38 Things You Need To Know About E-mail: Part 2
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 as their 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 Part 2 of a three-part article. Part 1 can be read here while Part 3 can be read here.
16. What is POP e-mail and what is IMAP e-mail? Are they different? Which is better? Which one do I/ my business need?
Both POP (Post Office Protocol) and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) allow people to access their emails on a remote internet server using an e-mail client. However, the two methods are quite different.
POP accesses your email mailbox on the remote internet server and downloads email messages to your local computer. Typically an e-mail client will provide the option to leave copies of the downloaded messages on the server or delete them after they have been downloaded. If you use POP to access your mailbox from more than one device, e.g. desktop PC, laptop, tablet or phone, the messages stored on the different devices can quickly become out of sync.
If you use the ‘leave a copy’ option, each device will download unread e-mails from the server with no indication of which of these emails you may have deleted, read, flagged or filed on any other device from which you POP access your email. Folders that you create and organise on one device won’t be replicated on the other devices.
If you use the ‘delete’ option, e-mails that are downloaded to one device will not be downloaded to any of the other devices.
In short, POP does not replicate what you do with your e-mails on your local device with the server or any of the other devices you use POP access.
This is where IMAP comes in, as IMAP allows users to store and manage their email on remote servers that synch with all of your devices. This is due to a two-way protocol. Being able to synch your e-mail correctly is extremely important for businesses, when employees will typically have at least two devices; a main computer and a mobile device.
17. How do I synch my e-mail across multiple devices?
As explained above, you will need to set up your e-mail access as IMAP for this to happen. You can do this only if your email host provides IMAP facility. Other database email services such as Microsoft Exchange can also be used. Typically these will provide more and better functionality and will cost more.
18. I want to set up multiple e-mail addresses for my new business; how do I go about this?
You will need to own the domain name (web address e.g. www.joeblogsaccountancy.com) to use a professional domain name or business name in your employees’ e-mail addresses.
The number of e-mail addresses you have attached to a particular domain name can be limitless as long as there is no exact duplication, and costs vary from provider to provider.
With many multiple users, you are best off talking to a professional e-mail provider such as Diamond Discovery in the first instance.
19. As an employer, I want to have access to my employees’ e-mail accounts? Is this possible and is this legal? If so, how should I monitor them?
According to the Citizens Advice Bureau, an employer can legally monitor an employee’s use of the phone, internet, e-mail or fax in the workplace if:
- the monitoring relates to the business
- the equipment being monitored is provided partly or wholly for work
- the employer has made all reasonable efforts to inform the employee that their communications will be monitored.
This activity will take place within the parameters of the current Data Protection Act, and should be clearly spelt out in the Employee Handbook or other company documentation given to employees at the point of employment.
20. How secure & private is my new e-mail address? Who has access to it?
Different e-mail providers offer different levels of assurances.
As a professional organisation, it is best to identify your IT security needs and requirements and talk to a professional e-mail provider (such as Diamond Discovery), who would be best placed to answer your specific questions and build an e-mail system that meets those needs.
21. Can I redirect mail sent to my old e-mail address to my new one? How do I got about doing this?
Yes, although you will need to ensure that you do not close or terminate your old e-mail account prior or during the setting up of your new e-mail account.
Your new e-mail provider will be able to offer the best advice, which will be dependent on how your existing e-mail address is configured or hosted.
22. How much does it cost to have and set-up an e-mail address?
A private email address with any of the main providers is free but you get what you pay for; you will not necessarily get the support, security and backup a professional organisation would require.
Costs start to come in when you want to set up business email addresses using a domain name that you have registered; you have to buy the domain name in question in the first instance. Domain names vary in cost according to their desirability, their availability and who already owns them.
The ongoing costs of professional e-mail will vary from provider to provider, and depending on a particular business’ e-mail needs and requirements – professional e-mail provision is cheaper if you only require four e-mail addresses as opposed to 400.
Diamond Discovery offer a competitive rate for professional e-mail provision.
23. How do I get an e-mail address with my company name in it?
You will need to register and buy a domain name (web address) that will form the basis of your e-mail address i.e. you will need to own www.joeblogsaccountancy.com to set-up and use the e-mail address joe.blogs@accountancy.com
24. Does my e-mail address need to feature my company name?
Your e-mail address can be anything you want it to be as long as it is available and you own the relevant domain names.
However, all professional concerns should think about using their company name in their e-mail address as it looks professional and it offers reassurance to any recipient that any e-mail sent from your organisation is genuine and is coming from a reputable source.
25. I don’t own the domain name/ web address that I wanted for my business’s website; can I still use it as part of any e-mail address?
Unfortunately not; you must own the registered domain name in order to sue it. Otherwise your only recourse would be to use a free e-mail address service that would also feature the provider’s name e.g. yourbusinessname@gmail.com.
Other options are available to you if the domain name you specifically want is not available, such as using different suffixes on the address i.e. using .co.uk as opposed to .com.
You may also want to use an acronym or an abbreviation as another alternative.
Please note that owning a particular domain name does not mean that you own the associated trademark of that name. Just because you may own www.coca-cola.com does not mean your business can trade as Coca Cola. Likewise, if you own www.coca-cola.com, Coca Cola would not be able to force you to surrender it although you may encounter issues if you were to use that domain name to sell other products, especially if they were in a similar field (in this case, soft drinks).
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