equipment as may be necessary to properly receive and view the transmitted message alternatively the recipient may choose only to download and store the transmission for later use in either event however the recipient is aware of the type of transmission so that it can be properly handled in an alternative embodiment of the methodology of the present invention as set forth in fig4 the reception facility contains a file of the specific reception capabilities of each of the mailbox holders for example data would be available that indicates that the recipient having address 140 54 11 77 has the capability to receive conventional and facsimile e mail messages while the recipient having address 140 54 87 33 has the capability to receive both facsimile and audio files accordingly upon receipt of the transmitted data the reception facility performs a check at 28 to confirm whether the message type identified in the header is compatible with the recipient 39 s reception apparatus with such check made a confirmatory signal may be returned to the transmitting party alternatively or additionally upon retrieval by the recipient of the message a further confirmatory signal may be transmitted back to the sender routines may.