Q. Do we need to remove the anti spam software already installed on our desktops or server?
A. No. In fact it would help to eliminate an even higher level of spam as messages which are tagged by our system as spam can be blocked by your desktop or server software before it reaches your mailbox. If you don't already have such software then you don't need it. But if you do, keep it.

Q. How long does it take to setup MX-SCAN-REMOTE?
A. Setting up MX-SCAN-REMOTE is very straight forward. All you have to do is ask your ISP or web hosting company to change your domains MX record in DNS. That's usually just 2 lines of text. We will provide you with a list of our MX servers for you to replace yours with. If you have access to the control panel for your domain you may be able to change this yourself.

Q. Do we need to do anything else?
A. Usually no. However, for added protection you might want to setup your firewall or email server to only accept email from our servers although this is not compulsory. Some spammers bypass the information in the MX records and try to still deliver straight to your server. This only applies if you have your own email server. It is not possible if you use POP3 from your ISP or hosting company.

Q. What happens after we change our MX records?
A. Once changed it can take between 5 minutes to 24 hours for servers around the world to update their information about your MX records. Therefore some servers will start to send your emails to our servers immediately while others may take up to 24 hours to start doing so.

This means it will take about 24 hours before you start to see the full benefits of the service. Note, however, that some spam servers may take a lot longer to pick up the change as they sometimes work from lists of server addresses rather than checking MX records in DNS.

Q. How can we setup White lists?
A. You can send us your existing white lists for inclusion. If your outgoing email goes through our servers then email addresses you have sent messages to are automatically added to the white list.

Q. What do we have to do ourselves?
A. Nothing. Our service is completely managed and we have taken away all the aspects that keep you involved in the fight against spam. There's nothing to install, configure or update. We keep all the rules up-to-date and all the virus definitions up-to-date.

Q. Does this mean we can remove the anti virus software on our PC's?
A. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Viruses can still enter your network from different media and you should still keep your anti virus software updated. Our service protects you from viruses found in incoming email only, not from viruses on CD's, USB drives, Flash Memory sticks, etc.

Q. How do we access the quarantine of blocked messages?
A. We reject messages found in the DNS blacklists and the URI blacklists and these messages are not processed by our servers. Messages accepted by our servers but which fail the content filter check are sent on to your server for processing. Your Outlook 2003 or other software sends the tagged spam messages to your Junk E-mail folder. We do not quarantine any messages.

Messages fall into one of the following categories:

1. Originates from a blacklisted server or contains a link to a blacklisted site: REJECTED
2. None of the above but fails the content filter check: DELIVER with X-SPAM = YES tag
3. Not spam at all. Message is Ham (legitimate email): DELIVER UNCHANGED

Q. Why do you not quarantine the messages that fail the content filter check?
A. Because this is where false positives occur. The high majority of spam messages fail Phase 1 and Phase 2 of our remote anti spam processing and a very low percentage of spam messages actually get to the content filter stage.

Legitimate messages can also contain the words or phrases found in the content filter database and could end up quarantined on our server. However, most users don't regularly (some never) check the online quarantine repository provided by other remote anti spam services and only learn that they missed a message when the sender calls them to ask why they haven't responded by which time it is usually too late.

Larger companies can benefit from an online quarantine because they can afford for somebody to regularly check the online quarantine and release any legitimate messages blocked there. We know from experience that small businesses do not have this luxury and would find it easier to just check their Junk E-mail folder in Outlook 2003 (or other software) perhaps on a daily basis. With our filtering in place, the Junk E-mail folder receives very few messages, thus making this task feasible.