Does anybody know anything about PMX/Term from AT&T? (**LONG**)

[Andrew L. Fryefield]

Well, here's everything you always wanted to know about PMX/TERM and
PMX/STARMail...

Basically, PMX is a family of messaging software available from AT&T
which runs on UNIX systems (but as has been noted, there's a DOS-only
STARLAN version as well).  There are a number of PMX components, each designed
to interface to a particular type of equipment.  In addition, there are
AT&T Mail Access products which run on stand-alone MS-DOS PCs and Apple
Macintoshes.  All the products (PMX and Access) work with one another, and
give you a similar interface and set of capabilities.

The various products offered by AT&T include:

  Access PLUS: A very powerful, easy to use, MS-DOS package.  It's used to
     transfer mail between the PC and the public AT&T Mail network, or between
     the PC and a PMX machine.  All the work is done off-line on the PC.
     When you want to send or receive mail, the package will dial your modem
     (or ISN, or whatever) and call out to the "mail server" (AT&T Mail or
     PMX) and transfer the mail.  There's a real nice background capability
     that allows all the connects/sends/receives to go on in the background
     while you're doing other things.  In addition, there's a memory-resident
     "pop up" version of the mail program which allows you to send/receive/read
     mail without having to exit from the application you're using.  There's
     also a memory-resident "phone book" available as part of Access PLUS.
     As part of the background capability, users get notification when mail
     has been received, regardless of what application is currently being used.

  Access III: An Apple Macintosh mail package, designed for use with AT&T Mail
     and PMX.  It supports similar capabilities to what Access PLUS does.

  PMX/TERM: Designed for any async terminal you can define with terminfo
     (it uses curses).  It provides a nice, full-screen interface, and allows
     users to create/read/modify/send/store messages, etc.  It has the same
     interface and capabilities as Access PLUS.

  PMX/PC: The gateway that allows a PC or Mac running one of the Access
     programs to send/receive mail using the UNIX machine as the "post office".

  PMX/STARMail: A version of PMX designed for PCs connected together in a
     STARLAN network.  There are versions for MS-DOS file servers, 3B2 file
     servers, and 386 UNIX file servers.  The user interface is the same as
     Access PLUS... same capabilities, same pop-up programs, etc.  Users get
     automatic notification of new mail when it has arrived.  (Also, we are
     working on versions which will run on LANs other than STARLAN.)

  PMX/STARGATE: A gateway that allows a UNIX system (with or without any other
     PMX software) to exchange mail with a DOS-only STARMail LAN.  Thus, using
     STARGATE, you can send mail from a DOS STARMail network to a UNIX machine,
     and therefore, through uucp, etc.

  PMX/LITE: A PMX adjunct that works together with any or all of the UNIX-based
     PMX products.  It turns the "message waiting light" on a system 75/85
     phone on when mail arrives for you, and turns it off when you've retrieved
     your mail.

  PMX/X400: Provides X.400 connectivity to other mail systems.

As part of PMX, there is also a new, enhanced /bin/(r)mail command.  The two
main differences between the standard mail command and the PMX version is
that the new version supports the transfer of binary messages 
(e.g. spreadsheets, word processor files, etc), and supports a "surrogate"
capability that allows you to execute programs based on the sending and/or
delivery of a mail message.  All the PMX products use the mail command to
send messages, so PMX users can send to non-PMX users, and vice versa.  And,
obviously, PMX/TERM users can communicate with STARMail users, ...

PMX gives you transparent connectivity to the AT&T Mail network, assuming
your UNIX machine or LAN is registered with AT&T Mail.  Thus, you get access
to the capabilities provided by AT&T Mail, such as delivery to FAX machines,
devlivery to Telex, paper delivery, etc.

So, as a fully-loaded example, you could have a UNIX machine (3B2 for example)
that is acting as a STARLAN server, with normal tty access as well.  With all
various PMX and Access products, you could offer mail connectivity to all the
following types of users and systems:
  - Terminal users (PMX/TERM)
  - Stand-alone PC users connecting to the UNIX machine (Access PLUS talking
     to PMX/PC)
  - Stand-alone Macs (Access III and PMX/PC)
  - PCs connected via STARLAN (PMX/STARMail)
  - Local UNIX users who use non-PMX mailers (mail, post, PCS, etc.)
  - Remote UNIX systems and AT&T Mail (uucp)
  - Remote DOS STARMail LANs (STARGATE)
  - International email systems, and other vendor's systems, which support
     X.400 (PMX/X400)

Well, I hope I've cleared things up a bit.  If anyone has any questions
on AT&T Mail or PMX (including info on availability or prices), the best bet
is to call the AT&T Mail Telemarketing Center at (800) 367-7225, or send mail
to attmail!atthelp (if you've got a connection to AT&T Mail).  Or, you can send
me mail.

Andy Fryefield
attmail!afryefield