Bedfordshire Schools' Web Site - Email Audit 

Audit on the performance of the School Email systems  

This audit of the School Email system was performed following concerns raised by users concerning undelivered email and apparently lengthy delays in the delivery of mail through the system.

All mail passing though the Schools’ email system over the period 28^th February to 6^th March 2005 was recorded and monitored.

In addition, a new online reporting facility for faults was set up.  This system provided a simple web form for users to report faults and also encouraged those reporting faults to give sufficient information for the fault to be correctly  identified and rectified  - overcoming the anecdotal and generic reporting that ‘email does not work’.

Recorded Results for the audit period:-

Inbound emails

Total number of inbound emails arriving at system:                                               46211

Number of SPAM or unsuitable emails identified at 1^st level filter:                      26012

Number of inbound virused emails detected and removed:                                      240

Number of unsuitable emails removed at 2^nd level filter:                                           179

Number of SPAM emails removed at second level filter:                                          259

Number of false positives generated by filters – identified

and forwarded within 24 hours (4 in a foreign language):                                            8

Inbound emails delivered normally:                                                                         19513

Outbound & internal emails

Total number of outbound/internal mails sent via system:                                      6042

Outbound emails blocked due to content or viruses:                                                  47

Outbound SPAM from schools blocked:                                                                    106

Reported faults during period: 4 – these were fully investigated and identified:-

4 reported non-deliveries – tracked and 2 - identified to wrongly addressed user id email address from sender and had been bounced back to the sender by the server; remaining 2 had not arrived at the network so had probably had the domain part of the address spelt incorrectly – these should have been bounced back by the senders’ email own systems.

The reporting mechanism was found to be useful in capturing the full information needed to properly trace and identify faults will remain available as a reporting system for users.