Because most of the BBS systems connected to FIDO have only one phone line, FIDO designates one hour per day when every FIDO BBS must accept incoming mail, to be sure that mail can be transferred. At The Swamp, there is a phone line dedicated to network connections, so this is never a problem. The description above applies to Routed messages. Direct and Crash messages are sent directly from the originating BBS to the destination BBS, bypassing the distribution system. The primary reason for using Direct or Crash mail is speed.
Direct mail is sent at night, during the regular mail exchange hour.
Crash mail is sent as soon as it is entered. The Swamp receives Crash and Direct messages, but does not send them. All outgoing mail is Routed. Outgoing netmail is available FREE to all subscribers. The Internet came into being when several interconnections of large computers were interconnected.