| 摘要 |
<p>A delivery server (102), and a method of operating same for providing an electronic mail service for the delivery of essential mail items to a subscriber (103) in electronic form. The delivery server (102) has an associated database (114) containing subscriber details, and receives from the subscriber (103) a nomination of at least one service provider (310) from which the subscriber wishes to receive essential mail items in electronic form. The nomination is stored in the database (114) in association with the subscriber details. A trusted communications channel is established between the delivery server (102) and a service provider (310) computer system, for example via the Internet (106) or other public network. The delivery server (102) receives essential mail data from the service provider via the communications channel, and verifies that the subscriber wishes to receive an essential mail item corresponding with the essential mail data, by comparison with the subscriber details and nominations stored in the database (114). In the event that the verification is successful, the delivery server (102) delivers the essential mail item to the subscriber (103) in electronic form.</p> |
