38 Things You Need To Know About E-mail: Part 1
Can you remember a time before e-mail? It certainly seems a long time ago, with e-mail being the primary means for organisations and businesses to communicate with each other. Even with the prevalence of social networks, many people still use e-mail astheir primary means of electronic communication for official business.
Given this, as well as the launch of a new e-mail hosting service from Diamond Discovery, here are 38 things I think all business people need to know about e-mail.
This is the first part of a three-part article. Part 2 can be read here while Part 3 can be read here.
1. What is an e-mail?
In simplest terms, an e-mail is a message distributed by electronic means from one computer user to one or more other recipients via a computer network.
The term ‘e-mail’ itself was coined in the 1980s, as an abbreviation for ‘electronic mail’.
2. How do I choose and set up an e-mail address?
You can set up an e-mail address for free with several famous internet companies such as Google and Microsoft. These services include Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail/Outlook.com, Mail.com, and Lycos.
Internet providers such as BT and Sky also offer their own e-mail services and addresses for customers.
However, most professional organisations are better off paying a webhosting company to manage their e-mail addresses for them. Not only do paid-for services offer a higher level of customer support for organisations with multiple employees, but also such providers offer backup and online security services as well.
In addition, there has been much concern and speculation about the security of free e-mail services in the light of recent hacking and surveillance scandals, and a paid-for service can offer a level of privacy and assurance against such threats.
Last, but certainly not least, paying a company to host your e-mail will allow you to use any domain name that you own within an e-mail address. In terms of the outward branding and professionalism of an organisation, this is arguably essential. After all, which is more impressive, joebloggsaccounting@gmail.com or joe@joebloggsaccounting.co.uk?
3. Do I need to install anything on my computer/phone/tablet to use or have access to my e-mail?
No special software has to be installed on your computer, phone or tablet to view e-mail, althoughyou will need (at a minimum) a web browser to receive, view and send e-mail messages.
Most people use an e-mail client (see below) to view, read, file and send e-mails, which is software installed on a computer that will store copies of your e-mails for reference when you happen to be offline (not connected to the internet).
4. Can I access my e-mail away from my computer?
You can access your email from any computer with an internet connection and a web browser; all you will need is your login details.
To read historic e-mails or draft e-mails when not connected to the internet, you will need an e-mail client.
5. What is an E-mail Client? Do I need one and which is the best one?
An e-mail client is software that allows you to effectively manage your e-mails without having to do so through a web browser. Such software also allows you to review and draft e-mails while your computer or device is not connected to the internet.
There are a variety of e-mail clients available on the market for both PCs and Apple Macs, while mobile phones and tablet devices have their own versions. Which one you choose and use is dependent on the computer and devices you have, and the IT requirements of your business.Diamond Discovery can advise on this.
6. How do I set up my e-mail account on my computer, phone or tablet?
Once you have an e-mail account established, you can always view your e-mail through a web browser with the links and login details provided by your e-mail service.
Most e-mail clients will have ‘set-up wizards’ that will provide on-screen prompts on configuring your e-mail for the software involved. E-mail providers will also be able to advise on how to set up their services for most e-mail clients.
There are different ways of setting up e-mail on mobile phones and tablets. Instructions will be available either with the device or on the manufacturer’s website. To do this though, you will need the login details from your e-mail provider.
7. How do I view my e-mail?
Any e-mail you receive will be displayed in what is known as an ‘Inbox’, which lists the e-mails, usually as you have received them in reverse chronological order, i.e. most recent first. By using multiple columns, your inbox will display all the components of an e-mail such as the sender’s name, the subject line of the e-mail, the time and date it was sent, the level of importance of the e-mail and whether the e-mail has any attachments.
Inboxes can be searched and filtered in a variety of different ways so you can find the e-mail you are looking for. To give one example, you can organise your inbox alphabetically according to the senders’ names as opposed to a strict chronological order.
You can also view e-mails you have sent via a folder known as the ‘Sent box’, ‘Sent items’ or just ‘Sent’; this folder can be manipulated and searched in the same manner as the Inbox.
Depending on the type of e-mail service you are using (POP/ IMAP), e-mail users can file e-mails into subfolders of their choosing, which helps clear their e-mail inbox and also helps archive historic e-mails in a categorised manner.
8. How can I send an e-mail?
Whether you are in a web browser or an e-mail client, you will see an option to either ‘Compose’ an e-mail or for ‘New E-mail’.
Click this option, and a blank e-mail template will open. You will need to enter the intended recipient’s e-mail address, a subject line and then the main message (body text) of your e-mail.
In this template, you can also select other options, such as the level of importance or confidentiality, or attach another e-mail or another electronic document (such as a Word document or PDF) that you want to send via the e-mail.
You also have the option to carbon copy (‘cc’) another e-mail user for their reference or blind carbon copy in another person, whose e-mail address will be hidden from the primary recipient. You can send the same e-mail to multiple users at the same time, but be careful that you are only sending the e-mail to appropriate people and that you are not ‘spamming’ (spam is unwanted e-mail) others.
9. Are my e-mails kept safe and are they backed up?
Your e-mails are kept safe from others by the login details given to you by your e-mail provider. It is therefore important that you keep these safe and do not divulge them to others. It is also recommended that you change your password at a regular interval.
Most e-mail providers (both free and paid-for) will undertake the necessary security precautions behind the scenes to address any weaknesses that they are made aware of.
Most e-mail providers offer some form of backup, although the level of service will vary from provider to provider, and will be stipulated in your service level agreement with them. This service level agreement will specify the frequency of how often e-mail servers are backed up by your provider.
Most free e-mail services offer the option of exporting your e-mails from their servers for your own records, and you may have your own copies backed up locally (i.e. on your computer’s hard drive or your company’s server) if you use an e-mail client.
10. Are my e-mails guaranteed to be delivered?
No e-mail provider can provide a 100% guarantee that any e-mail you send will be successfully delivered immediately, or even at all. This is because there are many factors that are completely outside e-mail providers’ control.
However, the majority of the e-mails you send will be successfully delivered if you are using the correct e-mail address for the recipient, your internet connection is robust and there are no issues with your internet service provider (ISP) address (some ISP addresses get labelled by systems as ‘spammers’ due to misuse of e-mail by others who use the same provider).
There are also issues such as firewalls and IT security protocols to consider. Some companies will not accept e-mails that have attachments over a certain size, to take one example.
In most cases, the sender will be informed by an automated e-mail response if the e-mail they have sent cannot be delivered to the intended recipient. In most cases, this automated response will tell you the reason why the e-mail cannot be delivered. These are known as Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs).
Most e-mail clients also provide an option to request a delivery receipt and/or a read receipt on an e-mail you send, although the recipient can choose to block or cancel this response.
If in doubt, you can always communicate with the recipient via a different method (such as telephone) if you want to ensure 100% that they have received the e-mail you have sent them.
11. Am I guaranteed to receive all e-mails sent to my new address?
Some e-mail providers and e-mail clients have spam filters that will reduce the number of emails that you receive.
The spam filters used by ISPs are based on the content of the message. If the message contains certain text, it may be dropped into the spam filter. Simply check your ‘Spam’ or ‘Junk’ folder to see what has been put in there.
These filters are essential to help reduce the unsolicited, automated messages you receive as well as any malicious messages that may contain either computer viruses, pornographic or other unwanted content.
12. Can I have multiple e-mail addresses?
Yes, you can have as many as you like providing they are different to any e-mail address that already exists.
Just repeat the process of setting up your first e-mail address, or talk to your e-mail provider about your needs and the particular purpose of each e-mail address.
13. I already have a Gmail/Hotmail/Outlook e-mail address; why do I need another e-mail address?
Strictly speaking, you don’t. If you are happy with using any of these services for personal or professional purposes, carry on using them.
However, most organisations are better off having paid-for dedicated e-mail support as that offers the professionalism and security you would need to maintain and protect your vital business e-mail correspondence.
As I have already mentioned, you may want a separate, more professional looking email for your business, e.g. ‘yourname@yourbusiness.com’
14. I already have Gmail/Hotmail/Outlook; can you import my old e-mails to my new address?
Yes; talk to your professional e-mail provider on how best to do this.
15. I have too many e-mails in my inbox; is there a way to file/store these away?
As already mentioned, you can create folders separate to your ‘Inbox” folder. With these subfolders, you can store emails relating to different things according to categories of your choosing, e.g. ‘Invoices’ or ‘Suppliers’.
