GFI MailEssentials: Comprehensive Anti-Spam and Mail Monitoring

As if spam weren't annoying enough, you've probably noticed that you receive an awful lot in other languages, especially in the kanji character set. To account for this, GFI MailEssentials 8 also allows you to block messages by language, ensuring those messages never reach end users.

One of my favorite anti-spam features in GFI MailEssentials 8 is one you might easily overlook, but is one that should not be underestimated. The product is capable of delivering fake Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs) to any addresses associated with your blacklists. But why would you want to do this? The reason is simple &emdash; almost all spam is automated by software, and in order to keep their lists "clean" most spamming software is configured to automatically remove addresses from its list for which it receives an NDR. Sure, it may not be honest or truthful, but then fighting spam is a dirty business!

Disclaimers
While the use of signatures attached to the end of all email messages has long been a key feature implemented in email client software, the ability to add disclaimer messages to all outgoing mail is increasingly becoming a must-have feature based on potential liability issues. For example, consider a situation where an employee forwards inappropriate materials to a client, friend, or associate. In many cases, because the message has been sent using corporate facilities (and bears the organization's name), the company could be held liable if a recipient took legal action. A disclaimer message added to the end of each could be used to make it clear that the employee sending the message is responsible for his or her actions. Conversely, the disclaimer tool could also be used to add corporate contact or promotional information to messages, thus potentially making it a new and effective marketing tool.

Both the standard and freeware versions of GFI MailEssentials 8 include the ability to add disclaimers to all outgoing messages. Advanced features include the ability to add different disclaimers to messages associated with a given user, group, or domain, as well as use variables to insert common information such as a user's name or email address within the disclaimer text.

Auto-Replies
GFI MailEssentials 8 also provides the ability to configure auto-reply responses to messages sent to a specified email address. For example, if your company uses a generic address such as support@company.com to which existing or potential customers forward questions, the auto-reply feature can be used to automatically send them a reply stating that their message was received. Further to this, GFI MailEssentials is also capable of adding a tracking number to these messages for organizational and record-keeping purposes, using variables within the reply message, and even sending out different automated responses based on the subject line of a message. Although not a particularly glamorous feature, the auto-reply capability is definitely a useful way to let your customers know that their message has been received and will be attended to.

Mail Monitoring and Archiving
While monitoring corporate email has always been the source of a great deal of controversy, the ability to monitor messages on a full-time or as-necessary basis has become a virtual necessity in almost all environments. The Mail Monitoring feature of GFI MailEssentials 8 allows you to send a copy of all messages sent to or from a particular user or domain to another configured email address, such as that of another user or a particular designated account like archive@company.com. The uses of this feature range from the basic archiving of email messages for backup purposes to the monitoring of employee communications for security reasons. The Mail Monitoring tool also allows exceptions to be configured for this feature. For example, you might choose to implement Mail Monitoring for all users except senior executives. Because of the potentially sensitive nature of using such a capability, you should obtain the necessary managerial approval before implementing this feature.

In many industries (as well as many countries), policies and laws state that all email messages must be archived. While not very common in the past (except perhaps via backups), this is becoming an increasingly relevant feature for many organizations. GFI MailEssentials 8 provides the ability to archive all messages to a text file, as well as Microsoft Access or SQL Server databases. As an administrator, you have the ability to archive inbound, outbound, or both types of user email messages.