serialmail issue

hi there,

I am using serialmail to send mail to my "smart host" smtp. I have
configured everything and the mail actually does go into a separate queue.
but as soon as I put /etc/resolv.conf with the ISP's name serves the msg
sent to my local smtp server never gets actually sent to the ppp queue if
there is no dial-up link open. every time I send a message from a client to
teh server it causes the ppp to dial out. what could be the problem. the
only way to get qround this probelem is to remove /etc/resolv.conf ... then
everything happens but there is a huge delay in the sending of the message
to teh local smtp server. can anyone help? what am I doing wrong?

thanx
dj boris