Article 592 of comp.protocols.iso.x400: Path: utkcs2!emory!wuarchive!usc!orion.oac.uci.edu!ucivax!gateway From: vcerf@NRI.Reston.VA.US Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400 Subject: MCI 400/EDI Message-ID: <9012201347.aa10241@NRI.NRI.Reston.VA.US> Date: 20 Dec 90 19:06:01 GMT Lines: 294 Approved: usenet@ICS.UCI.EDU - - ------- Forwarded Message Return-Path: Received: from mcimail.com by NRI.NRI.Reston.VA.US id ab07733; 20 Dec 90 11:31 EST Date: Thu, 20 Dec 90 16:21 GMT From: Gary Oglesby <0003740491@mcimail.com> To: VCERF Cc: "Stephen J. Coya" <0001020038@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: MCI EDI 400 Message-Id: <20901220162102/0003740491PJ3EM@mcimail.com> Vint, Here are the press releases on MCI EDI 400. They may be useful to the person at HP. Gary ++++++++++++ Subject: MCI ANNOUNCES MCI EDI 400 SERVICE AND SUPPLY TECH, INC. RELATIONSHIP The announcement below is being released today, December 3, in conjunction with our participation at the EDIA 22nd Annual National Conference being held in Washington, D.C. The EDIA Conference is the 2nd largest annual EDI conference/trade show in the United States. MCI will be exhibiting and conducting demonstrations with Digital Equipment Corporation (provider of DEC/EDI software) and Supply Tech, Inc., our newest business partner. Together with our partners, we offer total software/ service solutions designed to meet customers' EDI requirements. A copy of the announcement -- as well as of the Q&A which follows -- will be included in Susie Stulz's next hardcopy mailing. Please contact me via MCI Mail with any questions, and stay tuned for further details! Susie Houck EDI Marketing Manager - - - ------------------------------ MCI ANNOUNCES MCI EDI 400 SERVICE AND SUPPLY TECH, INC. RELATIONSHIP FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jane Levene (914) 934-6480 Rye Brook, NY, December 3, 1990 -- MCI Communications Corporation today announced MCI EDI 400, an electronic data interchange (EDI) service for its MCI Mail value-added service. MCI EDI 400 enables global document exchange for both X.400 and non-X.400 trading partners. MCI also announced an agreement in principle with Supply Tech, Inc., an industry-leading EDI software provider. Under this agreement, Supply Tech will enhance its STX12 PC-based software for integration with MCI Mail. MCI EDI 400 supports all EDI standards, allows users to send and receive both EDI and interpersonal messages using a single account, and provides simplified "sender pays" billing. Users also have access to all the delivery options of MCI Mail including e-mail, facsimile, telex, postal and courier delivery. Through partnerships with Supply Tech as well as other industry-leading software and hardware providers, MCI is able to provide communications solutions to meet the full range of EDI messaging requirements. The MCI-Supply Tech relationship will offer a turnkey EDI solution to those non-X.400 trading partners seeking X.400 communications and EDI standards compatibility. The product will interface to MCI Mail and support X.400 addressing, enabling document exchange with X.400 business partners via MCI EDI 400. Users will also have access to the MCI Mail subscriber base, which includes all of MCI's interconnected public and private systems, as well as the full range of MCI Mail delivery services. The product will be commercially available in early 1991 and will be marketed by both Supply Tech and MCI. -- MORE -- -2- "Our co-marketing relationship with Supply Tech will complement our existing offerings and provide strategic communications solutions," said Seth Blumenfeld, President of MCI International, a subsidiary of MCI Communications Corporation. "This will allow MCI EDI customers to establish a virtual EDI trading partner network without concern for the technologies implemented." Consistent with this strategy, last spring MCI announced certification of Digital Equipment Corporation's DEC/EDI software for use with MCI Mail's X.400 service. MCI also offers customers assistance in facilitating trading partner networks. EDI is the electronic exchange of structured business documents such as purchase orders, invoices, and bills of lading that provides a more efficient alternative to paper form processing. X.400 is the internationally agreed-upon protocol for electronic mail exchange which allows communication between dissimilar messaging systems. In addition to its current X.400 service, which supports both EDI and IPM transport, MCI has also committed to the development of an X.400 Message Handling System which meets the full requirements of the latest internationally agreed upon X.400/X.500 CCITT standards. Supply Tech, Inc. was founded in 1984 by industry-based computer professionals and has built an outstanding reputation in the EDI industry. The company, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, provides a complete range of services and specializes in the development of EDI, bar code label generation, and data collection software products. Supply Tech actively participates in EDI standards groups and is recognized as an industry leader. MCI offers a full range of domestic and international communications services. International services include worldwide direct dialing, telex, facsimile, electronic mail, private voice and data networks and television transmission. MCI's offices in 50 countries worldwide are positioned to provide and support the full range of global telecommunications services. #### ************************************************************************** Q&A BACKGROUNDER: MCI ANNOUNCES MCI EDI 400 SERVICE AND SUPPLY TECH, INC. RELATIONSHIP ******** COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL ******** 1. What did MCI announce? The press release MCI issued today includes two announcements: (1) MCI's "MCI EDI 400" service and (2) the agreement between MCII and Supply Tech, Inc. (STI) to enter a co-marketing relationship. 2. What is "MCI EDI 400"? MCI EDI 400 is MCI's name for its X.400-based EDI service. MCI's vision -- and that of the marketplace being monitored -- is that EDI is but one of the objects being transported via X.400. MCI EDI 400 provides a common transport platform for both EDI and IPM, offering customers the ability to maximize their investment in X.400. Additional features of the service include: o EDI standards support: Transport of all public EDI formats such such as ANSI X12, TDCC, UCS, WINS and EDIFACT as well as all proprietary formats. o Global document exchange: Worldwide transport for EDI and IPM via MCI's X.400 and proprietary interconnections. o Simplified billing: "Sender pays" policy employed for ease in tracking costs. o MCI Mail delivery and service options support: User access to the full range of e-mail, facsimile, telex, postal and courier delivery services. o Partnerships with industry experts: Co-marketing partnerships with hardware and software leaders to bring total solutions to the marketplace. MCI provides communications and messaging expertise; our partners provide hardware, software and EDI expertise. o Integration of EDI and IPM: Single gateway account support for exchange of both message types. X.400 addressing provides the enveloping for the messages. 3. When will MCI EDI 400 be available? MCI EDI 400 is available today. 4. Who is Supply Tech, Inc.? Supply Tech is an industry-leading EDI software development company which currently has an installed base of about 3,500. Known for their popular STX12 software, STI also offers a complete range of services and specializes in the development of EDI, bar code label generation and data collection softwra products. Supply Tech actively participates in EDI standards groups and is recognized as an industry leader. STI is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 5. Why is the MCII/STI relationship significant? Supply Tech is an industry-leading EDI software company. STX12 is Supply Tech's (STI) popular IBM PC-based EDI software. The combination of MCI's communications service and STI software enable the customer to use one common transport system (MCI Mail) for both EDI and electronic mail, reducing communications costs and maximizing efficiency and resources. In addition, this solution: o Represents the first turnkey EDI solution available to the MCI Mail non-X.400 subscriber base. o STI's STX12 software will be the first EDI software certified for use with MCI Mail which utilizes the MEP2 protocol. o Supports MCI's strategy of integrated messaging -- the use of a single gateway for both interpersonal messaging and EDI for global communications. o Will enable EDI document exchange between large and small trading partners, and specifically, between EDI systems communicating via X.400 and the non-X.400 MCI Mail subscriber base. o Facilitates the establishment of trading partner networks without regard to technical issues. 6. Explain specifically what MCI and Supply Tech will each offer. The MCII-Supply Tech co-marketing relationship will bring an IBM PC-based turnkey EDI solution to those non-X.400 trading partners seeking X.400 communications and EDI standards compatibility. MCI will offer transport for users of Supply Tech's STX12 EDI software. That is, STI's STX12 software customers may select MCI as their communications provider. STX12 users will have full access to the EDI functions and capabilities of the STX12 software, but in addition, the software will also be integrated with MCI Mail. STX12 users will have the ability to create and exchange both EDI and interpersonal messages for delivery via MCI Mail. A single MCI Mail account will support the exchange of both EDI and IPM message types. STX12 users may address messages for e-mail, facsimile, telex, postal and courier delivery. Via MCI EDI 400, STX12 users will have the capability to communicate with both X.400 systems and non-X.400 business partners. STI will offer its PC-based EDI software and all support and maintenance for the product. The software may be used on a standalone PC or on a PC front-ended to a mainframe. Both MCI and STI will market the product. 7. When will this product be available? The product is targeted for early '91 commercial availability. 8. Will MCI sell the STX12 software? Yes. MCI will manage license execution between the customer and STI. Details will follow. 9. How is this solution priced? MCI prices EDI and IPM the same: standard message rates apply and volume discounts are available. Pricing of the STX12 software will be available at a later date. 10. Are any other VANS which interconnect with the STX12 product? STX12 currently supports interconnection to most other VANS via customer purchase of a "log-on". Multiple log-ons can be supported. Among the VANS to which STX12 will interconnect are AT&T, GEIS, Dialcom, IBM and INFONET. Only the MCI Mail log-on will support integration with MCI Mail service and delivery delivery options. 12. What other EDI solutions does MCI offer? Last spring, MCI announced certification of Digital Equipment Corporation's DEC/EDI software for use with XChange 400. This solution enables users of DEC's software to select MCI as their X.400 ADMD for both IPM and EDI. This solution represents the first commercially-available turnkey EDI solution for MCI customers resulting from MCI's partnerships with industry leaders. MCI has long offered proprietary EDI solutions via its MCI Mail Scripts product, Automated Money Transfer Service (AMTS) and the Link Family of Products. - - ---------------------------------- End forwarded message Article 29337 of comp.dcom.telecom: Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!wupost!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ames!lll-winken!telecom-request From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Way Cool MCI Mail Binary File Handling Message-ID: Date: 20 Jul 92 15:51:00 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 40 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 576, Message 6 of 11 Clarifications for those interested: X.PC is a Tymnet developed protocol that is like X.25 for dialup terminals. MCI does use X.PC to provide a reliable link. One problem with X.PC is that it does require 8 bit transparency which means it can run into difficulties through some paths. The newer MCI (9600bps) lines support MNP5 for compression and error correction but the reliability is only modem to modem and not end to end like X.PC, though that might not be a problem because ... MEP2 is a protocol for exchanging mail messages. It is symmetric with the two ends taking turns as master and slave. The master presents an envelope and then body parts (in the X.400 sense, not the medical sense!) which can be binary or ASCII. MEP2 encodes everything in printable ASCII so that it can run over essentially any link. It uses simple checksums for error checking. There is a retransmission protocol to recover from errors but I've always felt hanging up and retrying made a lot more sense. Since MEP2 does error checking and X.PC and MNP provide reliable links (end to end or modem to modem), MEP2 rarely gets stressed. Even without the lower level error correction, many phone lines themselves are quite reliable. One downside of MEP2 is that there is no header/envelope distinction which means you can't separate the routing information from the header and thus it is difficult to write a proper gateway between MCI and other systems. The new support for binary files in the INTERACTIVE sessions as well as the encoding of attachments exchanged with the Internet does strengthen MCI as a full mail service. Note that the Internet encoding is not really a function of MCI itself, but of the gateway that translates between MEP2 and SMTP (I assume). One advantage of MCI is that it does provide an email service for end users with national (and some international) support. Now, if they'd only deal with headers ... Disclaimer: Since I wrote much of Lotus Express, I'm not an entirely unbiased observer. Article 30526 of comp.dcom.telecom: Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!news.acns.nwu.edu!telecom-request Date: Wed, 02 Sep 92 21:28:01 EDT From: Paul Robinson Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: MCI Mail Automatic Autoforwarding (MCI Press Release) Reply-To: TDarcos@mcimail.com Message-ID: Organization: TELECOM Digest Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 679, Message 1 of 15 Lines: 80 MCI MAIL INTRODUCES AUTOMATIC FORWARDING CAPABILITIES TO ENHANCE MESSAGING FLEXIBILITY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jane Levene (914) 934-6480 Internet: 2671163@MCIMAIL.COM Corporation (MCI), today announced a new electronic mail feature which allows customers to automatically forward their incoming MCI Mail messages to any destination including other MCI Mail users, X.400 recipients, and any fax, telex or postal address for a specified period of time. This new feature, AutoForward, is available immediately and gives MCI Mail users more control in managing their correspondence. The new functionality allows MCI Mail customers to have multiple AutoForward settings to control the starting/ending dates and the specific recipients or destinations for their autoforwarded messages. Customers with active settings are notified immediately when they log on to MCI Mail. Settings may be edited for future reactivation, cancelled to immediately terminate an active setting, or deleted entirely from a user's account. "The AutoForward feature is designed to make it easier for people to manage their day-to-day correspondence whether they are in or out of the office", said Jerry DeMartino, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for MCI International, a subsidiary of MCI. "It is particularly useful for business executives, and people on vacation or personal leave who may not have immediate access to a PC. Customers can AutoForward messages to fax machines at their hotels. And market research suggests that AutoForward can be used to distribute market survey results and customer feedback. Other uses for AutoForward are limited only to our customers' imaginations." MCI Mail customers can use the Autoforward feature by typing CREATE AUTOFORWARD at the Command: prompt. MCI Mail will prompt the user to provide a start and end date, as well as the name they want to give their AutoForward setting and the recipients to whom they want their AutoForwarded messages delivered. Once the user has entered their setting information and confirmed that the information is accurate, the setting will become active based on the Start Date and Time provided by the user. For further details, customers may type HELP AUTOFORWARD at the on-line Command: prompt. MCI Mail provides a complete range of messaging services including electronic mail, EDI, X.400. fax, telex, hardcopy postal and courier delivery worldwide. Customers can access MCI Mail through a toll-free number in the U.S., through packet switched networks in over 90 countries, or via MCI Mail Global Access, currently offered in 27 countries. MCI offers a full spectrum of domestic and international communications services. In addition to electronic mail, other international services include worldwide direct dialing, MCI CALL USA, MCI WORLD REACH, 800 services, telex, private voice and data networks and television transmission. MCI offices in over 50 countries, Guam and Puerto Rico are positioned to provide and support the full range of global telecommunications services. -------------- [Moderator's Note: With all these improvements MCI Mail is making to their system, I wonder why they still have not managed to bring their service into compliance with Internet mail standards. There is not a week goes by that mcimail.com does not dump out at least one and as often as not two or three issues of TELECOM Digest undelivered due to a bad name on the list or some other problem. The rule is supposed to be that delivery of the same email to multiple names is not affected because of one bad name: you skip that one and deliver to the others. Several dozen readers at mcimail.com don't get their copy because MCI dumps the whole load. Of course then I have to pull the bad name from the list and resend the issue to everyone there. My solution soon will be to discontinue delivery of the Digest to MCI Mail and send subscrib- ers there a note suggesting they bring pressure on MCI Mail honchos to join the rest of the email world in conforming to standards set up to serve everyone. I've tried calling MCI Mail about this; I get nowhere fast. PAT]