OSI/MHS Orientation Guide

OSI/MHS Orientation Guide—424829-001
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Building Your Message Handling System
Before you start planning your network or application—and researching the Compaq
products supporting your requirements—there are several questions to ask yourself and
others in your organization:
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Are the applications you plan to support really messaging applications?
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Is X.400 the messaging standard best suited to your needs?
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What types of applications, and what type of network configuration, do you
envision; and what existing applications and equipment must be integrated?
•
What are the most effective learning styles of your technical staff?
The answers to these questions will assist you in product selection, in general, and in the
use of this manual in particular.
What Is Message Handling?
Message handling, or messaging, is the computing function that allows exchange of
electronic messages among users in a network. The most familiar application of
messaging is electronic mail, in which human users exchange correspondence, but
another important class of applications is electronic data interchange (EDI), in which
users or application processes transmit and receive business data in a prescribed format.
Messaging applications typically have most of the following characteristics:
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Many small messages (such as business memoranda). Messaging systems vary in
the size of messages they can handle efficiently.
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Tolerance of—or requirement for—store-and-forward operation as opposed to
immediate delivery of messages.
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A user-interface program for submission and retrieval of messages.
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Addition to content as the message travels. Some messaging systems allow users to
add attachments or even edit an existing message before sending it to the next
recipient. (Tracking slips or medical records could be built in this way.)
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Multiple, identifiable recipients for the same message (specified explicitly or in
distribution lists).
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The requirement to integrate electronic mail with other message delivery
technologies (such as facsimile and telex).
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The requirement to integrate the application with one or more external messaging
systems.
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A mailbox scheme.
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Specific message handling criteria (such as expiration or receipt notification).