Xref: utzoo comp.sys.att:3659 comp.sys.ibm.pc:16832 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!ihnp4!poseidon!alf From: alf@poseidon.UUCP (Andrew L. Fryefield) Newsgroups: comp.sys.att,comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Does anybody know anything about PMX/Term from AT&T? (**LONG**) Summary: "Official" information on AT&T's PMX products Keywords: PMX/TERM, STARMail, AT&T Mail Access PLUS, AT&T Mail Message-ID: <453@poseidon.UUCP> Date: 29 Jun 88 23:57:13 GMT References: <1261@neoucom.UUCP> <1387@lznv.ATT.COM> <738@cgh.UUCP> <5902@chinet.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ Lines: 94 Well, here's everything you always wanted to know about PMX/TERM and PMX/STARMail... Basically, PMX is a family of messaging software available from AT&T which runs on UNIX systems (but as has been noted, there's a DOS-only STARLAN version as well). There are a number of PMX components, each designed to interface to a particular type of equipment. In addition, there are AT&T Mail Access products which run on stand-alone MS-DOS PCs and Apple Macintoshes. All the products (PMX and Access) work with one another, and give you a similar interface and set of capabilities. The various products offered by AT&T include: Access PLUS: A very powerful, easy to use, MS-DOS package. It's used to transfer mail between the PC and the public AT&T Mail network, or between the PC and a PMX machine. All the work is done off-line on the PC. When you want to send or receive mail, the package will dial your modem (or ISN, or whatever) and call out to the "mail server" (AT&T Mail or PMX) and transfer the mail. There's a real nice background capability that allows all the connects/sends/receives to go on in the background while you're doing other things. In addition, there's a memory-resident "pop up" version of the mail program which allows you to send/receive/read mail without having to exit from the application you're using. There's also a memory-resident "phone book" available as part of Access PLUS. As part of the background capability, users get notification when mail has been received, regardless of what application is currently being used. Access III: An Apple Macintosh mail package, designed for use with AT&T Mail and PMX. It supports similar capabilities to what Access PLUS does. PMX/TERM: Designed for any async terminal you can define with terminfo (it uses curses). It provides a nice, full-screen interface, and allows users to create/read/modify/send/store messages, etc. It has the same interface and capabilities as Access PLUS. PMX/PC: The gateway that allows a PC or Mac running one of the Access programs to send/receive mail using the UNIX machine as the "post office". PMX/STARMail: A version of PMX designed for PCs connected together in a STARLAN network. There are versions for MS-DOS file servers, 3B2 file servers, and 386 UNIX file servers. The user interface is the same as Access PLUS... same capabilities, same pop-up programs, etc. Users get automatic notification of new mail when it has arrived. (Also, we are working on versions which will run on LANs other than STARLAN.) PMX/STARGATE: A gateway that allows a UNIX system (with or without any other PMX software) to exchange mail with a DOS-only STARMail LAN. Thus, using STARGATE, you can send mail from a DOS STARMail network to a UNIX machine, and therefore, through uucp, etc. PMX/LITE: A PMX adjunct that works together with any or all of the UNIX-based PMX products. It turns the "message waiting light" on a system 75/85 phone on when mail arrives for you, and turns it off when you've retrieved your mail. PMX/X400: Provides X.400 connectivity to other mail systems. As part of PMX, there is also a new, enhanced /bin/(r)mail command. The two main differences between the standard mail command and the PMX version is that the new version supports the transfer of binary messages (e.g. spreadsheets, word processor files, etc), and supports a "surrogate" capability that allows you to execute programs based on the sending and/or delivery of a mail message. All the PMX products use the mail command to send messages, so PMX users can send to non-PMX users, and vice versa. And, obviously, PMX/TERM users can communicate with STARMail users, ... PMX gives you transparent connectivity to the AT&T Mail network, assuming your UNIX machine or LAN is registered with AT&T Mail. Thus, you get access to the capabilities provided by AT&T Mail, such as delivery to FAX machines, devlivery to Telex, paper delivery, etc. So, as a fully-loaded example, you could have a UNIX machine (3B2 for example) that is acting as a STARLAN server, with normal tty access as well. With all various PMX and Access products, you could offer mail connectivity to all the following types of users and systems: - Terminal users (PMX/TERM) - Stand-alone PC users connecting to the UNIX machine (Access PLUS talking to PMX/PC) - Stand-alone Macs (Access III and PMX/PC) - PCs connected via STARLAN (PMX/STARMail) - Local UNIX users who use non-PMX mailers (mail, post, PCS, etc.) - Remote UNIX systems and AT&T Mail (uucp) - Remote DOS STARMail LANs (STARGATE) - International email systems, and other vendor's systems, which support X.400 (PMX/X400) Well, I hope I've cleared things up a bit. If anyone has any questions on AT&T Mail or PMX (including info on availability or prices), the best bet is to call the AT&T Mail Telemarketing Center at (800) 367-7225, or send mail to attmail!atthelp (if you've got a connection to AT&T Mail). Or, you can send me mail. Andy Fryefield attmail!afryefield