How do I use the ACS Email Filtering Service?
The web interface to the ACS email filtering software allows users to set the threshold and rules that actually filter unwanted emails.

What is the Threshold Setting?
The Threshold controls the strength of the filters. The higher the threshold number, the weaker the filters are, resulting in more unwanted emails. The lower the threshold number, the stronger the filters are, resulting in fewer unwanted emails.

How do I adjust the Threshold?
When you are logged into the Settings Page you will see two boxes labeled “Block More” and “Block Less.” Clicking on these boxes will adjust your threshold.

What is a Whitelist and how do I use it?
A Whitelist is a list of email addresses that you want to bypass the filters, in other words, people that you want to get mail from. You can add to this list either by putting in a full email address; (joe@example.com), or by just using the domain (@example.com). Remember, if you just use the domain then you will be able to receive mail from anyone that has an address of (@example.com).

What is a Blacklist and how do I use it?
A Blacklist is the opposite of a whitelist. This would be a list of people or domains that you want to block all of the time. You can use this list in the same manner that you use the Whitelist. Note: It is best used to block entire domains, not just single email addresses. Most “spam” senders send the unwanted mail from an email address once and then change the email address. If you block just the email address, you won't block the unwanted email. It is usually much better to block the whole domain that the unwanted email came from. However, the use of the Blacklist should be kept to a minimum. If you continue getting unwanted email from several sources, you may want to adjust your threshold.

What happens to my unwanted email?
Once the filter is in place all unwanted email will be diverted to a Junk folder in your Web Mail account. You can check the contents of this folder by clicking on the “folder” option and selecting the Junk folder. This folder will house your e-mail until you either delete the email, move it to another folder, or you allow it to remain until it is automatically deleted after a 2-week time period. Once the filter is in place all unwanted email will be diverted to a Junk folder in your Web Mail account. The Junk folder is where all of the email that is marked as "spam" resides based on the settings that you established in the settings page.

What is a Web Mail account?
ACS provides Web Mail access to you as a free service. Web Mail provides a means for you to access your email from anywhere in the world, as long as you can connect to the Internet (much like a Hotmail or Yahoo email account). As long as you have your email address and password, you can access the following web page and by logging in, you can view your email before it is ever downloaded to your computer. If you have not used this free service from ACS, please click the following link to view information on the service. About Web Mail

Please Note: Once you download your e-mail from an ACS Internet-mail server, your email is no longer viewable through the Web Mail account.

Where and how do I access my Junk folder?
Once you activate the ACS Email Filtering Service, your Junk folder will appear in your ACS Web Mail account, but not until your e-mail account receives its first designated "spam" email. After your email account receives its first "spam" email, you can check the contents of this folder by clicking on the “folder” option within Web Access, and then selecting the newly created Junk folder.

How does Junk email affect my quota?
The Junk email is counted as part of your mail quota, so if you get a lot you may need to empty the Junk folder manually. To do this open the Junk folder, select all of the messages (be sure to deselect any messages you may want to keep and move them into your Inbox folder), now press the delete option at the top of the page. Be sure to empty the Trash folder when you are done, as this folder will also count as part of your mail quota.

Why does my email space quota remain the same, after I've deleted my junk email?
After you delete your email it goes into your Trash folder. You need to empty the Trash folder to lower the email space being used.

Quick Tip: You can click “Options” in the your ACS Web Mail service, then click “Settings”. There you can set up the auto-delete function that will remove the email in your Trash folder upon logging out.

Can Hosted Email customers use the ACS Email Filtering Service?
Yes, by using your own hosted email address and password assigned to that email address, you can set up the ACS Email Filtering Serivce on that email account.