Email

It is fair to say right at the start that it is usually cheaper and better to have a company host your email and website rather than run it on your own server. Trying to keep up with filtering unsolicited emails and monitoring security on your own can be a time consuming endeavor.

In many ways, email and websites go together. Most website hosts include email server software and the setup of a web domain specifies both website and email configuration. However, your email does not need to be hosted by the same web server as your website so you can find the best host for each if desired.

Considerations

• SPAM

  SPAM can be a tremendous waste of time if it gets through to users. SPAM filtering capabilities should be high on your list of important criteria.

• Groupware

  If you are looking for a solution that includes email, contact management and shared calendars, see the groupware solution overview. Groupware may be a better fit for professional service firms that rely on employee collaboration.

• Email Applications

  There are two main types of end user applications that allow a user to receive, create and file email. Email clients usually include an address book for contact management.

  • Client Email Application

    Software, which is installed locally, holds the configuration information to connect to an email server to send and receive email. Some examples of this type of software are: Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird

  • Web Browser Email Application

    These applications are Internet browser-based and allow similar functionality to client-based applications. The key difference is that browser-based email applications can provide anytime and anywhere access since the application is running on a web server. Examples of this type of application are: Yahoo Mail, Google Gmail, Horde and Squirrel.

• Email Server Software

  Email server software sends email, receives email, communicates with email clients and filters out unsolicited email. Sending email uses Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). Retrieving email in your email client application uses Post Office Protocol (POP3) or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).

• Email Address Domain Name

  It is possible to get free email addresses from leading Internet portals or from your Internet service provider. For business credibility, however, you should have your own Internet domain name for your company email.

• Storage

  The amount of storage space needed per user.

• Mobile Devices

  Integration for mobile devices like the Blackberry.

Implementation Options

The following compares and contrasts running your own email server to having an Internet service do it for you.