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In the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attack, technology companies are rushing to aid the families of victims, to provide disaster relief, and to help businesses affected by the tragedy.

United Messaging, a provider of hosted e-mail services, says it will offer free e-mail accounts to businesses and their employees affected by the attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

"We will set up temporary e-mail accounts for employee and business use," says Len Gangi, senior vice president of product development and engineering. "We will take lists of user IDs and set up Web-based and POP3 accounts for those businesses."

E-mail has become a staple of communication in corporate America, with nearly 75 percent of a company's business communication carried through e-mail, according to Gartner Group.

"We are making this offer as a way to help businesses restore this mode of communication as quickly as possible," Gangi says. He also said the company could transfer company domain names to its hosted service. "At first we were concerned about how people may interpret this offer, but it is from the heart." Company President and Chief Executive Officer Ben Trowbridge has posted a memo outlining the offer on the company's home page on Tuesday. Those interested can contact United Messaging at 866/601-1673.

Loaning Services

AccessLine Communications, which hosts communications and voice services, is offering free emergency telephone numbers to businesses in New York and Washington, D.C., that have been evacuated or closed, and to individuals who have been displaced. The intent is to help alleviate general network congestion in New York and Washington. The phone numbers allow businesses to provide phone-based information to callers and employees, and to receive voice-mail messages from callers and employees.

AccessLine also has established special phone numbers and an emergency Web site through which companies can establish their own communication centers. The service provides a Web-based listing of the emergency phone numbers.

In addition, AccessLine will make available add-on services that receive incoming calls to the businesses' normal phone numbers and reroute them to other business locations, or to individual phone numbers for employees.

To establish an emergency message center, call 877/357-0750, 877/357-0751, or 206/621-5864.

Spare Space

Expertcity says it will offer free use of its GoToMyPC service for 30 days. The service provides remote control of a PC from any Web browser, allowing people to work from anywhere just as if they were at their desk.

Companies that were left without offices can contact Bluefly, which has 9000 square feet of vacant space. Likewise, Silicon Alley Reporter is offering use of its office space and IEEE 802.11 wireless network.

Prodigy Communications, a national Internet service provider, is sponsoring a free locator service, an online help center with its "I'm okay" Message Center.

The center is open to anyone with Internet access and can be used by anyone who wants to notify others of their safety. Users can enter their name, location, and a brief message stating they are okay and where they are. Users also can enter the names of people they are trying to find.

Collecting Donations

C I Host, an e-business and Web-hosting company, said it will donate up to $50,000 to relief aid and match up to $50,000, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, of donations made by its 190 employees.

PayPal, a secure online payment service, has created a special fund to help its members provide assistance to those affected by the attack. The tax-deductible donations will be collected on behalf of the National Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.

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