Getting Started

Introduction

Ipera offer a premium-grade managed anti-spam solution that is designed to virtually eliminate spam e-mail from your Inbox. All mail destined for your mailbox is relayed first through Sophos PureMessage, which checks incoming mail for spam and then forwards the message only if it is from a genuine sender. False positives are rare, but you can always log in to Sophos PureMessage to check your quarantine, which contains Spam messages that have been filtered from your Inbox.

Ipera also provide an Microsoft Outlook plug-in that will allow you to report spam e-mail directly to Ipera.

The links below will help you get started using Ipera's Managed Antispam Solution or you can try the FAQ or HOWTO tabs above for more information.

Submitting Spam

Ipera offer a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook to submit spam to Ipera. Ipera’s systems will then process the message and update Anti-Spam filtering rules if possible. This will prevent you and other users getting future copies of the message.

Click here for information on how to install the Ipera Outlook Plug-in.

Accessing Quarantined E-mail and Creating Blacklists/Whitelists

To access the quarantine, browse to http://avs.ipera.net.au/
The first time you access the quarantine URL you can follow the link at the bottom of the page to generate a password, a confirmation email will then be sent to you with your login credentials. This process usually takes around ten minutes.Once you have a password, you can visit the site again and enter your email address and password. We suggest you allow your browser to save the password to aid future access. You can not currently change the password, so you should file the password we send you somewhere handy. If you loose your password, you can repeat the process above and you will receive a new password.
Once connected you can view all the messages the system has "blocked" from you.
Warning: Your quarantine will most likely contain high offensive material as well as scams and other fraudulent information that you should try to ignore as you search for the message you feel may have been blocked in error. You can sort the mail by clicking on the Score, From, Subject, and Date headings. You can move though the mail a page at a time using the control at the top right of the page.
If you find the message that has been blocked you can force the system to release it to you, by selecting the check box next to your message and pressing the deliver message button. Alternately, you can press the "deliver and approve sender" button and that will ensure the system never blocks that user again. This also usually takes ten minutes.
You can manually pre-approve individual senders or entire domains so they never get blocked, from the approved senders menu. Simply add the user eg: "support@ipera.com.au", or the entire domain "@ipera.com.au".

For step by step instructions with screenshots on using Sophos PureMessage click here.

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FAQ

What is Spam?

Spam is the common term for electronic 'junk mail' – unwanted messages sent to a person's email account or mobile phone. The content of spam messages varies. Some messages promote products or services, while others attempt to trick users into providing bank account or credit card details. Many spam messages contain offensive or fraudulent material, and some spread computer viruses. Spam now makes up the majority of email traffic. Billions of unwanted spam messages clog up the internet, disrupt email delivery, reduce productivity and irritate users.

What is Sophos PureMessage?

Sophos PureMessage is a commercial product which filters 99% of spam, and also protects against email scams including phishing attacks. Sophos have a global network of threat analysis centres and provide proactive protection against new viruses and spam campaigns. Ipera offer Sophos PureMessage as an optional upgrade on all of our managed exchange plans. If you have opted for Sophos PureMessage on your subscription, you can get more information about logging in, creating blacklists and whitelists and viewing quarantined e-mails here.

What is the Ipera Outlook Plug-in

The Ipera Outlook Plug-in is a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook that allows clients to report spam e-mail directly to Ipera, so that it can be followed up by one of our skilled technicians. To read about how you can install the Ipera Outlook Plug-in, click here.

How do I know if a message is Spam?

This can be very hard to determine. The questions below can help to determine if a message is spam. However, there is no way to be 100% certain. If you cannot answer yes to several of these questions, the message is more than likely spam and you should delete it.

Is the message sent directly to you? The sender is not masking the real addresses that the message was sent to. Your address appears in the To field.
Is the message from a well-known company or organization, possibly one you are affiliated with?
Does the message indicate the email address that you are subscribed with?
Does the message tell you where you signed up and agreed to receive the messages?
Is your real name used in the body of the message?

How do I access blocked e-mails?

If you think that Sophos may have incorrectly blocked a particular e-mail, you can log in to and view blocked e-mails by pointing your browser at http://avs.ipera.net.au. Click the button indicated if you haven't already set up a username and password and PureMessage will e-mail you a password within a few minutes. Once you have entered your login details, you will be able to browse through blocked e-mails. When you find the correct e-mail, click 'deliver', and it will send the message to your ordinary Mailbox.

Note: Your blocked e-mail folder will likely contain offensive material and/or viruses and e-mail hoaxes.

I still can't find my e-mail?

If you can not find your email, you may need to check with the sender that it has not "bounced" back to them. This normally happens within minutes if the sender has entered the wrong address, however if mail is simply delayed somewhere they may not be notified until about 4 hours has passed. In some instances the sender will not see a bounce message for over 12 hours.

Ensure your sender has your correct email address and ask them to send the email again. If you are still having problems check with your IT staff or contractors who can investigate the issue and if necessary have a Ipera engineer look further into it.

Note: In some instances if the sending mail server has been blacklisted (normally because they have been sending spam) our system will not even accept mail from that server at all, so it won’t even reach the quarantine. If the sender is on a black list, the issue should be resolved reasonably quickly, as no-one on the rest of the Internet will be receiving mail from that particular address either.

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How To

Installing the Ipera Anti-Spam Outlook Plugin
How do I access quarantined/blocked e-mails?
AVS Client side configuration: This document will show the steps needed to migrate your incoming mail to be filtered by Ipera's AntiSpam/AntiVirus solution

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Sales

You can find sales resources relating to Ipera's Commercial AVS Solution Here

Sales Resources

You can find sales resources relating to Ipera's Commercial Anti Virus / Anti Spam Solution Here