The importance of e-mail and e-mail rules.

[tec0]

Yes believe it or not some companies and small businesses are basically forced to use free email services because they are normally on “pay as you go” internet. So what is the importance of e-mail and e-mail rules when it comes to receiving and sending e-mail?

Well for most new or young businesses that are trying to set-up a supply-chain cannot reach the supplier because the e-mail rules will automatically block any “free” e-mail account regardless if it is spam or a real future customer.

Lately I find this to be the norm. Students cannot reach or contact colleges because there mails are blocked and then they have to make costly phone-calls and basically get no-ware fast! So is it to protect people from spam or is it lazy IT work?

Well being from an IT background it is just damn lazy to block any and all e-mails coming from “free” mail servers. Basically you as a business ARE losing money because a lot of customers cannot reach you and will not phone you “thanks heavy phone bills” and more importantly if your IT staff is just blocking “free” accounts it is time for some retraining. Mail rules is not brain surgery! Hell you can just Google it and set it up! Even a simple screening process can make your e-mail system more effective.

In the end your business is about making money, and if people or the public has difficulty in contacting YOU! Then you can be sure they wrote you off as a possible “supplier or service provider” thus YOU lose money! Think about it...

Also if I can give a single tip for ALL business and companies. Specify if you do business with the public or only with other business this will allow for clarity. Also if applicable include an accessible pricelist! This will make inquiries easier for the client in question.

It is simple things like e-mail rules and badly designed information pages on the internet that IS costing your company money. Fact is you have a internet webpage to make your products and services more accessible to the public put if it is short on information and the person cannot get in contact it is game-over. YOU lose money both on your webpage and you are losing customers at the same time.

[Dave A]

Well being from an IT background it is just damn lazy to block any and all e-mails coming from “free” mail servers.

I tend to agree, but the level of abuse of free email accounts such as Yahoo! and gmail is extraordinary.

A while ago I reported that Spamhaus was blocking mail simply for having a link to any blog hosted on blogspot.com - for much the same reason. Spamhaus doesn't believe that Google (in this instance) is doing enough to combat people using their services for spamming purposes.

Can we blame it on spam filters and the email recipients, or are the administrators of free mail hosting services not doing enough from their side?

[tec0]

Honestly? No. The fact is there are technologies that can be used to destroy spamming. Simply by using behaviour algorithms... why this technology is not being used is up to the imagination but it is possible to flag someone if the e-mails are excessive. When the person is flagged a simple screening process will confirm if it is or isn’t a spammer. Then the account can be blogged and disabled and the IP address can be logged and red flagged.

The fact is the system can work but it comes down to the company and there people. You can have all the brains in the world working for you but if they are lazy it is game over from the get go.

[debeerj]

I use gmail and increasingly become aware of the fact that one get seen as part of the spam world if you make use of a free email service. It is because of this that I am busy changing my email service provider to my own hosted account.

[tec0]

One does what one can to accommodate business and such structures. This is just one more example why “free” e-mail providers need to wake-up there services will become obsolete to the point where the everyday person will just stop using free e-mail accounts.

Google especially need to take care because there future developments with the cloud system for one depend on the public trusting them! In the end they might have the best technology and everything else but not one business or service provider will recognise them as a legit form of communication thus the system will ultimately die!

[irneb]

Plus one for this! I use my GMail account simply for forum connections and such, business is handled by our own email server. This so my business email does not lay on numerous servers all over the world. It was actually due to spamming that this came about a few years ago.

Now however, I can't use the GMail for any legitimate business ... since nearly all my contacts see it as spam. At least on our own server, we've modified the rules to allow certain GMail accounts (and other free mail where we found out about it).

Another strange thing: one of my collogues uses his GMail from Cell Phone. If he sends using the Nokia's built-in email client - it always turns out to be spam. But if he sends using the GMail Java app, it works fine most of the time. So it seems even the email client could generate a spam flag, not just the server.

[tec0]

So it seems even the email client could generate a spam flag, not just the server.

Now that is where lazy IT work comes in at both ends. Still I have to concentrate on the people and businesses that can’t afford to run or have registered mail servers. That is the key problem here. Countless CV’s that will never be delivered and countless enquiries that will never be answered.

That is the reality of the situation right now; free users will NOT be noted due to basic housekeeping and a little extra IT work. But the biggest let down is the “free” e-mail servers themselves! They have the knowhow and the money to develop proper scanning tools but are unable to do so.

Still it is not just free e-mail service that has this problem. Fact is my ABSA mail was also recognised as spam?? That is why I stopped my ABSA internet service all those years ago... Still it comes down to is this: If companies instruct there IT to do screening and write proper rules then there might be hope... if not then stand to lose some money because some clients do not recognise the problem at hand and will shop else-ware.

[SilverNodashi]

If your business is really that important to you, then I would highly recommend that you at least get a non-free email address. Getting your own domain is very cheap, although some companies will rip you off. And getting email accounts on your own domain also often doesn't cost much.

But, your company's reputation cost a lot more than being cheap!

[mark@suitegum.co.za]

We've been using gmail exclusively for the last three years, and have hardly ever had this problem. I say "hardly ever" because I have an inkling that we have had our mail suspended once or twice, but I cannot remember a specific instance.

I live on gmail, and send out tons of information using the system.

But then I never send to 20 people at once; always a one on one situation, with maybe a few copies.

In the new year we plan to migrate our name server to the paid gmail service, so happy are we with the gmail setup.

[Dave A]

I think done right GMail really doesn't present a problem - at least on a technical level. However, when it comes to business mail, using a free email service might raise an eyebrow while you're still at the "building credibility" stage.

Another strange thing: one of my collogues uses his GMail from Cell Phone. If he sends using the Nokia's built-in email client - it always turns out to be spam. But if he sends using the GMail Java app, it works fine most of the time. So it seems even the email client could generate a spam flag, not just the server.

I suspect the key to not having problems with GMail is to send your emails via the GMail SMTP service. You'll probably find the Nokia app is using the ISP's SMTP - or worse, a javascipt mail service app.

[tec0]

Every story has two sides to it. Yes, g-mail service and the fact that you link it to our outlook is a big plus, however, chances are that you will run into some problems in the future. Or perhaps you are just lucky and your luck might hold. Don’t get me wrong I am all for my g-mail account and yes it is really user friendly.

Perhaps in the future when companies realise that g-mail and other such free mail services are used by legit people that they will implement better control systems and thus allow the small user to stick to the free account. Yet again if you have your own registered mail account it does look more professional that fact cannot be denied.

Still perhaps the best of both worlds is what most people need. Sometimes you do want to send e-mail in a personal capacity other times you want to be more formal... I question is what do you use your e-mail for?