Six Strategies for Managing Your E-Mail

We've all had the experience of being overwhelmed by e-mail. MLANS, a NH-based IT company, offers a few suggestions, and highlights the pros and cons of each.

POP mail - Pro: Very inexpensive. Con: Your e-mail is stored on your PC so if you lose your PC or it fails, you lose your mail.

1. Webmail like MSN or Yahoo - Pro: Very inexpensive. Con: This is not professional for a business and is not trusted by all recipients.
2. Webmail from your ISP (such as Fairpoint or Comcast) - Pro: Very inexpensive. Cons: This is not professional for a business. If your ISP changes their policy or gets bought out, your address may change.
3. Google mail - Pros: Low cost. It can be used for a business as long as you are using the Professional version and your registered domain. Con: Google has had response issues.
4. Hosted Microsoft Exchange - Pros: Full featured. Because of Outlook integration, this will work with most CRMs and accounting packages to send email. It is advantageous if you have a distributed organization, such as team that works from home or multiple, small offices. Cons: Higher cost than methods one through four. It offers less control than in-house Exchange.
5. In-house Microsoft Exchange - Pros: Full featured. Because of Outlook integration, this will work with most CRMs and accounting packages to send mail. You can do add-ons to customize its functionality. You can, at a cost, make it more redundant. If you have sensitive data, you can apply higher security. If compliance is an issue, you can run some programs to help you stay legal. Cons: Higher cost and potential maintenance headaches. You probably will need a new or more powerful server than your current machine. You need Exchange server and user licensing.

Notes:

• You need in-house Exchange for some specialized software.
• If you already have a server, it probably does not have the capacity to run Exchange. This needs to be established prior to installation.
• The cost breakpoint for hosted versus in-house Exchange is about twenty users.
• Hosted Exchange providers vary widely in reliability. The provider we use has a very good track record.  

For free, friendly advice on managing email, call Laura Aronson of MLANS (www.mlans.com) at 877-287-0081.