What to check before you set up your email? Small Business Tips

Problems with email? Not sure what to do with different types of email?

What to learn about and check before you buy or how to fix a problem after the purchase.

Why this subject?

We ran into a situation recently where a client is having a hard time with email getting to the computer and sometimes double email on the smart phone. These kind of situations happen somewhat regulalry, not because the email settings are bad, but because of technology mixing. Technology is a funny thing, and can work wonders or can be the most annoying thing in your day.

We have many clients who have their own webhosting which may or may not include email hosting. We have ran into the problem of mixing technologies that work amazing, as well as technologies that are difficult to sync up.

So if you are about to set up, currently having technology issues or are just looking at your email and hosting options then you are going to want to read more.

So with the recent client, the problem seemed simple enough. In fact even if you are not very tech savvy you still have a somewhat easy problem…if you take the time to go over the potential list of items to check and do the necessary research online.

Sidnote of what happened and why it happened.

Simply put…the pipes between the older software and the newer email water source didn’t mesh up 100% well. There needed to be some retrofitting or updating software on the desktop which means investing some more money, and app configuring on the new phone.

In this particular case it was a newer online email technology with an older outlook and operating system. Not all Ford parts work on all Fords. WHY? Because technology is always changing. So things can happen when you try and retrofit an older car. Another thing to note, not all technologies are created equal….not all smart phones will work the same way. App development is a sometime 24/7 industry and updates can make or break on your phone. So because of the newer technology which was wanted, the solution became to update the computer with the software which made things sync up and on the phone it was to delete the extra mail app the host company suggested and use the standard email app that came with the phone.

What you can learn from this? ASK Questions…

1. When setting up email and the tech or host company is offering their “best” solution ask how it will work with current devices that you own. Ask about any potential changes that are different from current email systems that you use…education is the key….things may look and function different and that’s ok as long as you know how it will look and function.
2. Ask about all potential technoliges connected. Do you have a website? Ask about receiving messages from your website into your email. What kind of smart phone? One of the latest and greatest or one of the simplest to get by on basic functions? What kind of computer do you use to check your email? What enail system will you want to link your professional email to (i.e., Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Gmail, Web Mail, etc.)? Will anyone else need access to your email or another email account, if so what kind of technology will they use?
3. If you are not super tech savvy ask about support options. Will they have tutorials and walk through guides you can go over and educate yourself on the email hosting product? Sometimes the technology is a matter of getting used to and you just need some education.
4. Finally…is it the right price? Sometimes paying more is a good thing, and sometimes you can overpay. Not every email package is the same. Ask how each function will work toward your advantage and see if you actually are going to use each function. You may not need to use some functions very often and seee if you can try one package out and either downgrade or upgrade later.

In Summary

You can either take the time to learn a technology or pay someone else for their time. Taking some extra time now to research how your email hosting the technology you want to use with it can make things easier in case a future update has a hiccup, and sometimes can save you hundreds of dollars. You will be surprised how 5-15 minutes of research per week adds up and can make you tech savvy on your email. Don’t get frustrated by terms you are not used to or if you are taking longer than you expected, because technology changes every day…even the techs get stumped, but they know how to research the problem and that’s why they seem cool and collected.

Your email is vital to communications in this day and age. Learn it, enjoy it and take full advantage of it. You’ll be happier if you do.