Internet
is a great alternative to the conventional methods of communication.
Using Internet you can:
send
an e-mail
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fast - your e-mail
will arrive usually within 15 minutes and often within
seconds
cheap - your e-mail will cost either nothing or the cost
of a local phone call
responsive - it's easy to reply to an e-mail, encouraging
a rapid response.
If you don't have your own e-mail address, then there
are lots of organizations who are only too willing to
give you one for free
or for a very low charge.
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send
a fax by e-mail
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receive
fax by e-mail
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If you haven't got
a fax machine, there is a company we recommend called
e-Fax.
With their basic plan, e-Fax
will give you, free of charge, your own fax number to
which faxes may be sent. e-Fax
will then e-mail the fax to you. You'll need a special
viewer, which they provide, again, free of charge.
Oh, and by the way, the fax number they provide is one
covered by the free fax service above.
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chat
to an individual
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using one of the
many chatting programs you can conduct a typed conversation
in real time. A good place to start is Yahoo
Chat.
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instant
messages
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Half way between
chatting and e-mail, comes instant messaging. You type
a message and the recipient gets the message immediately
(provided he/she/they are logged on). If they're not logged
on, they will get the message the next time they log on.
We recommend ICQ, which not only allows you to send instant
messages, but also allows chatting, group chatting, voice
chatting, file transfer, url transfer, paging and a host
of other neat options. Get
ICQ here and when you've got the software, send us
a message using ICQ number 2928991.
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chat
to a group
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you are not limited
to an individual, if you wish you can invite several people
to join your chat or join a group chat and get to know
people all over the world. It's free and very easy.
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talk
by voice (Internet Telephony)
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There are lots of
voice chatting programs available, some are free some
are shareware. If the person at the other end of the system
has a computer then your conversation will most likely
be free even if you are talking to someone at the other
side of the world. If the person you want to talk to does
not have a computer, then it is still possible to speak
to them on their telephone. The advantage being that an
international call will cost only a tiny fraction of the
normal telephone cost, for example, a call from the USA
to England or Australia will cost only 13 cents (£0.09)
per minute. Quality varies depending on Internet traffic,
modem speed, software used and the sound card in your
computer. In my own case it has occasionally been better
than the quality of a normal Trans-Atlantic phone call!
After a £500 bill for one month's phone charges
I tried lots of different companies, and in the end, decided
that Internet Phone produced the best results. My phone
bill dropped to a fifth of its previous amount.
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video
conferencing |
If you have a fast
enough Internet connection then it's possible to talk
and see the person at the other end in real time. All
you need is a video camera connected to your computer,
speakers, a microphone and your video conferencing software.
Some software is free others are shareware. Your conversation
will be either free or at the cost of a local phone call.
Don't expect miracles however and the image you see will
be small in most cases. |
E-mail
When you open an account
with an Information Service Provider (ISP), you will be given
at least one e-mail address (some offer 5, some offer unlimited
e-mail addresses). Using this account offers speed, privacy,
and the full features of your e-mail software. However there
are some disadvantages - you may get a very long e-mail address,
your e-mail address may not be very easy to remember, if you're
away from your computer you may find it difficult to get your
e-mail at another computer. To get round the problems it's a
good idea to take advantage of some of the 'free e-mail' accounts
offered. Most of them allow you to access your e-mail using
a browser. It's possible to get a much easier to remember e-mail
address, some offer to redirect e-mail to your ISP e-mail account,
some offer to collect mail from your ISP account.
Useful
Links
Free e-mail: JayDax
(yep - we give free e-mail now) moe(my
own e-mail) - hotmail
- excite - iname
- yahoo
- usa net
- (search for using 'free e-mail' as there are many we have
not listed here)
Find
A Chat - Chat live with people with the same interests
you have! The best collection of chat places on the Web!Online
Chat Locator and review Service to find the best online chats
and chat rooms available, featuring America's Best Online
Chat Rooms
Voice conferencing :
Net2Phone
- Internet Phone - Iris
Phone - Webphone
- (search for using 'voice conferencing as there are many
we have not listed here - note, some of these also offer video
options as well)
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