The Internet mail service can enable the entire OfficeTalk workgroup to send and receive Internet mail using just one connection to the Internet. The OfficeTalk Internet mail service is capable of receiving Internet mail from either a POP3 server or an SMTP server and can send mail via an SMTP server. This means that it is ideal for either dial up or dedicated connections.
At least one OfficeTalk machine must be configured as a gateway machine. A gateway machine is responsible for connecting to the Internet and sending and receiving mail for the entire workgroup. All other OfficeTalk machines send and receive their mail to and from the workgroup database. Periodically, the gateway machine reads the outgoing messages from the workgroup database, connects to the Internet and sends the mail. Simultaneously, the gateway machine collects mail from all configured POP3 mailboxes or the specified SMTP server and distributes the mail to the appropriate OfficeTalk user.