As many, if not most, of you are aware, one of the biggest problems with email is unsolicited commercial email also know as SPAM.  You probably are not aware of the huge problem presented to a commercial service provider like ourselves.  Fact is the more than 65% of all email traffic we receive is in fact unwanted SPAM.  Clearly this is a problem for all of us but the solution is left up to us.

We have determined that the best means by which to minimize this issue is through the use of a “cleaner” appliance which we route all of our incoming traffic through.  The “cleaner” use several advanced methods of determination in order to decide which messages are legit and which are from SPAMMERS.  Any messages deemed to be SPAM are quarantined to a special location of the “cleaner” and held there for seven days.  While this is very effective it is not absolute and will some times falsely tag a legitimate message as SPAM, placing it into quarantine as stated earlier.

Each of our email users receive a daily message from the “cleaner” indicating which message/s it is holding in quarantine and offers you, the end user, the ability to review the messages and optionally to release the message for delivery to your mailbox or leave it as SPAM.

There are also user configurable options for what to do with SPAM messages.  By default the action taken is to quarantine the message as previously described.  However, you can opt to have the messages identified as SPAM “tagged” with a special subject line marker and then delivered to your mailbox as a normal message.

To access your quarantined messages and options you should visit the site https://mailcleaner.ceillinois.com.  We use a self signed certificate on the “cleaner” so your browser will issue a warning that you should NOT trust the connection.  Since we have a client-provider relationship and we are signing the certificate this warning can be ignored and the certificate accepted.  To accept the certificate you must click on the “Advanced Options” link present in your warning screen, then click “Add Exception” and ensure there is a check mark in the “Permanently store this exception” and then click “Confirm this Exception.”  This will only occur the first time you access the site.

Once you get the certificate exception registered you will be presented with a log in screen from our appliance.  Log in with your full and complete email address and password – the same as configured in your email client.  You will then see a grid of messages that are being held for you.  You can search them by sender or subject to help locate any message you might be looking for but didn’t get.  Click the arrow at the left to release any desired message to be delivered to your mailbox.

If you would like to modify the method the appliance uses in handling SPAM for your account you should click the Configuration menu item at the top of the presentation, just below the header image.  Click “Address settings” on the left hand side to display the settings for handling your SPAM.  By default it will be set to “retain in quarantine.”  You can set it to either tag the message and deliver it or to immediately delete the message (not recommended.)  Once satisfied with the settings you have chosen click the “Save” button to update your preferences.

If you should have any questions or require assistance in setting your preferences feel free to contact us at 618- 438-5005 during normal business hours, Monday through Friday.  We will be happy to assist you.

Authorized Release by Larry Christy, Director