E-mail and Internet services are becoming increasingly popular
methods of keeping in touch with family, friends, and business
contacts around the world. (Hey, it's how you found us!)
They offer instant access to remote sources and receivers
of information, and allow correspondents to send messages
without worrying about whether the counterpart is in the
same time zone.
Before you leave your home country you should find out whether
your Internet Service Provider (ISP) operates in your destination
country, and whether you will be able to use the same accounting
in your new location. It may be preferable from a cost perspective
to use a local ISP in your destination country, as long as
services are comparable.
In some countries additional telephone lines for modem connection
can take time to be installed, so prepare yourself and your
family members for the possibility of being offline for awhile.
In addition, depending on the quality of local telephone service,
and the availability of "high speed" or ISDN lines,
you may experience slower connection and data transmission
time.
Cyber-cafés
A cyber-café, which offers the use of computers to access the Internet
and E-mail in a "café setting", can be found in cities all over
the world. Travelers, businesspeople, students and tourists, who may not
have their own computers with them, or have experienced difficulty getting
connected in the foreign environment, can buy Internet access or computer-connectivity
time by the hour, while sipping coffee. Cyber-cafes provide a convenient
way to check your E-mail. You may need to set up your access codes before
you leave home: some E-mail software requires a password for remote access.
Always remember to delete your E-mail from the café's computer otherwise
anyone can read it. You can surf the Web, print out letters and memos,
save data on a floppy disk to take with you, or maybe even play a game.
Using the Web
If you are traveling without your own computer, it is possible to setup
E-mail boxes on web browsers, protected by a username and password. You
can transmit and receive mail, as well as save and store information. This
will eliminate the need to reconfigure the software on someone else's computer,
which is often necessary in order to get access to private or corporate
E-mail systems.
|
