Activity Reports » Message Groups

E-mail Message Groups

All e-mail messages are analyzed by our anti-spam/anti-virus engine and are classified into the following general groups.

Each e-mail is assigned a numerical score, generated by our anti-spam engine. The initial score of a message is "0". We use many techniques to scan each message to see how spammy it is. The total value of the tests is the spam score of the message. The larger the spam score, the more spammy the message is; the lower the spam score, the less spammy the message is. We have two thresholds, that determine what happens to each message.

The tag threshold (normally set to 12) is the spam score where we are uncertain if the message is spam. Messages are tagged on their subject line with a short message to say it may be spam. (This can be configured by your PerfectMail Administrator.

The reject threshold (normally set to 20) is the spam score we are we are certain a message is spam. The message will be quarantined on the server for a period of time set by your PerfectMail Administrator. To release a quarantined message use the release action link on your E-mail Activity Report or release the message using the Self Service Console.

Quarantined Mail - Messages that score as spam via their content score or for other reasons that are not definite are quarantined by the server. These messages are stored on the server and can be released if necessary. In all other aspects the behavior is the same as for Rejected Mail; the sending mail server receives a failure notice, during transmission, stating that the message was blocked for spam. Quarantined messages are stored on the PerfectMail server for a limited period of time, typically one week by default.

Refused Mail - Messages that were absolutely refused. These messages contain dangerous content such as viruses or executable content. This content is not stored by PerfectMail and cannot be inadvertently released.

Rejected Mail - Messages that received a spam score high enough to be rejected by PerfectMail. These messages can be viewed and released using the Administrative Interface, the Self Service Console and the E-mail Activity Report.

Delivered Mail - Messages that were accepted and delivered. These messages can be viewed, resent or reported as spam using the Administrative Interface, the Self Service Console and the E-mail Activity Report.

Outbound Mail - Messages that were sent out to the internet. These messages can be viewed and resent using the Administrative Interface, the Self Service Console and the E-mail Activity Report.

Internal Mail - This is a special group to track internal messages in PerfectMail. Normally, PerfectMail only tracks e-mail going to and from the Internet. An optional setting allows your mail server to forward all internal e-mail to PerfectMail for informational purposes only. These messages can be viewed using the Administrative Interface.