Once in MCIMail, I manually enter my name and password (Ill eventually create a macro to do this). I key in CR (for create new message) and enter the addressees name. MCIMail automatically accesses an MCIMail address list I keep, and fills in the corresponding e-mail address or fax number in the MCI address field. I could just as well use a new MCIMail e-mail address or a fax telephone number. If I want to send copies of the message to other people, I fill in the additional addresses. I fill in the Re: line with the subject of the message. Finally I press (MENU) File Send from DataComm, fill in the name of the ASCII text file I want to send and press (ENTER). The file is automatically uploaded to MCIMail. I could have created a short message during my online session, but sometimes that is inconvenient and sometimes phone static interrupts the entry process.
Using DataComm with a fax/modem card
After inserting the card and connecting it to the phone line, I had to figure out the proper configuration for the HP 100LXs DataComm program. After some trial and error, I got it right. From DataComm press (MENU) Connect Settings to go to the DataComm Settings dialog box, seen below. I configure the Settings dialog box as follows:
Baud = 9600 Interface = Com2 Parity = None Data Bits = 8 Stop Bits = 1
Then I press (N) to go to the Phone Settings dialog box (see below). I make sure the Type is set to Tone and the Timeout is set to 45 seconds. Then I enter the MCIMail 800 telephone number. (Numbers are preceded by a 1, no spaces or hyphens between number groups.)
After entering these settings the first time, still in the Settings dialog box, press (F8) (SaveAs). This allows you to save configuration setting to a file so you can easily load them again in the future. I saved my configurations to a file I named MCI1.DCF. Whenever I want to load the settings, I open the Settings dialog box, press (F7) (Open) tab to the Files box and highlight MCI1.DCF and press (F10). I have another configurations settings file (MCI9.DCF) that has the 800 number preceded by a 9 and a 1, instead of just the 1. This is for dialing from business and hotel phone systems where you have to dial 9 to get an outside line.