Still using an @hotmail, @aol etc email?

[itboffins]

Interested to see how many people own a domain name but not using the corresponding email accounts with it and opting instead for something like Hotmail / BT Internet etc...

 

[internetspaceships]

I find it remarkably unprofessional to use a free email address for business.

I don't take people seriously who can't be bothered to spend a fiver on some kind of relevant domain and associated email hosting.

 

[Cromulent]

At the very least people should be using the free version of Google Apps for Business if they don't want the hassle (and it is a big hassle) of running their own email server.

 

[internetspaceships]

Frankly if you can't afford to have someone host your email at a few quid per month then you're not really running a business are you?

 

[yorkukhosting]

I think the biggest problem is that a lot of people do not realise how easy it is to setup a domain name and email hosting. You can be up and running in minutes and if you're not technical you can just access your email via webmail rather than configure an email client.

What particularly makes me smile is when you see a www.example.com website address then [email protected] as the email address, this is often seen it printed on the side of lorries.

 

[itboffins]

Yep, see that all the time!! We almost need a name and shame board for people who do this as an educational method to getting people to realise they need to either use the email service they probably already pay for with their hosting company, or sign up to a Hosted Exchange service like Office365 for only a few pounds a month....

I think the biggest problem is that a lot of people do not realise how easy it is to setup a domain name and email hosting. You can be up and running in minutes and if you're not technical you can just access your email via webmail rather than configure an email client.

What particularly makes me smile is when you see a www.example.com website address then [email protected] as the email address, this is often seen it printed on the side of lorries.

 

[Cromulent]

Frankly if you can't afford to have someone host your email at a few quid per month then you're not really running a business are you?

It depends.

The free version of Google Apps for Business is fine up until you reach the 10 employee mark (or at least up until the stage where you need 10 individual inbox accounts depending on how you manage your email). Frankly I would be quite surprised if any small business reached the 10GB per inbox limit of the free Google Apps for Business.

The only reason you would need to upgrade to the paid version was if you required more than 10 inboxes or you needed the 25GB per inbox of storage that the paid version offers.

I'm pretty happy to bet that most small businesses will be able to live within the confines of the free version. Plus as Google Apps for Business makes it easy to create email aliases and routes any unknown address to a primary account you can merge many email addresses into one inbox. Again that depends how you want to structure your email accounts and who you want to be able to access certain things.

 

[internetspaceships]

It depends.

The free version of Google Apps for Business is fine up until you reach the 10 employee mark (or at least up until the stage where you need 10 individual inbox accounts depending on how you manage your email). Frankly I would be quite surprised if any small business reached the 10GB per inbox limit of the free Google Apps for Business.

The only reason you would need to upgrade to the paid version was if you required more than 10 inboxes or you needed the 25GB per inbox of storage that the paid version offers.

I'm pretty happy to bet that most small businesses will be able to live within the confines of the free version. Plus as Google Apps for Business makes it easy to create email aliases and routes any unknown address to a primary account you can merge many email addresses into one inbox. Again that depends how you want to structure your email accounts and who you want to be able to access certain things.

Respectfully it doesn't "depend" at all. Your email is the first impression that people may have of you.

@googleanythinghotmailwhatever.com smacks of cheap and unprofessional.

 

[Cromulent]

Respectfully it doesn't "depend" at all. Your email is the first impression that people may have of you.

@googleanythinghotmailwhatever.com smacks of cheap and unprofessional.

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Google Apps for Business uses your own domain name for your email addresses.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

"f you can't afford to have someone host your email at a few quid per month then you're not really running a business are you"

I run 5 free google apps accounts for my businesses and it is fantastic! One of the businesses has over £500k t/o and paying for something like O365 wouldn't be an issue, but why? Google apps works fine and most of the domains were setup when 25/50 accounts could be set up at not cost. However, each business only has 2-3 email users, so, why have the expense?

 

[Esk247]

Frankly I would be quite surprised if any small business reached the 10GB per inbox limit of the free Google Apps for Business.

Well we would reach that easily because our suppliers send PDF brochures and pictures that take up 5Mb a time and clog up our inbox. But maybe we're unique

There isn't any excuse not to have a [email protected] though. If you're a business, you can afford that, even hobbyists can afford it and there's no excuse saying you have to log in all the time, any android or iphone will allow you to set up pop3/imap for multiple accounts with just a few bits of information.

 

[internetspaceships]

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Google Apps for Business uses your own domain name for your email addresses.

Yeah right. Haha what a stupid remark. I deal internationally selling and buying to and from over 30 countries. I can assure you that I do know what I'm talking about.

 

[itboffins]

"f you can't afford to have someone host your email at a few quid per month then you're not really running a business are you"

I run 5 free google apps accounts for my businesses and it is fantastic! One of the businesses has over £500k t/o and paying for something like O365 wouldn't be an issue, but why? Google apps works fine and most of the domains were setup when 25/50 accounts could be set up at not cost. However, each business only has 2-3 email users, so, why have the expense?

I think Google Apps, even the free one is an excellent product, for business I personally think O365 has the edge, even in the £4 a month subscription you get 25GB email, 10GB Sharepoint storage, a team site for easy sharing of information, data and documents, an externally hosted website (admit a pretty basic CMS but combined with Sharepoint designer you can create a decent site) and even web based versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc - all for just £4 - just the saving alone on website hosting, office subscription and cloud storage makes up the £4 for some...

 

[internetspaceships]

"f you can't afford to have someone host your email at a few quid per month then you're not really running a business are you"

I run 5 free google apps accounts for my businesses and it is fantastic! One of the businesses has over £500k t/o and paying for something like O365 wouldn't be an issue, but why? Google apps works fine and most of the domains were setup when 25/50 accounts could be set up at not cost. However, each business only has 2-3 email users, so, why have the expense?

You have one business turning over £500k and you still don't want the expense of a proper email account? Really?

Have you any idea how stupid that sounds?

 

[Cromulent]

Yeah right. Haha what a stupid remark. I deal internationally selling and buying to and from over 30 countries. I can assure you that I do know what I'm talking about.

You were not talking about buying and selling to over 30 countries though were you? You were talking about Google Apps for Business which as I stated "You have no idea what you are talking about" (in regards to Google Apps for Business).

If you were talking about something that you did know something about I wouldn't have used that turn of phrase.

You have one business turning over £500k and you still don't want the expense of a proper email account? Really?

Have you any idea how stupid that sounds?

Google Apps for Business is a proper email account. Many large businesses use them such as Virgin Media (every email account that Virgin Media gives its customers is a Google Apps account).

 

[internetspaceships]

Fine so I'm happy to stand corrected in that case. You can use your own email address as opposed to a Google address?

If that's the case then I apologise because I got the wrong end of the stick.

I thought you would end up with a Google type email address.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

I don't think it's due to the cost. It does seem down to people simply not knowing how to set an e-mail address up.

These days, a lot of people believe that an e-mail address goes hand-in-hand with a website, which obviously isn't the case.

 

[ColourKraft]

I use my domain's email for business and a separate Gmail address for personal emails.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Internetspaceships, what sounds stupid?

I have a fully functioning email system, under my own domain, run by one of the biggest companies in the world, that costs me nothing - that's good business sense!

Itboffins - " 25GB email, 10GB Sharepoint storage, a team site for easy sharing of information, data and documents, an externally hosted website" These are great features, but a vast majority of users would not use them. Its like buying MS Office - people spend a few hundred quid on software and do not event scratch the surface of the feature list!

 

[itboffins]

These are great features, but a vast majority of users would not use them. Its like buying MS Office - people spend a few hundred quid on software and do not event scratch the surface of the feature list!

I know this too well! The extra benefits like cloud storage can really help improve efficiency of a small business and so it is a shame small companies don't really understand them. For a newly formed company I always try and suggest to get the IT practices right from the start as migrating later once 'systems' are learnt and in place is always harder.

 

[Cromulent]

I don't think it's due to the cost. It does seem down to people simply not knowing how to set an e-mail address up.

Actually it has more to do with the fact that running an email server is a pain in the arse, especially if it is an email server that provides email services to multiple clients.

Having to ensure that none of your clients are spamming. Ensuring that your spam filters are working correctly but are not blocking legitimate emails. Configuring DKIM for all hosted domains. Running anti-virus so your server is not responsible for propagating viruses. Getting your servers IP address delisted from spam lists if one of your clients does end up spamming. The list goes on...

Frankly running an email server is just not worth it. It is much better to outsource it to a third party.

 

[LED Lightworld]

ITboffins

Sorry I am not too clued up with computer technology. Can you give a me a quick idiots guide to how this cloud works. We run 2no websites, numerous email addresses, work from office and home. Potentially 4 people accessing computers at one time, how would this work for me?

Thanks

 

[GeorgeM]

ITboffins

Sorry I am not too clued up with computer technology. Can you give a me a quick idiots guide to how this cloud works. We run 2no websites, numerous email addresses, work from office and home. Potentially 4 people accessing computers at one time, how would this work for me?

Thanks

Yes, good question. I'd like to see the answer to this too. Can the IT experts explain the benefit of having your basic office applications hosted in the cloud ?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

LED Lightworld,

whilst you may have lots of email addresses, how many email users do you have?

 

[LED Lightworld]

There are three different people accessing 6 different email address's at the moment, will probably need another 2 no. address's shortly.
Thanks

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Are the 3 people sending via the 6 or mainly receiving?

In any case, if you were to move to Google apps, you would be able to set up 10 users for free, create mail groups (so one email goes to all members) and have multiple addresses for one person.

Keeping your website separate is another good move - if site & email are on one server, when one goes, they both do. In most cases, using one provider for web and another for email makes good business sense!

You will be able to create and share data via the other google apps.

 

[KM-Tiger]

Actually it has more to do with the fact that running an email server is a pain in the arse, especially if it is an email server that provides email services to multiple clients.

... Frankly running an email server is just not worth it. It is much better to outsource it to a third party.

Agreed it's not worth the effort for clients that want to spend half a crown a year, if that. They are welcome to use the free services.

But there are discerning clients out there who do not want their business data scanned by a third party, and are happy to meet the true cost of running a mail server.

 

[Cromulent]

But there are discerning clients out there who do not want their business data scanned by a third party, and are happy to meet the true cost of running a mail server.

I don't agree with that argument. The simple fact is that if you have any email you wish to remain a company secret you should be encrypting your email. If the email is not encrypted even if you receive it on a server that you own and run you still have no idea if it was intercepted before it reached your server or intercepted after it left your server by a third party.

If you encrypt your emails (and by that I mean encrypting the actual content rather than just using SSL to encrypt the connection between the email client and the SMTP server or the IMAP server) then it doesn't matter if someone else runs the server for you. Your content is still secure and no one can read the email except for the people who have the correct keys to decrypt the email.

 

[Surminga]

Nope, don't see it as very professional, I use a main gmail account however which sends every email I get from my domain ending url email accounts

 

[IzzoNet]

Hey

i left those mail accounts couple years ago.
now i'm using gmail. i think that it's more quick and also easy to use.

 

[That Guy]

Not currently involved with a business but I still use my domains email

I hate seeing tradesmen's vans driving past with emails ending in @hotmail.co.uk or @aol.com.

Not sure why it just really bugs me!

 

[itboffins]

Hi

Very basically having office application hosted in the Cloud means rather than having to buy a copy of Office and install locally on each machine, you pay for access to something like Office365 (£4 per month) which you then get a username and password and can use Internet Explorer to login and use Excel, Word, Powerpoint through your Web Browser.

The benefits mean you can be anywhere in the world, each time you login, all of the files are there no matter where you are, you always have the latest version of Office, there is no save button - the document is saved all the time in real-time so reducing the problem of losing work. You can also have multiple people working on the same document at once

Small companies can really benefit from Cloud based software through cost savings and efficiency improvements of being able to work anywhere, on any machine, if one computer goes down, just hop on another and all your documents and software are there as you expect.

We are writing a blog on our experiences of small businesses migrating to the cloud here: http://cloudboffins.co.uk/news/bad-email-for-good-business/

Yes, good question. I'd like to see the answer to this too. Can the IT experts explain the benefit of having your basic office applications hosted in the cloud ?

 

[itboffins]

Hi

This sounds like an ideal situation to move to something like Office365 / Google Apps. On the £4 per month Office365 subscription you would get a central place to store all of your files and documents that you can all share, you would get leading business class email service (Hosted Exchange) - this is very secure, you will have no problem with spam emails and all the machines will be synchronised so if one of you sends an email to a customer, it will instantly be in all your sent item folders on PCs, laptops, mobile etc. You also get hosted office products so you could use web based versions of Word, Excel, etc rather than having to pay for upgrades all the time. The £4 a month also comes with Lync which is a great instant messaging and video conferencing tool for easy communication when one of you is at home.

ITboffins

Sorry I am not too clued up with computer technology. Can you give a me a quick idiots guide to how this cloud works. We run 2no websites, numerous email addresses, work from office and home. Potentially 4 people accessing computers at one time, how would this work for me?

Thanks

 

[chrisitine]

Had this very same conversation with a business owner I met last week. He handed me his business card - on it was his domain name and under that his hotmail email address. I said to him, "why don't you use an email address at your domain?". His response was a puzzled, "don't know really...I've always just used that email address...but I suppose it doesn't look very professional does it?". From this personal experience, and from the discussion thread here, I'd say that rather than focusing on the features of various service providers, it would be better for IT support guys (generally - not just here on the forum) to spell out the benefits, simply, and offer advice on how to get that new email account set up in the easiest possible way.

 

[Cromulent]

Had this very same conversation with a business owner I met last week. He handed me his business card - on it was his domain name and under that his hotmail email address. I said to him, "why don't you use an email address at your domain?". His response was a puzzled, "don't know really...I've always just used that email address...but I suppose it doesn't look very professional does it?". From this personal experience, and from the discussion thread here, I'd say that rather than focusing on the features of various service providers, it would be better for IT support guys (generally - not just here on the forum) to spell out the benefits, simply, and offer advice on how to get that new email account set up in the easiest possible way.

I stand by my earlier recommendation that the easiest way to set up an email account using your own domain name is to use the free Google Apps for Business.

It has the same interface as Gmail so lots of people should be familiar with it but it uses your companies domain name as the email address.

Plus it is easy to configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC on a Google Apps for Business account.

 

[E Storey]

I've had a hotmail account since they were first available and love it, to the point of deciding if I get married, not to change my name!!!

My business e-mail is hosted by hotmail, even though my £8 per year domain registration would provide the same service, but it's configured to have "@mydomain" at the end.

I did have a generic e-mail when I first started up, but saw it as a priority to get it changed to something more professional looking almost immediately. - I did have to reprint business cards though! (£12 vistaprint)

 

[astutiumRob]

You can use your own email address as opposed to a Google address?

G's Apps-for-Business can use your own domain.

Though why anyone would trust an advertising agency with all their emails and critical documents is a different question/debate.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

"why anyone would trust an advertising agency with all their emails"

I agree - all of those big businesses, schools, councils - ridiculous!

 

[sabahm]

I use My Google account to check and send all my official email as well. It save a lot of time to manage different business account and it does not need any specific hard and fast configuration. Neither it requires an app... Google mail simply the best solution to handle all my emails rather than doing it separately through email hosting servers.

 

[number42]

I have all my hostgator emails pointed / forwarded to gmail and have setup rules to ensure no matter which email i reply to in gmail it reply's from the corresponding smtp server which i have got to say is FANTASTIC!

I'm testing the google apps sync program which will hopefully mean i can take this all into Outlook 2010 and reply from the corresponding SMTP servers via its exchange interface. If not i will just have to setup as IMAP and setup rules to reply to different "to" addressed emails from their corresponding SMTPs