Basics of E-mail

What ?

Email (Electronic mail) is the exchange of computer-stored messages by telecommunication.Email was one of the first activities performed over the internet and is still the most popular use. A large percentage of the total traffic over the internet is email. Email is one of the protocols included with the Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols. A popular protocol for sending email is Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and a popular protocol for receiving it is Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3).

How to Use ?

1. Step 1: Sign Into Your Account. Go to https://mail.yahoo.com/. …
2. Step 2: Compose a New Email. …
3. Step 3: Write Recipient Email Address. …
4. Step 4: Enter the Subject of the Email. …
5. Step 5: Enter the Body. …
6. Step 6: Send and Finish. …
7. Step 7: Confirmation.

Why ?

Email can increase efficiency, productivity and your business readiness. Using email in business is:

• cheap – sending an email costs the same regardless of distance and the number of people you send it to.
• fast – an email should reach its recipient in minutes, or at the most within a few hours.
• convenient – your message will be stored until the recipient is ready to read it, and you can easily send the same message to a large number of people.
• permanent – you can keep a record of messages and replies, including details of when a message was received.

Main advantage of email is that you can quickly and easily send electronic files such as text documents, photos and data sheets to several contacts simultaneously by attaching the file to an email.

Importance ?

It is the best means of communication in a professional manner, and can also be friendly as well.The data regarding email usage is extraordinary. The infographic has some very interesting facts on email usage:

• 2.8 million emails are sent every second.
• 43.5 million consumers check their email on a daily basis.
• 3.1 billion email accounts in 2011, of which almost 75% are consumer-based.
• 38.5% of mobile time is spent checking email.

These numbers demonstrate the difference between email and social media, and how email is not dead, and still trumps over social. 

Basics ?

Understanding email addresses-

• Email addresses are always written in a standard format that includes a user name, the @ (at) symbol, and the email provider’s domain.
• The user name is the name you choose to identify yourself.
• The email provider is the website that hosts your email account.

Email productivity features-

• Instant messaging, or chat, which lets you have text-based conversations with other users.
• An online address book, where you can store contact information for the people you contact frequently.
• An online calendar to help organize your schedule and share it with others.
• A public profile that you can use for basic social networking purposes, like sharing photos, previous work or school history, and status updates, among other things.
• When you sign up for Gmail you gain access to a full range of Google services, including Google Drive, Google Docs, and more. Outlook, on the other hand, offers connectivity with OneDrive and Microsoft Office Web Apps.

Real life Application ?

It is used almost everywhere which includes companies, students , colleges, marketing , food delivery apps ,industries , shopping websites etc.

Cons ?

There are certain weaknesses of email that you should be aware of, such as:

• Spam – Unsolicited email can overwhelm your email system unless you install a firewall and anti-spam software.
• Viruses – Easily spread through email attachments. See how to detect spam, malware and viruses.
• Sending emails by mistake – At a click of a button, an email can go to the wrong person accidentally, potentially leaking confidential data and sensitive business information. You should take care to minimise the likelihood of business data breach and theft.
• Data storage – Electronic storing space can become a problem, particularly where emails with large attachments are widely distributed.

Other Options :

• ProofHub
• Slack
• Google Hangouts
• Zoho mail
• Outlook.com
• Skype, etc.