Besides the inconvenience of unwanted messages bulking in the inbox, spam poses other threats too, such as viruses and malware. Anti-viruses and firewalls do detect these threats, but with a spam blocker you can make things a lot easier and safer. Nevertheless, lots of people don’t know how to select an anti-spam tool correctly, for maximum protection and minimum of investment. Before the installation of a program, decide whether you want the blocker or the filter installed on the server or on the computer. A server-based anti spam tool is most suitable for large companies that try to prevent the spam inconvenience before reaching the employees’ computers.
When the anti-spam tool is installed directly on a personal computer, the control over the email remains while the program recognizes and filters the spam messages according to a set of pre-determined features. Personal users and small businesses are other common beneficiaries of on-computer spam blockers and filters. As for the rest of the issues that require attention, we should mention: the compatibility of the filter, the usage easiness, the stability, the access or the customization. When all these criteria are met, an optimal efficiency can be achieved.
By compatibility we refer to the possibility of using the anti-spam tool according to the Internet mail provider. There are certain programs that make a match only with Outlook Express and Outlook but are incompatible with Mozilla Thunderbird or Eudora. Then, the anti-spam tool should enable easy navigation; without such features, the installation and control of the program are hard to get. Furthermore, a good anti-spam tool should allow customization of the features to the user’s needs. The PC operator ought to be able to define the rules based on which the spam blocker will filter or delete mails.
There are several other features that one should check before choosing an anti-spam tool, but the best solution possible is to get professional assistance. Talk to someone who is good at computers or who can make a basic comparison between different spam blockers. It would be very unpleasant to pay for a program and then realize that you can’t use it or that its efficiency is impaired by some system problems. Check reviews, talk to software companies and inquire about the anti spam tools releases that have showed good stability in usage.