Just the FAQ's
(Frequently Asked Questions)

Q:  What happened to the e-mail list?
A:  The e-mail list has been discontinued because it is no longer needed. MDDSN.org now has "friendly name forwarding" for each address. If you do not know the e-mail address for the party you wish to reach, just type the name in all lower case letters (separating "first" and "last" names with "."), append @mddsn.org to the end of the name and your message will be forwarded to the proper recipient. For example, if you wanted to e-mail John "Bubba" Doe but didn't know the e-mail address, you could use john.doe@mddsn.org and the message would be forwarded to him. 'Nicknames' are not used in friendly name forwarding. For example, there is no bubba.doe@mddsn.org.

Q:  How do I connect to the SCDDSN Providers Extranet?
A:  In order to connect to SCDDSN's Extranet, you must first be connected to the SCDDSN virtual private network (VPN). Most of the computers in the agency have the capacity to connect to the VPN. In order to determine if your computer has the option of connecting to the VPN, minimize this browser window and look on the Windows Desktop for an icon labeled either 'DDSN' or 'SCDDSN'. Clicking on this icon should bring up a window requesting a username and password. All of our usernames begin with 'xmari'. Once you are connected to the VPN, maximize your browser window and click on the 'Providers Extranet' link on the left side of this page. Remember that you must close the VPN connection (disconnect) before you can return to the internet or send and receive e-mail.

Q:  What can I do about all this junk mail?
A:  Unfortunately, a certain amount of junk mail is a fact of life. There are things you can do, however, to lessen the volume of junk mail you receive. First of all, bear in mind that your email account here is a business account. We provide you with this to help you be more effective and efficient in your work. Be careful how you use your email account. The more you use your email address to sign up for newsletters (especially those which are not work related) or forward chain messages, the more you put your address out there to receive junk mail. When an email is sent with an imbedded link image, that image acts as an address collector. Each time a message is opened, a request for the image is sent to the remote server, and your address is logged. The log files provide email lists for bulk senders. The people who are receiving the most junk mail are the ones who are forwarding the most messages and are signed up to the most newsletters. Protect your email address by being careful how you use it.

Q:  What happened to my email? I'm not getting things that are being to sent me.
A:  The spam filters on our mail server have recently been upgraded. You should now be receiving a daily "Spam Report" listing messages that have been blocked and diverted to your personal Spam folder. You should review this report daily. If you find that messages you need or want are being diverted to the spam folder, you may do the following: 
1) Log on through the Webmail page,
2) Open the Spam folder,
3) Check the box next to message you wish to mark as "not spam," and
4) Click the "Not Spam" button.
The message will be transferred to your inbox. If you do not remember your email password, email Rob and he will send it to you. You will have to do this each time you want to recover a message.
Alternately, you can send a request to Rob to have specific addresses placed on your personal permanent 'white list.'