I have a small mail server using Imail 8.05 for Fire Department Paging.
It does just the send-only mail function? then you should block access to port 25 from Internet at the firewall to prevent mail abuse/defense from inserting itself into your paging activity.
The Dispatchers Like the speed to send via web mail verses the dialer which locks the computer until each pager is dialed.
what about a short mailing list or group alias of the pager/recipient addresses?
To send a page, the dispatcher doesn't futz around with webmail (an Imail service which also must be defended against attacks on the HTTP port, and has its own circuit for moving mail from HTTP to SMTP queuing), but uses a reputable mail client (not Lookout!) to send the page text to the group alias or list post address.
btw, some email clients have their own group/list functions, which eliminates the Imail list/group function which I've seen act very erratically several times.
eg, eudora also has detailed logging, so using Eudora (or similar) to send individual SMTP messages to Imail leaves a byte-level log of the eudora/Imail smtp transactions, with timestamps, for auditing (I can imagine the logs being subpoenaed some day).
The dispatcher himself should also be on every page recipient list so the dispatcher receives the page (on the same paging device/service as the emergency team) also (positive feedback, closes the loop) as confirmation that
a) it was sent, and b) some idea of how long it took to receive on the paging device.
The problem is that the out bound mail hangs for 10 or more minutes before being sent.
During Emergencies 10 minute is to long
I'm amazed something as unreliable, unpredictable, and vulnerable as email would be inserted into a life/death/property critical path.
Can I speed this up?
Sounds like you're the victim of the vagaries and mysteries of the Imail queue manager, coupled with all that HTTP server code and HTTP browser/client code the page msg have to plow through to get into the SMTP system. Screw dispatcher convenience, simplify the path and use only SMTP.
I did test the queue sending straight e-mail to my Yahoo and Comcast accounts and the time in queue was the same.
Any email msg sent to Imail should be relayed out within a couple of seconds, which is probably your expectation. 10 minutes if obviously wrong. Good luck on trying to find out why. Look at the Imail http and smtp logs in debug mode to see between which events the 10 minutes is occurring.
btw, the dispatchers' PCs and the email system clocks should all be synced to an NTP server. One "10 minute delay" I traced a long time ago was due to the MX gateway and Imail box having a 10-minute difference in system clocks (ie, no real delay).
Len
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