MCI Mail

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MCI Mail was a commercial e-mail service from MCI Communications (later MCI WorldCom ) and is considered the first commercial e-mail service in the United States . It was operated from 1983 to 2003. The users typically connected to the service via a modem over a telephone line and could send messages to other MCI Mail users as well as to Telexes or normal postal addresses. The system was developed under the direction of Vinton G. Cerf .

history

The e-mail service was introduced and launched on September 23, 1983 in Washington, DC at a press conference by MCI Founder and Chairman William G. McGowan.

The service

Access to the original MCI mail service was established by connecting a modem to a normal telephone line. The users were able to send text messages to other users, who also received these as e-mail or telex or were printed out and sent by post.

Messages sent to postal addresses were printed out with laser printers on an MCI Mail print site , placed in an envelope, and sent via the United States Postal Service . This cost between one and two dollars per page. This offering was very successful as few affordable letter-quality laser printers were available to consumers at the time. Most customers could only afford low quality dot matrix printers , which were insufficient for business correspondence . It also saved the trip to the post office.

The offer allowed users to choose between overnight and 4-hour delivery options. The 4-hour service was particularly in demand, as nobody else offered the opportunity to print a document and deliver it within this time frame. There were a number of printing stations in the US. The most popular were in New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. There was also an opportunity to print in Hawaii. An attempt was even made to expand internationally with a station in Brussels .

The letter delivery service was later discontinued because of the high operating costs, the increasing spread of home printers with letter quality and the use of e-mail.

The range of services has meanwhile been expanded so that users could send e-mails to other users in other e-mail networks and to fax machines . Various programs have been developed to simplify the handling of e-mail, e.g. B. Lotus Express , Norton Commander's MCI Mail and MailRoom from Sierra Solutions.

MCI Mail also offered gateways for sending faxes, called Fax Dispatch (outgoing only), Telex, called Telex Dispatch (incoming and outgoing) and X.400 connection (enables MCI-Mail users to exchange e-mails securely with over 23 other mail services around the world). An internet gateway may also have been provided. MCI-Mail users were given an Internet address from either their MCI-Mail-ID, their username or their real name (e.g. 218-0241@mcimail.com, bsmith@mcimail.com or Bob_Smith@mcimail.com) assigned.

In addition, MCI Mail supported gateways to local area networks through its REMS addressing (Remote Electronic Mail System) . REMS addressing had the form {display name} | REMS: {rems name} / {network mapping on the email server}, e.g. B. Bob Smith | REMS: XYZCompany / ntserver / email / bsmith.

MCI Mail also supports read receipts, charge codes and cost accounting for email.

MCI Mail was typically accessed using a dial-up modem, either by calling a nationwide extension number, a toll-free number, or overseas numbers from PTT (Postal Telephone / Telegraph) companies around the world.

The service was mainly sold through outside agents. These received a commission for their use. One of these agents, Gary Oppenheimer, invented what is considered the first electronically delivered newsletter . This PEN (Periodic Electronic Newsletter) was distributed from August 1985 to November 1996 and provided both customers and many employees of MCI with information about available additional functions and about tips and tricks for using MCI Mail. The articles in the last edition of the PEN newsletter covered the topics Concert Packet Switching Service for MCI Mail , MCI Mail Telephone update , Cellular Access to MCI Mail , List of Access Cellular Numbers , Logon Procedures , X.400 Access via Frame Relay , MCI Never Busy Fax , Mailroom / Mailplus & MIME , internetMCI software , domainTNG , newsgroups / lists and web surfing via MCI Mail .

MCI Mail was based on the DEC VAX 780 computer system with DECMAIL on the VMS operating system.

Individual evidence

Web links