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It’s difficult to remember or imagine what business was like without e-mail. It has without a doubt become the standard communication method of the Information Age. Given the critical role that e-mail plays in business communication, it’s imperative to have an e-mail system that meets what we see as the eight most important requirements: 1. Company branding. An e-mail address that includes your company’s name, such as director@acme.com, shows that your company is established and reinforces your company identity with clients. 2. Dependability. An e-mail system should never be the source of daily technology problems. 3. Intelligent e-mail management. The ability to set up filters, folders, and rules, such as when to respond with “Out of Office” messages, is like having a personal e-mail assistant. |
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4. Internet accessibility. It is becoming a necessity, rather than a convenience, to be able to access and manage your e-mail from home or the road via the Internet. Your remote access e-mail system should offer secure connection through a web browser, and should not be dependent on an e-mail client.
5. SPAM guard. Given the popularity of mass e-mailing, or SPAMming, your e-mail system must be intelligent enough to block unwanted e-mail without filtering out legitimate e-mail.
6. Virus protection. Viruses perpetuate through e-mail. It’s crucial that your e-mail system have features that prevent infection and keep viruses from spreading.
7. Security. Having control over your information is key to security. Having your own e-mail server located in your office is one good way to do this.
8. Easy administration. Adding and removing users should be simple to do and little maintainence should be required.
What are the different types of e-mail systems and accounts?
Internet e-mail
Internet e-mail is the fastest and least expensive way to get an e-mail account. Yahoo! and Hotmail are two of the most popular providers of free and low-cost Internet e-mail accounts. The biggest benefits are the low cost and the ability to access your e-mail from anywhere using an Internet connection. The drawbacks are limited mailbox sizes (cost increases with mailbox size), unwanted advertisements, and the lack of an alert system to let you know when you have new e-mail. In addition, by using an “@yahoo.com” or “@hotmail.com” e-mail address, you promote Yahoo! or Hotmail, rather than your own company. This type of e-mail account is therefore best suited for personal messaging.
Personal ISP accounts
Many self-employed business operators use their home or personal ISP accounts for business e-mail. When you get an address from “someone@aol.com,” you can usually assume that their business is a sole proprietorship, operating out of a personal residence. For some types of home-based business operators, such as real estate agents, this may not pose an image problem. For other types of businesses, however, this type of e-mail account doesn’t project the established image or company brand that they need. Keep in mind also that ISPs are often stingy with mailbox space and may limit you to a certain size.
Web sites and popmail
Another option is to set up a company web site and popmail account. This enables you to establish a proprietary e-mail address for your company, such as “you@yourcompanyname.com.” Multiple employees can use the domain name, and you can even set up alias addresses that forward e-mail to multiple employees. Your web hosting facility accepts your e-mail and holds it in an e-mail server until you download it. Your employees can use e-mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook Express, and can download their e-mail by submitting their user names and passwords, and popmail and smtp server information. The benefits of this system are the low cost, easy administration, and company brand reinforcement. The main drawback is that you are completely dependent on your web hosting facility. Many web hosting facilities have e-mail servers that are shared among many companies, and they are easily overloaded, particularly if one or more of the companies sends a great deal of SPAM. You may be cut off from your e-mail for a few days, a week, or more. Having a popmail account is like riding a public bus. You have very little control over the driver and your fellow passengers.
Microsoft Exchange server
For most businesses, the best option may be to host an e-mail system on your own Exchange server. The first major advantage is that it simplifies internal e-mail processes. Whereas your e-mails may currently bounce around the Internet before being downloaded by the recipient in the next cubicle, the Exchange server receives and stores e-mail and automatically notifies the recipients. There is no limit to the size of your mailbox, and there are fewer reliability issues, since only your company uses the server. This system offers increased security as well, since e-mail stays within your site.
Microsoft Outlook’s rule wizards enable users to easily manage their e-mail. For example, if you regularly receive an e-mail newsletter that you want to automatically route to a particular folder, you can create a rule to route all e-mail from that particular sender into a specified subfolder. You can block viruses and SPAM at a corporate level using Exchange virus and SPAM filter programs. E-mail is then scanned before it can be viewed in Outlook. SPAM filters can be modified in detail to block specific unwanted e-mails.
If you enable Outlook Web Access for your Exchange system, you can view your company e-mail from home or the road, securely. Outlook Web Access mirrors your in-office Outlook system, so any changes you make from a remote location are reflected when you return to the office.
Summary
As you can see from the options presented above, there are many factors to consider when determining the best e-mail system for your business. Whichever system you choose, make sure that it meets the eight requirements that are critical to effective e-mail communication.
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