27.04.2004
Anti-spam solutions prove damaging to local government
30% of all supposed spam could be legitimate and valuable email, but is automatically deleted by the majority of antispam software, according to Advascan, experts in antispam, and antivirus systems. This email 'grey area' is often disregarded but can have significant effects on productivity within local government.
Over 50% of all email received by local government employees is spam. 70% of this email is real spam and as such is deleted by most antispam software. It is the remaining 30% of potentially valuable email that is immediately erased with no notification for either sender or recipient. With 93% of all local government using email as the principal communication tool, any disruption or degradation of this service is a serious and potentially expensive issue.
In addition, 25 days productivity is lost as a result of spam, based on a organisation of 50 employees, according to research conducted by Berkshire-based Advascan. A typical local government employee spends at least one minute of everyday identifying and deleting spam - in excess of four hours annually. Antispam software will combat this problem to a certain extent, but could in fact cause more problems by deleting potentially important email.
Roy Walker, CEO of Advascan commented "Many organisations ignore issues with spam - often leaving it to the individual to deal with. Our research demonstrates spam is a real problem and needs to be dealt with in an effective, yet appropriate manner. It's important to take a personal approach, rather than just deleting spam email on mass, which can result in important email going astray."
Advascan solves the problem from a slightly different perspective. The antispam service quarantines all spam email in the Advascan system and a compact email summary is sent to each customer. This email lists all spam from the past 24 hours and clearly displays the sender, the subject, the size of the email and a 'spam score'. This summary is quick and easy to read, ensuring no wanted emails have been inadvertently stopped as spam. The plain text format ensures it can be displayed on all mobile devices and email clients.
In addition, the Advascan Spam-Check™ feature will advise the sender that the email is trapped as spam. The sender can then elect to edit the email content and re-send. Alternatively, the sender can contact the recipient and request addition to the white-list. The Spam-Check™ message optionally contains a URL link, which if clicked by the sender, will release the email from quarantine and deliver.
About Advascan
Advascan is the complete solution for email security - antivirus and antispam - protecting data and enhancing the efficiency of email as a business medium. It is a unique service, not software. To
utilise ADVASCAN™ a customer does not have to buy or install software on any servers, desktops or laptop PCs in an organisation. ADVASCAN™ is a simple subscription service, and once activated on a corporate domain, all email - in and outbound - passes through the ADVASCAN™ filter engine before it reaches its destination.
For further information
Please contact Alison Harper, Berkeley PR
Telephone: 0118 988 0506
Email: alison.harper@berkeleypr.co.uk
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