Select a Email Web Hosting Provider
| Featured Email Hosts |
|---|
What Is It?
Email, or Electronic Mail, is a computerized capability or a method for writing, sending and receiving electronic text (and audio and/or video) over a computer network. The word is used as a noun and a verb, and it describes the process of sending messages that are saved on a server until the receiver downloads the electronic mail into a mail client on the receiver’s computer. Email has replaced regular mail (also known as “snail mail”) as a means of communication in many instances as email is immediate. However, response time depends upon whether the receiver actually is reading his or her email or whether the receiver wants to respond.
Who Is it For?
Email is for anyone who wants to send or receive messages, files, documents and more via computer. In many cases, especially in a work environment, email is a necessity as it’s used for instant communication among coworkers, employers and employees and between the business and its clients or customers. Any person who maintains a Web site usually will attach an email address to that site so viewers can contact the site manager or owner.
Email is used to send personal messages, to market goods and services, and to conduct transactions within hours that would normally take weeks or months to accomplish through regular mail. Unfortunately, in some cases, the fact that email is a push-only system that the sender controls can contribute to an overflow of unwanted or irrelevant information. This has led many businesses to use an “opt-in” and “opt-out” system so the receiver can decide whether or not to receive mail from a business or organization. Otherwise, unwanted email often is labeled as “spam,” or unsolicited email.
Features
Features within email depend upon the type of connection used for sending or receiving. Most email is sent and received through a mail user agent (MUA). The MUA formats the message in Internet email format and uses Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to send the message to the local mail transfer agent (MTA). The MTA, most often run by the sender’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) deciphers the receiver’s address through the Domain Name System (DNS) to find the mail exchange server(s) that accept messages for that domain. The message then is sent to the receiver’s server, where the receiver can download the message either manually or automatically.
Users may also connect to a corporate email system that contains an internal email format based upon proprietary protocols. LAN-based email is a viable email option for businesses. It allows the business user to download mail when offline, and it also provides the small business user with the ability to provide multiple users with email identifications with just one email connection. Some users also connect with a Webmail service that is accessed primarily through a Web browser rather than through an email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Apple Mail.
Each Web-based and email client system has features that are similar and that are specific to each program. Users may be able to change security settings, the template that displays messages, add a signature, and manage email so that all emails are sent to one box and sorted by sender or by topic.
Compatibility
Email clients and Web-based email boxes are used widely across all platforms. The compatibility lies mostly between the user and the client or Web-based box, since options exist for user preference on a personal basis. At work, the user may work with a system that is compatible only with the computer network that the business employs for its operations.
