How do you choose your mailbox? Selection of the best business mailboxes
Email is at the heart of business, whether it's external, internal or instant messaging. Considered the quickest and easiest way to communicate, it has become an integral part of our daily lives. Some mailboxes are free, others have to be paid for. Which solution is best for your business? Read all our articles on the use of business email.
Professional mailboxes: more expert status and tools
Creating a business email address in your company's name: a key for professionals
With a free email account, you cannot create a business email address in your company's name: type x@entreprise.com. Alternatively, some people opt for a variant such as entreprise@yahoo.fr or gmail.com, hotmail.fr, etc. depending on the email software.
As well as damaging your image, this type of email deprives you of certain services. On professional social networks like Linkedin, for example, you cannot create a company page. These are two points that speak in favour of a business mailbox.
Certified mail replaces registered letters from the Post Office
The acknowledgement of receipt (hotmail, for example) and read confirmation functions are not available on free mailboxes. They are on the best professional mailboxes. This is a way of proving, if necessary :
- that the email has been sent,
- that the email has been notified as delivered.
Until now, the legal value of e-mail has been unclear. But the legal framework is changing. Today, the best e-mail services, such as Legalbox, allow you to send so-called certified e-mails. At a cost of 0.32c per item, their acknowledgement of receipt is equivalent to that of a registered letter sent by the Post Office. This is both :
- faster: because the e-mail is sent instantly, compared with a delivery time of 1 to 2 days for the Post Office,
- less disruptive: because you send your certified e-mail from your computer. No need to go to the post office to pick up your mail,
- cheaper: because a Post Office advice of receipt is worth at least €1.15.
So there's no need to hesitate, for :
- simple accounting mailings such as reminders, invoices and quotes,
- more contentious mail, such as lawyers' letters and formal notices,
- basic HR mailings such as contracts, pay slips and certificates.
Acknowledgement of receipt: a tool to facilitate operations too
Finding out after the event that your email has not been delivered can cause delays. If your email system alerts you immediately, this is avoided. What applies to traditional email also applies to other forms of written message (instant messages, SMS). There are professions in the field where employees need to be able to communicate quickly and easily. Mobile communication has become a major challenge, and Team on the run is responding to this need. Users know whether their message has been received and read. They can send each other internet links, files stored on their phone or in the cloud if they use Drive or Dropbox for example. Everyone has access to their contacts and data, and the geolocation function means that tasks can be distributed quickly and more efficiently.
We often imagine that the internet will be available everywhere. However, some areas are still poorly equipped, both in terms of connection and network coverage. But in some professions, it's essential for people to be able to reach each other. Team on the run makes it possible to mobilise other channels. Its voice-over-IP function is available on a wired or IP-compatible network. Its walkie-talkie is ideal whenever range permits. Using a common frequency, it enables several people to communicate easily.
Professional mailboxes: the safest and most practical mailboxes for your employees
Increased protection against viruses for company mailboxes
E-mails, chats and text messages represent a risk for your company: if they are hacked, you will be giving away all your information. Software like BitDefender secures your messages. Once encrypted, bots can no longer scan them. Antivirus software analyses your attachments. Malware and phishing attempts are detected upstream. Protection covers your cloud as well as your local servers, including your employees' workstations and business phones.
Spam: the daily battle in inboxes
Although the majority of spam is filtered upstream, some still slips through the net. That's 12 spam messages a day polluting your employees' inboxes. It's a waste of time sorting through them, and there's a real risk of missing out on important e-mails, which are drowned out by the mass. Professional messaging systems are redoubling their efforts to keep you out of trouble.
Less saturated mailboxes with more storage space
With a free email service (like hotmail.fr, a free mailbox), you quickly reach the saturation limit. If you've kept emails with heavy attachments, your mailbox will be on stand-by. You won't receive anything more until you empty it. Today, employees spend more than a quarter of their day sorting through their inbox. An enormous amount of time for a task that is anything but productive.
If you can make do with a free mailbox for your company today, you're depriving yourself of a whole range of functions that are useful to your business. Whether for image, legal or operational reasons, pro webmail offers real advantages. It's up to you to identify your priorities.
Article translated from French