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Business Frequently Asked Questions at NetBox |
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What is NetBox? What does NetBox provide? How does NetBox work? What other NetBox services add to my Internet presence? What is POP3 and how does it work? Do I need a POP account from NetBox? Do you offer Autoresponders and if so, what kinds? Tell me about NetBox's Email to Fax service Tell me about NetBox's Email to US Postal Mail Service How do I deal with anti spam relay protection? What has NetBox done for spam protection? How do I now send mail through NetBox? I am getting the message -relaying denied- How Does NetBox offer credit card processing -ecommerce? Can I have multiple names and accounts? How do you price larger web sites? |
How can I pay by credit card without using the web? Can all mail sent to my domain name be sent to me? Why can't I have the name I want with my domain? How secure is my mail in NetBox? Can I just sign up by email? What sign up methods are available? What payment options do you offer? Do you have a template of domain hosting information? Can I have info@mydomain.com? Can I pay by phone? Do you offer URL redirection and at what cost? What web statistics package do you offer with your web hosting service? Can I get access to the cgi-bin? Do you offer cgi scripting service? I need multiple accounts and business services, how do I signup? |
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What is NetBox? NetBox is a virtual Post Office Box - a permanent, portable, and secure personal address on the Internet. NetBox provides you with an e-mail address independent of how you access the Internet. If you change your Internet provider your NetBox address remains the same. NetBox provides many other services as well, including powerful options for routing, remailing, storing and accessing electronic messages. For example, your NetBox will hold your messages so that you can pick them up or forward them at your convenience. What does NetBox provide? NetBox gives you the security and anonymity of a post office box for your electronic messages: Like a P.O. Box, NetBox protects your identity. Your mail routed through NetBox will appear to the recipient as if it came from within NetBox - separating your e-mail address from your provider.NetBox improves the confidentiality of your personal e-mail: NetBox allows you to separate your e-mail into appropriate categories: personal vs. professional; confidential vs. public.NetBox allows you to put electronic correspondence on hold for days or weeks: Like a regular post office box, NetBox will hold your mail until you request it. You can also easily forward your mail to any address (or addresses) you may use.NetBox gives you e-mail that address won't change, even if you change how you connect to the Internet in the future: NetBox is a provider-independent anchor in the Internet; Mail sent to a NetBox address is routed to any new service or system the user chooses. Changing providers doesn't interrupt electronic correspondence.NetBox provides those already connected to the Internet a safe, private, convenient and permanent address for electronic mail. NetBox is not a full service Internet Access provider. NetBox is not an anonymous base for Internet abuse. All normal "rules of the I-ways" apply to NetBox users. For more information, please read the NetBox Acceptable Use Policy, which is available by sending a message to P_O_Master@NetBox.com with "Send AUP" as the subject or go to the NetBox web page (http://www.NetBox.com/). How does NetBox Work? A NetBox account is an Internet address on a dedicated mail server. Mail addressed to you@netbox.com is routed to one or more addresses according to your instructions. When you write mail, you can send it through you@NetBox.com to ensure all mail gets properly routed to you. Incoming Mail When e-mail arrives at your NetBox, how it is handled is determined by how you configured your NetBox. The options are: REMAILED TO A CONVENIENT ADDRESS - By default, incoming mail will be automatically rerouted to your current home address. Your NetBox can be configured to direct messages to as many as three predefined delivery points. HOLD UNTIL CALLED FOR - When you set your NetBox to save, it will hold your mail until it is picked up. The first 3 MB of storage space is included in the base NetBox services - if more space is used, a small charge will be assessed based on the average use over the billing period [larger capacities available for special projects; contact sales@netbox.com for more information]. PROCESS THE MAIL AT NETBOX - With your NetBox set to the save mode, you have the option of using NetBox' Pine mailer in a telnet session. To take advantage of this option, you need to be able to telnet to NetBox. Outgoing Mail Posting mail through your NetBox allows you to take advantage of NetBox' mail handling features. These messages arrive so that replies are automatically addressed to your NetBox. Sending e-mail through your NetBox requires only the addition of one line per message. Your message is addressed to your NetBox with the recipients' address on the first line of your message. NetBox will extract the delivery information, change the message TO and FROM lines, and deliver it. The message appears to the recipient as originating from your NetBox. When the message is replied to, it is automatically addressed to your NetBox account. What other NetBox services add to my Internet presence? Providing a permanent, secure and portable Internet address is NetBox' primary mission. To enhance the Internet's usefulness to you, NetBox offers a number of related, reasonably priced services: 1> E-mail Autoresponders - Similar to fax-back services, NetBox will provide you with an e-mail address which automatically responds to requests with a message of your choice. [Additional cost] 2> Web Page Hosting/Rerouting - NetBox can supply you space on our web server for your personal messages. If you already have a web site, NetBox can provide a route to that sight which can simplify others finding it. [Rerouting free/Hosting at additional cost] 3> Post Office Protocol (POP) Mailer Capability - For users who have POP compatible mailer programs (such as Eudora), NetBox can provide for optional POP3 server capabilities. [Additional cost] 4> NetBox for Business - NetBox offers a special service for businesses who want an Internet e-mail presence without the risk or trouble of connecting their own server to the network. This service centers around a virtual subdomain within the NetBox domain. For details, see the NetBox for Business web page or e-mail a request to Sales@NetBox.com with NetBox for Business in the subject field. What is POP and how does it work?
POP stands for post office protocol. It is the protocol used by mailers like Eudora, Pegasus, Netscape 2.0 mail, and others. When you use these mailers you enter into the configuration or setting file the following information.
As a node on the net you may use any software that runs on the net. Eudora, Pegasus... the pop mailers are TCP/IP software programs. When you use these programs they attempt to make a connection to the server that you specified [name of server where your mail is] and the server checks if you have permission to get mail [checks your password and login name]. If you have a pop account on the server the software will pick up your mail, move it to your desktop, and delete it from our server. Do I need a POP account from NetBox? No, but it may be useful. If your company or current ISP offers POP service you can use NetBox in its re direction mode and pick up mail on the server at your company or your ISP. If the POP service at your current ISP is poor [slow, many time outs] you may find the POP service at NetBox more convenient. Network traffic, server location, type of connection, load on the server all contribute to pop timeouts. The best way to confirm that our pop server is more convenient is to try it out. Do you offer Autoresponders and if so , what kinds? Absolutely! See Features in Depth. An Autoresponders is an extremely simple and practical marketing tool. It is a way to automatically dispense information, and target specific customers by giving them only the address of the file(s) containing the information likely to be of interest to them. They can request and receive the information rapidly without your intervention. Since all requests are logged, there is the bonus of a prospect list. Tell me about NetBox's Email to Fax service EMail to Fax Service NetBox has combined the convenience of email with a cost effective fax service which can deliver messages worldwide. NetBox owners can now use their email to send fax messages allowing you to communicate with others who are not connected to the Internet. [see Features in Depth for more] Tell me about NetBox's Email to US Postal Mail Service We use the same billing procedure as our email to fax service. That is, users need to buy a 'stamp' and the charges will be deducted from the stamp- just as we do for the fax service. [see Features in Depth for more] How do I deal with anti spam relay protection? There are a number of alternatives.
1. Check your mail, using POP, before sending mail.
2. Change your SMTP server from netbox.com to your local ISP.
3. Set up your POP email program for the following.
4. MS Outlook Users.
5. What if I am still seeing intermittent problems?
What has NetBox done for spam protection?
What has changed, what happened? In case you are not familiar with the term, "spam" is the bombardment of multiple Internet addresses [sometimes into the millions] with unsolicited commercial email [UCE]. While NetBox has always had a strong anti-UCE policy and prohibits abuse by NetBox customers, the NetBox mail servers have been used by "spammers" without legitimate accounts to relay their unsolicited messages. This is essentially theft of NetBox resources affecting customers by delaying their mail while thousands (or tens of thousands) of UCE messages are being processed. It also threatens NetBox mail routing since ISPs may block ALL mail coming from NetBox because of spam relay abuse. To combat this unauthorized use, NetBox has implemented a method to block the use of resources for message relaying by non-users. When a message comes into the mail handling agent it is checked against a list of IP addresses that have been recently used to pick up mail by POP. If the originating IP address is on this list, then the message is processed normally. If the originating IP address is not on this list the sender gets a message requesting a POP retrieve (read mail) access be made. This is to validate that IP address before sending outbound messages. This means the user should check for mail on NetBox before sending outbound messages through the NetBox smtp server. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER THERE IS MAIL WAITING, NOR DOES IT MATTER WHETHER THE MAIL IS PICKED UP OR NOT. The act of checking for messages is enough for the system to capture the IP address of your current host in the verification list. Please note that these changes have no effect upon either telnet users or mail routing using the unique NetBox Real-To: technology and in fact may be completely transparent to the user. NetBox regrets any inconvenience caused by this verification procedure and hope you agree this is a worthwhile step toward reducing electronic mail abuse and maintaining the integrity and quality of NetBox communication services. As always, we thank you for your support. How do I now send mail through NetBox? First check -pick up as you usually do - your mail using your POP3 account. Sending will work fine afterwards. I am getting the message - relaying denied -
Dealing with anti-spam relay protection
1. Check your mail, using POP, before sending mail.
2. Change your SMTP server from netbox.com to your local ISP. This in NO way effects your ability to pickup mail from your NetBox account.
3. Set up your POP email program for the following. You can set all but one of the machines to leave mail on the server. This is a setting in configuration or properties or special depending upon the mailer. Additionally, to minimize download time, on machines that you wish to use only to send mail from you may configure the account to pick up mail only over 1K or less.
4. MS Outlook Users.
5. What if I am still seeing intermittent problems? Here are some possible, intermittent causes. Your timing was a bit unlucky. If it is your first try of this login session/day and you tried to send a message before the system has had a chance to get your IP number recorded in the database. The IP number is first recorded when you successfully COMPLETE a POP transaction. Once the system has your IP number, it can take as long as 30 seconds to get into the database. The database is refreshed with the new IP numbers at 30 second intervals so if you tried to send during that time, you would get the standard error message. Much more unlikely is that you tried when the database is locked - either by other processes or as it is being created. This can happen in theory but the probability is low. How Does NetBox How does NetBox's Credit Card Processing Service Work? A web page is set up on NetBox's secure server. A form is placed on the server and a cgi script takes the output of the form to file on that server. The fields with the credit card information are extracted. -NetBox has a Verisign key which means that Verisign has authenticated, to a certain level, that the owner is who they say they are and their key can be 'trusted' For example we submitted paperwork and spoke to them on the phone and they checked out our business. We did not meet face to face, nor show them our passport or birth certificate [the US post office may take this approach]. -Sitting on this same server are a collection of cgi scripts which are designed to send the credit card information extracted above, to Cybercash. They are sent, encrypted, with the key that has been verified by Verisign. -Once the information gets to Cybercash they decrypt the packets and send them along to the verifying authority, usually your credit card processing company. If they cannot contact the verification agency they send the message back with a sestion to try another time. If the verification agency's computers are online and the card is authenticated, meaning it is good, they then create a record for later batch processing via a web site created on the secure server. Our clients typically go each morning to a private password protected web address, residing on our secure server, and batch process, meaning capture, for those goods or services that are to be billed. Alternatively, accounts can be configured to authenticate and capture the funds immediately. This is the typical process for software or services sales. Capture or later batching of the authenticated records is done directly from the web site. This results in the funds going directly in YOUR merchant account. -you are provided password protected web page for administration. Therefore, in this solution, all the software and service reside on our server. If we are hosting the web site then the form resides on your web site. If we are not hosting your web site then you send your client, via a link, to the pre-determined url. Generally providers of this service charge a set up fee and percentage of the transactions. As we never have access, or even know, your merchant ID, we send periodic bills for the charges. If you chose to do this yourself you would become a Cybercash mall merchant. You can contact them and set up the service on your machine, installing their C level software. If you have an experienced webmaster, some programming knowledge, and a bit of patience, it is doable. Expect to pay fees to Verisign. We got to pay twice as we messed up the keys the first time:-) ox offer credit card processing -ecommerce? Can I have multiple names or accounts? There are two issues here, account/login names and aliases. login/account names are limited to 8 characters and are real accounts with all the functionality of an account. NetBox runs a Unix server. One can login and change your configuration, meaning redirection or forwarding addresses. You can telnet in. Your account gets access to our proprietary Real-To: header replacement technology. Send faxes, UP postal mail, etc. That is, all the benefits and features you see in our faq and service explanation. The price list refers to this real account. Each real account is priced separately. Aliases are extra names that we associate with an account. For example my real account name is 'jwgray' and most of the mail I receive is at jwgray@netbox.com However, if I wanted I could also have an alias Jeff_Gray@netbox.com Then, all mail that arrived at NetBox addressed to Jeff_Gray would be sent to the real account 'jwgray' and forwarded or site there for pick up by POP or whatever. Aliases are not real accounts. One cannot login as an alias. One cannot use our Real-To: technology with it. Aliases are names for receipt of mail. There is no practical limit to the number of aliases you may have. Each alias carries a one time $10 set up fee. There are no ongoing charges after that. How can I pay by credit card without using the web? If you are concerned about using our secure server another excellent and secure method is to send your credit card in two emails. In the first email, part one, you send the first eight (8) digits of the card number. In the second you send the remaining digits, your expiration date, name on card and NetBox account name. Can all mail sent to my domain name be sent to me? Yes, it is called, Domain Addressing or sometimes Open Addressing. The steps involved are: a) we host your domain, say company.com b) we set up one real account for the domain, say sally@company.com c) all mail addressed to *@company.com , where * is any valid left hand side of the at sign address, is internally forwarded to the account 'sally' However the account 'sally' is configured ( redirection, POP3, save/hold etc.) determines what happens to all the mail. d) Only the account 'sally' can be used as a true NetBox account. This means all reconfiguration goes through the 'sally' account. Why can't I have the name I want with my domain? Each account name/address on a server MUST be unique. Email is separated in to an account name [left hand side of the @ sign] and domain name [right hand side]. Think of it like your business address. Part refers to the physical location and part to who is to get the mail. If you have your own domain being hosted by NetBox,or are using NetBox's domain the mail will get to our physical server. That is, when someone writes to @domain.com the dns tables are consulted and the IP address of the physical server is found and the message routed there. If we are hosting the domain then the message will get to our physical server. Once it gets to a server, any server, the account name is looked at. This determines which person gets the message. Each address must be unique otherwise it would not be clear who gets the mail. -This is why 'sales' and 'info', for example, are not available. -This is why we ask that you do online signups of accounts- our software checks if the address is already taken. -This is why we host servers for companies, they want the full address space, including sales and support and info. How secure is my mail in NetBox? Any mail coming across a public network is at risk. However, once it is received at NetBox, we have implemented various security steps to protect your mail. Since NetBox deals primarily with mail service, the access to our server is limited. The NetBox accounts themselves are kept securely in private areas of our server to protect them. By default, all mail is deleted from the server once it has been successfully rerouted. Can I just sign up by email? NetBox Sign-up Sheet - Text Form Please use this file for setting up your NetBox account. Please fill out this form with your favorite text editor. Please enter the requested information between the brackets ("[]") to ensure we get the entry correct. Return the completed form to NetBox by e-mail: join@NetBox.com [If you are uncomfortable about sending credit card information via e-mail, fill out everything but those lines and call us or fax a printed version to us at the numbers below. For a secure sign-up, you can log on by telnet> netbox.com and log in as guest - password is optional.]
Facsimile: 1-650-324-0998
Or call us at
================= NetBox Registration ==================== Family Name:[ ] Given/First Name:[ ] Middle Initial:[ ] Real World Address ================== Street 1:[ ] Street 2:[ ] City:[ ] State/Province:[ ] Postal Code:[ ] Country:[ ] Phone Number - Home:[ ] Phone Number - Office:[ ] Fax Number:[ ] Preferred Contact - Home or Office:[ ] Virtual World Address ===================== In other words, your current e-mail address. You can also list your other e-mail addresses that you might use; What sign up methods are available? Hello from NetBox - Thank you for your interest in NetBox. There are several ways you can sign up for your NetBox: 1> Point your world wide web browser to http://www.netbox.com/ and follow the tags to the signup page. If you take our survey, you will get either a free trial month or additional months if you include payment. Various pages on the NetBox web site explains our services and options available. 2> Telnet to netbox.com and login as guest. Select the signup option from the menu and follow the instructions. Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document and other information is available there as well. 3> Various Autoresponders are available to provide all the information if you don't have web or telnet access:
Info@NetBox.com - Basic FAQ, Signup Sheet and Overview What payment options do you offer?
1. Mail a check or money order to 2. send us your credit card name on card expiration date type, visa or MasterCard number on card issuing bank
you may send this by e-mail (not secure) Indicate approval of one or two years 3. wire transfer, by special arrangement. send an e-mail to jwgray@netbox.com to make arrangements.
Wells Fargo Bank Hamilton Ave. Branch Do you have a template of domain hosting information? http://rs.internic.net --registration site Administrative Contact 4a. NIC Handle (if known)......: TK111 4b. Name (Last, First).........: Killilea, Tom 4c. Organization Name..........: 4d. Street Address.............: NetBox Inc 4d. Street Address.............: 483 Channing Avenue 4e. City.......................: Palo Alto 4f. State......................: CA 4g. Postal Code................: 94301 4h. Country....................: 4i. Phone Number...............: (650) 324-0997 4j. E-Mailbox..................: tkiller@NETBOX.COM Technical Contact 5a. NIC Handle (if known)......: TK111 5b. Name (Last, First).........: Killilea, Tom 5c. Organization Name..........: 5d. Street Address.............: NetBox Inc 5d. Street Address.............: 483 Channing Avenue 5e. City.......................: Palo Alto 5f. State......................: CA 5g. Postal Code................: 94301 5h. Country....................: 5i. Phone Number...............: (650) 324-0997 5j. E-Mailbox..................: tkiller@NETBOX.COM Prime Name Server 7a. Primary Server Hostname....: NS.NETBOX.COM 7b. Primary Server Netaddress..: 208.138.16.1 Secondary Name Server(s) 8a. Secondary Server Hostname..: NS.MEDIACITY.COM 8b. Secondary Server Netaddress: 205.216.172.10 Can I have info@mydomain.com? Sorry, no... On a server each and every account name must be unique. Mail addresses have two parts, the account name and the domain name. For example, jwgray@netbox.com is composed of the account name 'jwgray' and the domain name 'netbox.com' Each domain is hosted on a single server. Therefore, when mail is sent over the internet it first goes to the physical server hosting that domain. Once it gets to the server hosting the domain the mail is then directed to the account on that machine. If we are hosting your domain 'mycompany.com' then mail gets to our physical server to look up the account. Think of the domain as the home or office address and the account name as the person at that home or office. At home it would be confusing if there were two Jeff's living there. On a server it is more than confusing - one cannot set it up. The address 'info' has already been taken as has 'sales' and a few of the most popular ones. Can I pay by phone? Our phone system is a Centrex password protected one, designed so that you may feel comfortable to leave your payment information account name Name on Card [MasterCard or Visa Only]Please say the numbers slowly:-) If you need us to call you for any reason please return this note to either jwgray@netbox.com [billing] or doliver@netbox.com [customer service] Do you offer URL redirection? At what cost? Yes, and the cost is quite reasonable, no charge. If you have an account with us then we will redirect at no charge,
www.netbox.com/login map to:
www.domain.com map to: To set this up, please send an email with the above information to Support@netbox.com What web statistics package do you offer with your web hosting service? Monthly each web site's logs are analyzed and you are provided a URL to read the log analysis.
Here is a sample page and an explanation of the URL provided monthly.
The latest month's statistics are always available at a URL like:
Older log files will be named "log_9801.html" in the log_analysis directory with the date changing to match the month of the statistics it contains. For example, if domain.com had December 1997 statistics they would be found at the URL: Can I get access to the cgi bin? Generally we prefer to install cgi scripts ourselves. As cgi scripts run at a high level on a Unix server errors in design are potentially serious. Just send us the script and we will insert it for you, no charge. If you are an experienced developer and must have access to the cgi-bin we will put your site on a server that has been set up for this purpose. Do you offer cgi scripting service? Yes, we are happy to offer cgi scripting. Send a note to sales@netbox.com to start a dialog. I need multiple accounts and business services, how do I signup? NetBox for Business Sign Up Form Thank you for your interest in NetBox for Business, the independent, secure, and affordable way to build your organizations Internet identity. This form is provided to establish your address space at NetBox and to set up the NetBox(es) within your new domain. If you have any questions, please contact us at Sales@NetBox.com.
Instructions and Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Real World Information ---------------------- Company/Organization: [ ] Contact Person: [ ] Billing Address Street 1: [ ] Street 2: [ ] City: [ ] State/Province: [ ] Country: [ ] Phone Number: [ ] Fax Number: [ ] Information Needed for your NetBox Identity SUBDOMAIN OR DOMAIN NetBox for Business is designed to enhance your organizations identity on the Internet. Your NetBox for Business address is a big part of your identity. This name is called a subdomain and will appear on all your NetBox e-mail like this: you@MyOrganization.NetBox.com Alternatively, full domain registration is available. Here your company and and address will appear as login@company.com Preferred Subdomain Name: [ ].NetBox.com --subdomain form OR
Preferred Domain Name: [ ] ----domain name form E-MAIL ACCOUNTS Please enter the NetBoxes you wish to establish in this subdomain in the table below. The first few lines have been completed to serve as an example. The example assumes the organization name is nuco. NetBox Name: The preferred identity for this account. Please provide two choices in case the first choice has already been taken. NetBox names are limited to 8 characters - numbers or letters may be used. Password: Used to log into the NetBox mail server. Please use 6-12 characters with at least one letter and one number.
Address: Real Name: Name of the individual responsible for this NetBox.
Handle: This is the non-address information which appears in the "From:" field of your e-mail. This entry controls the appearance of the outgoing mail. For example, if one entry was for the Sales department and Jeff is responsible for sale, the handle would be Jeff. E-mail would appear as "From: Jeff
POP3 Service: For each account with POP3 Service add a yes in the column. (POP3, an add on option, enables use of mail programs such as Eudora).
If you wish the account to be initially configured to send all mail to multiple address you may do so by using the format in the example following.
NetBox Registered
Name Password Address Real Name Handle POP3
jwgray
Additional Services Available
Please check off any of these services that you may need. We will contact you regarding the process to set each up. See the NetBox Services and List Price for cost information.
Payment Options and Information
Payment is accepted U.S. currency only. Translation and wire fees are the responsibility of the customer.
Please send the completed form to:
sales@netbox.com |
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©1996-1998 NetBox. All Rights Reserved write us at P_O_Master@NetBox.com |