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Vizada SkyFile® Mail - Frequently Asked Questions

Outfitter Satellite is a Vizada Solutions Certifed Partner. 1. What is SkyFile® Mail?
2. Can I use my existing e-mail account?
3. How much does it cost to use SkyFile® Mail?
4. What are the rules regarding mail box size?
5. Where can I get the latest SkyFile® software?


1. What is SkyFile® Mail?
This software package runs on most Windows operating systems and allows a user to send and receive e-mails and faxes over Iridium, Thuraya, or Inmarsat. It can compress e-mail text up to 90% making it cost-effective to use with low bandwidth connections. It provides automatic notification to alert users to incoming e-mail. It also provides automatic crash recovery allowing a user to restart an e-mail send/receive session from where it was interrupted in case of a call drop. Here is a quick overview of some of the features that are available:
  • SkyFile® Mail is compatible with Windows 2000, 2003, XP, and Vista. It is not compatible with Mac.
  • E-mail Account
  • Digital Faxing via your computer
  • Optional Virus and Spam Filtering
  • Powerful Compression Software (up to 90% compression)
  • Crash & Recovery allowing large email attachments up to 1MegaByte to be transmitted or received successfully even if several satellite calls are required due to poor signal issues.
  • SkyFile® Mail lets you selectively download email text without Attachments so that even if someone sends you a large attachment that you do not want to download immediately, you can download the rest of your email. The large attachment can be downloaded later via a web interface when you have a conventional (terrestrial-based) high speed internet connection.


2. Can I use my existing e-mail account with SkyFile® Mail?
You will be assigned a unique SkyFile e-mail account when you sign up for SkyFile. A user's regular e-mail account can usually be forwarded to the SkyFile account if needed. Some e-mail services do not support automatic forwarding of e-mails. Please check with your e-mail provider.

3. How much does it cost to use SkyFile® Mail?
SkyFile itself is free of charge. Obviously the customer pays for connection time over the satellite. SkyFile is designed to reduce connection time by using compression to minimize the size of the e-mails. The actual cost of using SkyFile will depend on several factors: How many e-mails are sent and received, the size of each e-mail, and the size of any attachments. If SkyFile® is being used with Iridium or Thuraya phones the cost will be measured in minutes of air time. If SkyFile is used over a BGAN in standard IP mode, the cost will be measured in MB of data sent and received.

4. What are the rules regarding mail box size for SkyFile® Mail?
The following limits apply:
  • The maximum mailbox size is 10 times the configured mail size limit.
  • If the server was dialled within the last 2 days, up to 250 mails are accepted if the user has subaccounts or up to 100 without subaccounts.
  • If the server was dialed within the last 3 to 10 days, up to 50 mails are accepted. If the customer has not dialed the server within the last 10 days, only 10 mails are accepted; the sender will get "Mailbox full" for the 11th mail. This rule does not apply to prepaid users, 50 mails are accepted regardless of the last dial-in.
  • Old mails are deleted after 30 days, and a notification is bounced to the sender.
  • After 3 months without a dial-in no new mails are accepted, senders get a "User inactive" bounce mail. The webmail log-in does not count as a dial-in, so it will not increase the mailbox size. As soon as a new dial-in occurs, new mails will resume being accepted.


5. Where can I get the latest SkyFile® software?
SkyFile itself is free of charge.

We recommend SkyFile 8.0.3 which you can download by clicking here.
Please call if you need technical assistance installing SkyFile.




*Note: SkyFile® Mail and SkyFile® Weather are registered trademarks of Vizada.

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