Frequently Asked Questions

Everyone has questions.

Here are the answers to the ones we are asked most often.

What about Yahoo, HotMail, Windows Live Mail etc? Aren't they free?

You can sign up for free email accounts with various services. However, these aren't specifically designed for people with extra requirements, like kids, pre-teends, the elderly, the infirm, those with cognitive difficulties or the vulnerable, all of whom deserve to have email if they want it. They all have advertisements on the web pages that people use to read their email and there is no guarantee those adverts are for products that are suitable for this type of person. And because those free services are very popular with all adults, unscrupulous spammers often just email random addresses in the hope that the email will be delivered - and it is those emails which will end up in your inbox. Free accounts are not designed for people that need extra help and they have no control mechanisms that can bring you peace of mind. For more information, see the next question below.

Back to questions

I already have some kind of anti-spam protection, why should I pay for this?

The spam protection used by SAFEnSOUNDmail is the most advanced available, so the chances are it's even better than the anti-spam protection you already have. But more importantly, the SAFEnSOUNDmail system allows you to control precisely how you use email. Your existing anti-spam protection can't (and doesn't even try to) distinguish between an email from a person's friend or family member, versus one from the school bully or a criminal attempting a scam. They also won't allow you to adapt the level of protection received as the user grows and/or learns to use the internet responsibly. Lastly it's unlikely that they offer you personal support in the event that you encounter any problems. Read more about why safe email is so useful.

Back to questions

How easy is this system to use?

The simple answer is "very". We've designed it to be simple to use for an internet novice, but powerful enough for the experienced internet user. Our web pages have been designed by a usability expert - a person whose job it is to make sure everything is clear and simple. Every step of the way your options are explained to you in clear, simple language, free of jargon. We also offer full support to all our users. If our online help doesn't answer your questions (it's just a click away - see the 'Help' link at the foot of the page) you can get in touch directly to ask us for help.

Back to questions

What kind of email monitoring can I do?

We have flexible controls which allow you the choice of of how much monitoring and moderating you do. You can allow your accounts to send and receive mail independently or you can choose to be notified under different circumstances according to your chosen settings. Read more about how it works.

Back to questions

What's SPAM?

Spam is a term for what is more formally called Unsolicited Commercial Email. To some people, that means "junk mail" - companies trying to sell you things you are not interested in. Because sending any one email is free, companies can send literally millions of these messages every day. This is bad enough, but unfortunately this tends to mean marketing products that are typically those least suited to sensitive or vulnerable people - the young, the elderly and so on. Things like drugs and medicines, pornography, mortgages, insurance and such like are commonly advertised in spam email. And unfortunately, sometimes, such messages can contain explicit material.

Back to questions

How safe is SAFEnSOUNDmail?

The level of protection our system offers varies depending on the settings that you choose as appropriate for your needs. With the most restrictive setting, your accounts won't receive any email from anybody at all! That's obviously too restrictive in most cases, so the next level of permissiveness lets your accounts receive email from people that you have approved as trusted senders. This means your accounts won't get any spam messages or email from people you don't know. This makes it one of the safest systems available - unlike those like Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail where anybody at all can send absolutely anything. As your needs change your accounts can keep the same email address but you can adjust the settings to be a little less restrictive if appropriate. And if and when you're ready for them to manage the whole thing themselves you can turn off all restrictions.

Back to questions

Why should I trust SAFEnSOUNDmail?

SAFEnSOUNDmail is a system built by email experts and is owned by a successful IT company founded over 30 years ago. SAFEnSOUNDmail has been running successfully since 2008.

Back to questions

Why do I need it? Who would choose to email something inappropriate?

There are two big concerns of parents when allowing someone you care about - a child, an elderly parent, someone with special mental health needs, etc. - to use email. The first is spam messages. As described above, the trouble with these is that they tend to be adverts for products that really aren't suitable for these people, like drugs, sexual materials and so forth. Not only that but they often contain explicit images and text. Unfortunately the companies that use email to market these products can't distinguish between the email address of someonen like this and that of other adults. All email accounts are virtually guaranteed they to receive this kind of message at some point, no matter how good the spam filters are. The other problem is contact from other individuals that you might not wish them to receive. In the case of the children, this could be from a stranger who doesn't realize they're a child, a stranger that does realize they're a child and contacts them precisely for that reason, or from someone who knows the child and is using email to harass them in someway. In the case of a vulnerable older person, this could be someone looking to take advantage of them, most likely some kind of scam to defraud them or steal from them. And even if the intent isn't nefarious, older people in particular can be confused by emails offering them services they don't need, things they don't remember signing up for or asking them questions to which they don't know the answer. SAFEnSOUNDmail is an excellent, reliable, fast and easy to use email system that protects the people you care about from all these unwanted emails using sophisticated but easy to use technology.

Back to questions

How much does it cost and what do I get for my money?

A subscription to the SAFEnSOUNDmail system costs just $5 a month. This gives you five email accounts, so one subscription can cover an entire family. Each account has plenty of storage, so the mailboxes won't fill up. Not only that but you get full and unrestricted access to those mailboxes, unlike free service providers, using either your web browser or the mail program on your computer (for the technically minded the means we offer webmail, POP3 and IMAP access, as well as authenticated SMTP for sending email).

Back to questions

Is there a free trial so I can find out if this works for me?

Absolutely! We're convinced you're going to love how simple and secure SAFEnSOUNDmail is, so we want you to try it for free. Just visit free trial to get started - no credit card is required.

Back to questions

I have loved the free trial and want to subscribe now. How do I do that?

You can subscribe here or click the "Your Account" button at the top of the page when you're logged in. You pay safely by Credit Card through our payment provider, Stripe. We don't get access to your credit card details directly and we don't store that information on our servers - it's all handled by Stripe, one the world's biggest payment processors.

Back to questions

Which email programs is this system compatible with?

All of them! You can use a web browser on any computer to read and write email. You can also use a dedicated email program like Outlook, Outlook Express, Mac Mail, Windows Mail, Eudora and so on. It also works with all smart phones and mobile devices, on iOS and Android. It even works on Amazon Fire. In fact it works with any device that can send and receive email.

Back to questions

Doesn't this mean I am spying? Shouldn't I let them learn themselves?

The level of control and oversight you have over your accounts is up to you and can easily be configured within the SAFEnSOUNDmail system. If you feel it is appropriate to vet all of the email you can do so. If you're happy to let them have more privacy then you can choose to control who sends the email without reading the content. SAFEnSOUNDmail puts you in charge and gives you just the right amount of control as appropriate for you and those you care about. And as they grow and learn you can adjust that control to suit you both.

Sign Up for a totally free 30 day trial.

SAFEnSOUNDmail is a product of DSC © 2009-2024