+R or pressing the spacebar on the record button. You will be prompted if you wish to add to the recording. If you choose the option labeled “Noâ€, your original recording will be overwritten and a new recording will be made. If you play back the recording and you hear no audio, make sure your microphone is connected, turned on, and selected by Windows as the default recording device. If you need help with this, please read Section 17: Chatting.
After choosing the Attach a File button, a dialog will appear asking you for the location of the file. You can type in its exact location, i.e., c:softwareGoodStuff.zip . If you are not sure of the exact location, Tab to the Browse button to navigate your computer to find it. You may have to press Shift+Tab to get to the list of files and folders on your computer. Press Right Arrow to open a folder, and Space to select the file you wish to attach. When you have chosen your file, tab to the Open button, and press Enter. Finally, tab to the Attach button, press Enter once more, and your file is ready to be sent along with your email message. Note: most Internet service providers place limits on the size and types of files that may be sent as attachments. You can almost never send files larger than five megabytes. You also can not send files with certain file extensions such as .exe.
Just after Read New Mail, or the first option if there is no new mail to be read, is Send a Message. Selecting this option presents you with the choices of either sending a text or voice message, as described above. This leaves us with only two other important items to mention. Your cursor is placed on the To field to enter one or more addresses. If you press Shift+Tab, you will land on a button labeled Add Recipients From Addressbook. Activating with the spacebar offers you a list of names you have entered in to your address book. Use the up and down arrows to choose the one you want. Then Tab once to choose from the list of fields: To, CC, or BCC. Tab again to the Add button. Once all addresses have been entered, Tab to the Return to Message button, and press Space to activate it. From the Add Recipients From Addressbook button, press Shift+Tab to get to a drop-down list of accounts. By default, there is only one account, namely System Access Mobile Network.
In addition to SAMNet email, you can add third party accounts from external email sources to combine all of your email in one location. Send, receive and read all email via SAMNet's easy-to-use interface.
When choosing this option, you are presented with a list of email accounts you have configured. You can choose the Check Now button to retrieve any new email. Choose the Edit button to modify any existing accounts. Choose the Delete button to remove any accounts. Finally, there is a link labeled "Add a New Account.†Before adding or editing an email account, please close all other programs you use to send and receive email. Once you are sure that you are receiving your email from within SAMNet, you can re-enable any email programs you were using. When choosing either Add or Edit, you will encounter several fields, some of which must be completed in order for the account to work properly. They are listed below:
Account Label: the name used to describe the account in your list such as “Joe Smith Work.â€
POP3 Server Name: name of your email server such as mail.mydomain.com.
UserName: usually your full email address; sometimes just the part before the at sign.
Password: the password associated with the email address you are adding, not your SAMNet PIN.
Automatically Check This Account Every Fifteen Minutes: uncheck the box if you do not want this.
Keep Messages on the Original Server: check the box if you are also accessing your mail with other email programs.
Fetch All Messages Including Any I've Already Read: check this box to retrieve all messages. Keep in mind that this number could be quite large, depending on several factors. Note: You can choose either Keep Messages on the Server or Fetch All Messages, but not both. You will need to choose one option or the other.
Name for “From†Header: enter the name you want displayed; usually your first and last name.
Email Address: your complete email address.
Signature: edit box for your signature. Add button: press Spacebar or Enter to add the account.
Choose this option to see all messages you have received and not deleted. You will see a list of messages displayed in chronological order, with the oldest message at the top of the list. To see your most recent messages, press the End key. To return to the top of the list, press the Home key. Press Enter to read any message of interest, or the Delete key to discard the message. Press the Tab key for other options including the ability to read, forward, delete, add to sync list, move to another folder, create a new folder, or open another folder.
Choose this option to read all messages you have sent via SAMNet. You'll see folders for the current month and each year to help you more quickly find what you are looking for. Once you have chosen a folder, you can tab through options to read, forward, delete, move create and open folders, or add to your sync list. As is the case elsewhere in SAMNet, use the Backspace key to go back or move up one level, or press Escape to exit email altogether.
Choose this option to view messages that have been deleted within the last seven days. You can not delete messages from the trash folder, nor can you restore messages once seven days has elapsed. After one week, these messages are gone for good. This section provides all the same options as other folders, with the exception that the delete button is replaced with a recover button to return a message to its original location.
This works the same as Send a Message. The difference is that the To field is pre-populated with the email address of support@serotek.com to assist you with receiving technical support, to report a bug, to ask questions on how to use Serotek products, software and services, and to resolve billing issues.