MCI Mail was one of the first commercialemail services in the United States and predates the widespread adoption of theInternet.
The MCI Mail service was launched on September 23, 1983, in Washington, D.C., during a press conference that was hosted by MCI's founder and Chairman,William G. McGowan.[1] MCI Mail was the first commercial email service to use the Internet, in 1989.[2][3] The service was officially decommissioned by MCI at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 30, 2003.[4]
William G. McGowan, MCI's founder and chairman, joined the corporation in 1968.[1] In the early stages of creation, McGowan and his fellow contributors got their inspiration from corporations such asTelenet andWestern Union's EasyLink.[5] With a primary goal of broadcasting MCI Mail services on an international level, he headed a lobbying campaign to fight for theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to expand.[1] Upon approval by the FCC to begin working, McGowan knew he had to keep up with the challenges and threats that its biggest competitor,AT&T, imposed.[6]
Robert Harcharik was the President of Tymnet when he was recruited to MCI to develop what he called a "digital postoffice." Eventually this service became known as MCI Mail. Harcharik recruited and organized a development team that includedVint Cerf.
In late 1982,Vint Cerf, one of the original designers of the MCI email service, was one of the main contractors who served from 1982 to 1986 as MCI's Vice President of Digital Information Services.[7] During his time in office, he acted as one of the driving forces behind the creation of the MCI Mail service. Cerf worked on the data networking related hardware and software applications of the MCI Mail.[5] After an eight-year separation from the corporation to work with his Internet partner, Robert E. Kahn at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), Cerf returned to MCI in 1994, where he served as Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy until 2005 when MCI was sold toVerizon.[7]
The service initially allowed users to send electronic text-based messages to other MCI Mail users. MCI Mail also supported read receipts and charge codes, allowing for cost accounting for email. Later, the service was expanded so that users could send messages to non-MCI Mail users, including users on other public messaging services, such asAT&T Mail,CompuServe, andSprintMail.[8] By 1989, a gateway to theInternet was also provided.[2] MCI Mail users were assigned an email address of either their MCI Mail ID @mcimail.com (e.g. 2180241@mcimail.com), their user name @mcimail.com (e.g. bsmith@mcimail.com), or their formal name @mcimail.com (e.g. Bob_Smith@mcimail.com). Several email software products were developed to facilitate email handling from a PC. These included Lotus Express,Norton Commander's MCI Mail utility, MailRoom from Sierra Solutions, Emma, and MCI's own MCI Mail Express and Express Lite.[7] The email facility inMicrosoft Bob also used MCI Mail.[8]
Customers could send hard-copyMCI Letter messages to postal addresses. These werelaser printed at an MCI Mail print site, placed in an envelope and mailed via theU.S. Postal Service.[8] The cost was $2 for up to 3 pages for an MCI Letter, and $9 for an Overnight Letter. The service was attractive because there were few affordableletter-quality laser printers available to consumers at the time. Most consumers could only afford low qualitydot matrix printers, which were not suitable for business correspondence. It also saved a trip to the post office.[5] Prior to 1996, the service also allowed users a4-Hour delivery option. The4-hour service in particular was attractive as no one else offered the ability to print a document and have it delivered in this time frame. There were 15 print facilities around the U.S. which offered this service.[5] The most popular locations were New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. At one point there was a print facility in Hawaii and they also ventured into the international space with a location inBrussels, Belgium. The hard copy delivery service was later discontinued due to the high operating cost, the increasing availability of letter-quality home printers, and the increased use of email.[8]
MCI Mail also offered gateways to faxing called Fax Dispatch (email to fax, outbound only) andtelex called Telex Dispatch (in and outbound).[9]
MCI Mail supported gateways tolocal area networks by use of its REMS ("Remote Electronic Mail System") addressing. REMS addressing took the form of {display name}|REMS:{rems name}/{network mapping on the email server}. For example, Bob Smith|REMS:XYZCompany/ntserver/email/bsmith.[citation needed]
MCI Mail was a custom software application developed for MCI byDigital Equipment Corporation (DEC)[5] Software Services organization, running under theVMS operating system, initially on VAX 780's, and by Hewlett-Packard, running under theMPE operating system, onHP-3000 computers with output generated on HP laser printers. In 1985, MCI International entered the email landscape using Data General MV Seriesminicomputers and co-developed propitiatory applications using theX.400 email protocol standards. The Data General Eclipse MV/8000 was the first in a family of 32-bit minicomputers using theirAOS/VS operating system and supported the notion of lightweight "tasks" as well as processes. The first MCI International offerings were developed for their French market. Access to the initial MCI Mail service was provided using a 110-, 300-, 1200-, 2400- or(5600 was probably a typo for 9600 because 56 kbit/s V.90 modems came out in 1998) bits/secondmodem connected to a standard telephoneland line.[8] Thetoll-free access number for MCI Mail was (800) 444-Mail. From outside the United States, MCI Mail could be accessed via localpacket switching services that were offered by local telephone companies. Around 1990 access was also provided via Infonet's dedicated data network. MCI Mail branded this access service: MCI Mail Global Access.[citation needed]
The service was primarily sold using a third-party "agency program". Agents were paid a commission on usage. One of these agents, Gary Oppenheimer, created what is believed to be the first electronically delivered newsletter.[5] Called the PEN (Periodic Electronic Newsletter), it was published from August 1985 until November 1996, and provided both customers and many MCI employees with information on a few features available, as well as hints and tricks for using MCI Mail.[5] Long before spam became a problem on the Internet, Oppenheimer broadcast the planned table of contents, giving the recipients the opportunity to opt-out of receiving the newsletter. The final edition of the PEN newsletter included articles on Concert Packet Switching Service for MCI Mail, MCI Mail Telephone update, Cellular Access to MCI Mail, List of Access Cellular Numbers, Logon Procedures, X.400 Access via Frame Relay, MCI Never Busy Fax, Mailroom/Mailplus & MIME, internetMCI software, domainTNG, Newsgroups/Lists, and Web Surfing via MCI Mail.[8]
In the mid 1990s, the Internet became a commercialized platform offering free email services by top industry vendors such asHotmail.[5] This shift rocked MCI Mail's electronic message delivery and receiving rates, as customers were more inclined to use services available to them with no charge.[5] In addition to an increase in industry competition, the modernization of thefax machine proved more efficient and valuable to customers than MCI Mail's services.[10]
These industry advances contributed to the eventual decommission of MCI Mail on June 30, 2003, at 11:59 P.M. ET.[4]
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| MCI Mail TV advertisements via YouTube, ca. 1983 | |
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