emrozek@ecsvax.UUCP (Ed Mrozek) (06/25/87)
I am in great need of your assistance.
BACKGROUND
I supervise a computer services operation. Currently, we
are in the process of bring up electronic mail for nearly
1200 employees. The mail system is mailx on SVR2 with our
own system of menus for seldom users. These people are scat-
tered over the entire state at roughly 160 sites. At each
site there is at least one ibm pc compatible which is being
used as the terminal into the mail system. At present, we
have assigned a user id for each person. The administration
of the organization has argued that this should not be the
case. They argue that there should be an id for the site.
PROBLEM
Basically, the administration views this system as a secre-
tarial tool. As such, they would like to see secretaries
manage the mail for all of the people at a given site. They
hope to accomplish this by generating an id for the site and
then letting the sec. do her thing. I argue that she can do
this by means of our menu system. We have developed a
facility called "mail manager" (mailmgr) that will allow a
user to be registered as a mail manager for a site. This
utility notifies the mail manager if the users that they
support have received mail. There can be more than one mail
manager per site. In order to access the mail for another
user, the mail manager establishes a new shell through a
utility which is basically a login to another session. In
this other session, they become one of the other users with
the mail. Through this mechanism, they maintain the ability
to send/reply to mail with appropriate addressing on the to:
and from: lines. Through a common mail box, this capability
would be lost; a considerable disadvantage in *my* opinion.
Here lies the problem; some people argue that login to
another session is quite wasteful of time. Yes, the users
are paying for their access time. (I have timed it and it
takes approximately 15 seconds to login as another user).
To *me*, the cost is minor. We pay $.12/minute for our in-
state long distance during prime time and $.08/minute in the
off-hours. Also, it appears to me that there will be no
advantage (for line time) as a sec. will have a much more
difficult time managing mail for upwards of 20 people
through a common id. I base this on the opinion that the
"folders" capability do provide true usefulness and that
automatic send and reply addressing are useful functions.
I have not yet considered what this could do to our news
system (we are running netnews).
HOW YOU CAN HELP
If I am wrong about this whole thing, I would like you to
tell me. If I am right, I would also like to know. If you
have encountered a similar situation, I would like to know
how you resolved it. If you have opinions on how this prob-
lem can be addressed, I would like to hear them.
Most of all, I need to know the technical details of the
pros and cons of anything that you offer.
This last request is most important as this whole situation
could result in a major turnover in personnel.
Lastly, time is of the essence. We are supposed to have the
system up and running on July 1, 1987 (gulp!!!). We are
nearly complete. However, emotions are running so high on
this thing that the plug may get pulled on the project; at
least until a solution to this is found.
I apologize for the length of this posting and I thank you
for your assistance.
Ed Mrozek
Supervisor, Extension Computer Services
Box 7626
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7626
VOICE: (919) 737-2983
E-mail: emrozek@ecsvax
P.S. Please respond by mail. I will summarize and post if
there is interest.