E-mail is the short form for electronic mail, which is based on the use of computers for the transmission of messages rather than through the postal system. The e-mail system connects a network of personal computers (PC) spread over hundreds of locations within a country or across the globe. A PC is set-up as a message server in the system. The users at other PCs can link up with the server at any time to receive and transmit messages.
Each user of the e-mail system is allotted a code number or address in the e-mail directory. To send a message, a user has to “key-in” the message in his PC along-with the directory numbers allotted to him and the receiver of the message. The sender can indicate if the message is confidential or universal and also set a time limit for its retention. The receiver, on receiving the message at his computer terminal, can get it printed on paper.
The main advantages of e-mail are that it cuts down the delay involved in postal transmission of messages. Moreover, messages can be sent at any time of day or night which are stored and can be retrieved by the recipient at his or her convenience. Besides once the contact between the transmitter and receiver PCs is established e-mail requires only a few minutes time to transmit even a bulky message.