[Iinet-newsletter] Infinity Internet - November 2003 Newsletter

Tue Nov 4 15:58:13 PST 2003

I hope you enjoy the Infinity Internet November 2003 newsletter.  Fall is definitely upon us and Thanksgiving is fast approaching.  Best wishes to you and your families.

Features
     One-Month Free on Any Internet Service or Web Hosting Product!
     Updated UserConsole - Easily Update Your Personal Information Online!
     Online Payment - Now Available!
     Spam Filtering - Custom Rules!
     We're Listening - See What's Changed Due To Your Feedback!

In Every Issue
     Save More Dough
 -  Spread The Word With Our Referral Program
     What To Do Prior To Calling Client Services For Technical Support
     Tech Tip of the Month
 -  Helpful Technical Terms & Definitions
     Help Pages
 -  Give Us Your Feedback!
     Internet Smarts
 -  Shutdown
 -  Update Your Modem Driver

The Basics
     Dialup List
     Contact Us
     Cancel Subscription

One-Month Free on Any Internet Service or Web Hosting Product!

For the month of November new Internet or Web Hosting customers on approved contracts will receive free Internet access for their first month of service.  Telephone company circuit charges will still apply.  To inquire about the one-month free service in California please call 800-706-3896 in Washington or Oregon call 800-469-1424.

Quote promo code NL11 to take advantage of these savings.  Hurry this promotion expires November 30, 2003!

Updated UserConsole - Easily Update Your Billing Information Online!

The UserConsole account manager has been updated with an easier to use menu. The UserConsole allows you to view/change your billing information, make a payment online, change your password, configure e-mail filtering and much, much more! You can access our newly remodeled UserConsole by going to https://console.iinet.com/, or by clicking the My Account button at the top of every www.iinet.com page!

Online Payment - Now Available!

We are happy to announce that our Online Payment tool is now available.

To use this new tool, go to https://console.iinet.com/ and log in to the UserConsole.

To log in to the UserConsole, use your e-mail address and password.  Once in the UserConsole system, choose "Make a Payment Online" from the drop down list for "Billing Tools" on the menu under the login.

Once you have selected "Make a Payment Online", you will be given a list of outstanding invoices.  Select the invoices you wish to pay by clicking on them, then, click on "Continue". This will take you to a page that will ask you for your credit card information.  Also on this new page, is an option to use the credit card you are submitting as an autopay form of payment for all future invoices.  By default, this option is turned off.  You will need to select it.  The next page after entering your credit card information will be a confirmation page.  It lists the invoices you selected and the amount you will be paying.  Once you click "Continue", your transaction is complete.

Thank you for your business!

Infinity Internet Client Services
feedback at iinet.com

Spam Filtering - Custom Rules!

We are pleased to announce that we have recently installed two new spam (junk mail) filters - Spam Assassin and Spam Filtering.

The first filter is called Spam Assassin, scans the e-mail just before it is deposited in your e-mail account. It maintains a scoring system for various content in the messages that it is scanning. If the software records too many points or hits the message will be discarded and not delivered to your mailbox.  

To configure Spam Assassin: 

Go to https://console.iinet.com and after logging in click on Manage Email Filters. 

   . First you have to enable Spam Assassin  
   . Then click on the link to set options ("Click Here to set SpamAssassin Options") 
   . Spam Assassin has different filtering levels

low (20.0)
medium (10.0)
aggressive (5.0)
custom 

Note: the custom level is the only one you can change for specific types of filtering. But if you want to create filters it is best to use Spam Filtering.

For more information on Spam Assassin, please go to: http://www.spamassassin.org 

Spam Filtering allows you to set up different criteria such as certain types of message attachments.  Viruses for example typically are specific file types, which the filter will detect and try to prevent from getting to your mailbox. We have installed several different filtering rules as examples for you to use.

To set up custom rules for Spam Filtering: 

Log into UserConsole at https://console.iinet.com, and click on "Manage Email Filters". The Email filter needs to be enabled. 

1. Click on "Click Here to Edit Filtering Rules". 
2. Click on "Add a Custom Rule".
3. Name: This is the name for the custom filter. 
4. Description: This is a short description, can be the same as your name for the filter. 
5. Condition field: this is the field that the filter will check.

Sender 
Subject 
Body 
Recipient 

6. Condition Value: This is any text that you want to find in the field just selected. 
7. Action: This is what you want done with the email that has the value selected. 
8. Forward to: This is an optional, but if you want to forward the Spam to some other email address you can. 

Both of these filters are off by default for all of our accounts. If you would like to enable mail filtering you can activate it at https://console.iinet.com

We're Listening - See What's Changed Due To Your Feedback!

Thank you all for filling out our surveys. We wanted everyone to know what things have been added or changed as a result of the feedback that you've given us.

·  User console: Using our console page at < https://console.iinet.com> you can:
 ·  Change your dialup or email password.
 ·  Add / Remove email forwarding.
 ·  Add / Remove vacation auto responders.
 ·  Delete all the email in your mailbox.
 ·  Manage your own personal Spam filtering, or disable filtering entirely.
 ·  View your dialup or DSL usage.
·  Hold times: We put the ability to view our current hold time up on our web page. You can view it at < http://www.iinet.com>. We have also increased our staffing to handle more calls coming into our support department.
·  Service changes: We have added a Bulletins page to our websites. If we are going to change, upgrade, or perform maintenance on any of our services, we will post it to:
< http://www.iinet.com/bulletins/report.php>
·  Outage times: We do not schedule any maintenance during normal business hours. Maintenance will be scheduled at least 24 hours beforehand, and between the hours of 12:00 AM and 5:00 AM. 
·  Spam filtering: We filter all email for Spam. We use a tool called RBL+ to examine each message, and if it is from a known Spam provider, we discard the message. You can disable this filtering, or enable even more filtering with Spam Assassin at https://console.iinet.com>.

Save More Dough - Spread The Word With Our Referral Plan!

And reap the benefits with our Friends and Family referral plan! Most of us already tell others who our Internet provider is, so why not get some credit for it?  With our Friends and Family Referral Program you can get credit on your account for referring people that sign up for our services.   So tell the people you know and see the savings! 

Take at a look at http://www.iinet.com/services/referral for more details! 

For more information, please contact one of our Client Services Specialists at: 
 · 1-800-211-2772
 · billing at iinet.com 

What To Do Prior to Calling Client Services For Technical Support

In order for us to be able to better help you with our Technical Support, please be sure to do a couple of things that will help us get your issue resolved.  These are:

 1.  Please be in front of your computer with it turned on.  If you have more than one phone line in the house, please be sure you are calling in on the one NOT in use by your computer.
 2.  Also, if you have your account number with us handy, that would be very helpful. This number is located in the upper right hand corner of your invoice.
 3.  If you are getting an error message, please have it either up on your screen or written down when you call so you can read it to the technician. Many error messages are very similar and having the exact message is often times important.

These steps will help us trouble shoot any difficulties you're having to a large extent.

Tech Tip of the Month  - Helpful Technical Terms & Definitions

This month instead of our normal suggestions we decided to provide you with some technical terms and definitions you may hear from us if you ever need to reach us via chat or call into our technical center. 

Computer based terms:

Desktop: On most modern computers, a desktop is what your system brings up as soon as it has finished starting up. Usually you can run programs and navigate your computer from the desktop.

Reboot: This causes your computer to restart without saving anything you haven't previously saved. This has the advantage of clearing out settings and/or the computer's memory.

Powercycle: This is similar to rebooting but involves turning your computer off and leaving it off for a short period of time. Powercycling can be done to other kinds of computer hardware (i.e. modems or similar devices).

Operating system - OS: This is the software that runs your computer.  The most commonly used ones currently are the Windows operating system and the Macintosh operating system

RAM: Random Access Memory. This is the usable memory of your computer.  As long as there is power running to your computer the RAM remains active.  But once power is no longer running to it (even for an instant), your system will loose the information. The amount of memory you have helps determine how quickly your system runs and how many tasks it can perform at the same time.

CPU: CPU is an acronym for Central Processing Unit. This is basically the brain of your computer.  It processes almost all the data that your computer needs. Your computer uses a little bit of it's CPU whenever you move your mouse, click a mouse button or even type a single key.  The faster your CPU is, the more data it can process per second.

Internet based terms:

URL: URL is an acronym for Universal Resource Locator.  Basically, it stands for the exact address of a web page or website. For example http://www.iinet.com/ is the URL for our website.

E-mail: E-mail or email as it's also referred to, is simply mail that is sent via electronic signals rather then a physical document.  It is much faster then physical mail which makes it a more preferred form of communication.

World Wide Web: This is a general reference to all the WebPages and websites that exist at any given time.  It is almost as general as the term Internet.  But, while Internet applies also to things like email, newsgroups, and discussion groups, the term World Wide Web just applies to WebPages and websites.

FTP: FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol.  It is a protocol that's used to move large files from one location on the Internet to another.  It is similar to just moving a file from one folder on your computer to another.  However, instead of folder to folder it's computer to computer.

IM: IM stands for Instant Messenger.  This refers to a group of programs that allow you to communicate with a person by typing what you want to say and then sending it to them.  It displays what you typed to their screen.  They can then type a response.  This is even faster then email and is frequently used to communicate with friends or workmates.  There are several different programs of IM available including products from Microsoft, Yahoo! and America Online.

Help Pages - Give Us Your Feedback!

The help site can be viewed at: http://help.iinet.com. 

The site is set up in a manner that is intended to provide you with quick access to questions you might have.  If you are unable to find the information you are searching for we would like to hear from you.  If you have information to contribute to the site, that is also something we would enjoy hearing about.  Questions, comments and suggestions are all welcome.  

We look forward to your comments and suggestions on the site.  To help us gather feedback, feel free to fill out a survey at the bottom of the first page of the site.  Alternatively, you can email your ideas to us at: support at iinet.com. 

Internet Smarts 

Shutdown

If you are having any difficulties connecting to us, we would suggest doing a full shutdown and restart of your system. This usually solves a lot of the issues that may be causing connection difficulties. On Windows systems, this can be done by going to the "Start" menu and selecting the shutdown option. Then, select shutdown from the list of available options and click the "OK" button. On a Macintosh, you will want to go to the "Special" menu at the top of your screen and then select the shutdown option. This simple step can help solve many of your Internet access issues. 

Update Your Modem Driver

Another suggestion to prevent connectivity issues is to ensure your modem drivers are up-to-date. We cannot recommend enough that you ensure you have the most up-to-date drivers for your modem. You can usually find the latest modem drivers for your system by going to one of the following sites that provide links to many different modem manufacturer's sites.

  http://www.drivershq.com/Main.asp 
  http://www.download.com 
  http://www.driverguide.com

Another place you check for information about your modem drivers is either with the modem manufacturer or, in some circumstances, your computer manufacturer. Even if your computer is brand new, newer drivers may be available for the modem. It's usually a good idea to check just to be sure. 

If you have any questions regarding these suggestions, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-689-4303. Our technical support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Dialup List

All of our dialup numbers are listed at: http://www.iinet.com/dialup/

Contact Us

We are available to assist you with your needs at any time of the day or night. 

Voice: 

  ·  Sales - (800) 469-1424

  ·  Billing Support - (800) 211-2772

  ·  Technical Support  - (800) 689-4303

  ·  Business Support  - (800) 291-0682

Via e-mail: 

 For Technical Support: support at iinet.com 

 For Billing Support: billing at iinet.com

 To Signup for a new account: sales at iinet.com

Via Mail:

 Infinity Internet
 PO Box 872890
 Vancouver, WA
 98687-2890

Via Fax:

 Client Services:  360-816-9017
 Administrative:  360-254-3898

Cancel Subscription

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http://mailman.pacifier.net/mailman/listinfo/iinet-newsletter

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