- Do my POP mailboxes include any protection against spam and viruses?
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Our email servers employ and maintain sophisticated anti-spam and anti-virus technologies that help to reject known unsolicited bulk email ('spam') and messages that may contain viruses or other potentially malicious content ('malware'). These filters are also configured to reject certain attachments, such as .exe, .bat, .pif and .cmd files, so that such potentially harmful content not yet handled by anti-virus updates are prevented from reaching your inbox or infecting your computer. Legitimate attachments of these types should be compressed before sending to avoid rejection by these filters.
You are not required to purchase any additional software or make any configuration changes to your email program in order to utilise these filters. They are completely transparent and begin operating automatically upon creation of your mailboxes in Mission Control.
However, due to the constantly changing nature of spam, malware and viruses, these filters cannot provide complete protection and may reject some email which is legitimate. Should you require more fine-grained protection against spam and viruses for your mailboxes, you can easily enable either our SpamTrap or SpamDefend service, or upgrade your POP mailboxes to our premium email service, Managed Exchange, through your Mission Control panel.
- What is an email alias?
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Email aliases allow you to give your mailbox additional names which can receive email. Each WebCentral mailbox allows you to configure one main name and up to four aliases or extra names that deliver email to the same mailbox.
For example, one mailbox might have the main name john@acme.com.au, and the following aliases: john.smith@acme.com.au, marketing@acme.com.au, marketing.manager@acme.com.au and marketing.department@acme.com.au, so that any email sent to any of these addresses will automatically be delivered to the main name mailbox. This feature allows you to create multiple email addresses for the same organisational function, and to quickly change or add email addresses as your staff and functions grow.
- What is an auto-forwarder?
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The auto-forwarder feature allows you to forward all email which arrives in your various mailboxes to a local service provider. This allows you to collect all email sent to your organisation from the one location, even when the mail is sent under a number of different email addresses. If you change ISPs in the future, you simply change the auto-forwarder to your new ISP.
- What is an auto-responder?
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An auto-responder will detect all incoming email it is linked to and will generate an automatic email response to the sender. Many companies set up auto-responders to offer information about their products and services when people click links on their web sites. Another good example of the use of auto-responders is for individuals (eg. if John Smith from Acme goes on holidays, he can set an auto-response to all incoming email notifying the sender that he is on holidays and when he expects to return).
- Why is it important to have my own domain name for my email?
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One of the main advantages of registering a domain name and signing up for an email service with WebCentral (such as a BusinessMail 30 or Managed Exchange premium email account), is that your email addresses will always be independent of your local internet service provider (ISP). Organisations without their own domain name will find it difficult to change ISPs without also changing email addresses.
For example, Mick’s Mowing may have an email account with his local ISP, Example ISP, meaning that his email address would be mick@exampleISP.com.au. However, after moving suburbs, Mick has discovered that Example ISP does not service his new area, and so he needs to change ISPs. Not only does this mean that he will need to change his email address, but he will also need to reprint all his stationery, business cards and signage to reflect his new email address as well, which can end up being a very costly exercise!
The other benefit of using your own domain name for your email is the professionalism it projects. Plus, why promote another company in your email address, when you could be promoting your own?
- What is a mailing list?
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A mailing list allows you to send email to people who subscribe to your mailing list. It does not provide you with lists of names or email addresses - The main purpose of a mailing list is to give you the ability to efficiently send a ‘plain text’ email message to a large number of recipients with minimal delay. One WebCentral mailing list allows you to send an email to up to 1,000 recipients from a single email address. Essentially, a mailing list is a very basic form of mass email marketing.
If you are looking for a more comprehensive email marketing tool that allows you to create graphic-rich ‘HTML’ emails and provides all the functionality to comply with anti-spam legislation, you may like to consider using our Promotions Manager service.
- What is WebMail?
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WebMail is web-based email, which means that you can read your email via any web browser through your DeskControl interface. With WebMail, you do not have the worry of configuring email programs on your staff PCs. Once they login to DeskControl with their mailbox username and password, any new email that has not yet been downloaded from the mail server will be accessible.
For more feature-rich web-based email, you may like to enable our Managed Exchange service, which allows you to access ALL of your email, as well as your Contacts and Calendar from any computer connected to the internet, and also includes a variety of other benefits. Click here to learn more about Managed Exchange.
- What is Mission Control?
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Mission Control is your online, self-service control panel that WebCentral provides free of charge as part of your web hosting account with us. It allows you to more efficiently manage your web site and email services, as well as your account administration, with us and to do so at your convenience. You can access your Mission Control panel by going to https://mc-au.server-secure.com and entering your Username (VS Number) and password.
- What can I do using Mission Control?
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Some of the main things you will need to use Mission Control to perform include:
- Upload your web site files to our web servers;
- Create your mailboxes (ie. staff email addresses), and set auto-responders and auto-forwarders on these mailboxes;
- Request technical assistance using our Job Logging System; and
- Check the statistics of your web site.
Mission Control also gives you a quick and easy way of:
- Changing your contact details;
- Upgrading to a higher hosting plan;
- Searching our Online Help Tool to find useful technical articles and FAQs;
- Enabling technical components on your web site, including setting security tokens for restricting access;
- Adding additional products and services to your account;
- And much, much more!
Click here to download a copy of our 'Take Control' brochure that provides detailed information on the types of tasks you can perform using your Mission Control panel.
- Do you provide Technical Support for free?
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Yes, technical support is available free of charge to all WebCentral customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. You can request support from one of our technicians in a number of ways:
- By logging a job in your Mission Control panel via the “Add Job” link; or
- By phoning our Technical Support Team on 1800 800 099 (ext. 1) and providing your username (VS Number) and password, as well as stating your name (as the main contact on the account).
Please also note the following:
- Technical support for our DSL Broadband services is only available Monday to Friday, between 6:00am and 9:00pm;
- Data Recovery from Back-Up Tape is an additional service that falls outside our free technical support. Please contact our Technical Support Team on 1800 800 099 (ext. 1) for more information on the charges associated with this service.
- How can I pay for my WebCentral services?
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WebCentral's preferred method of payment is to auto-debit from a credit card each month or year (depending on which payment plan you choose). If you wish to receive an invoice via the post, we can issue one for you, however doing this will attract a $3.50 administration fee for each invoice you receive. If you do wish to receive a mailed invoice, there are then several ways you can attend to payment of that account, including: BPAY, credit card (either over the phone or via our web site), cheque or cash. EFT is not available.
- How can I change my contact details with WebCentral?
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All your account details (except your company name) can be updated in your Mission Control panel via the 'Edit Your Details', then 'Your Address Details' links. Alternatively, call our Accounts Team on 1800 800 099 (ext. 3) and quote your username (VS Number) and password to change these details over the phone or to find out how to change your company name.