Office 365 is Best For Email
This article will form the last in a 3-part series about email security. We have discussed the email accounts that Internet Service Providers give you as part of your connection fees – along with their various pitfalls and limitations. We have also looked at some of the cloud-based email services such as Outlook.com and Gmail. Next, we will look at what looks good – especially for businesses.
In all cases above the user is limited to having control over the letters or name that they put in front of the @ symbol. If you are using BigPond for instance you can have [email protected] if it is still available but you still have to maintain the @bigpond.com part of the above address. This can look less than professional compared to owning your own Internet domain.
Most businesses register (normally $140 for 2 years) an Internet Domain that reflects their business name – for instance KerrSolutions.com.au and pay for email hosting to be attached to this. They can then have any number of emails addresses such as [email protected] or [email protected] which provides a greater degree of flexibility and professionalism.
Once you have an Internet Domain you can at any stage attach a website to it and drive customers to it as a sales tool. There are plenty of Internet based companies that will provide domain hosting, email hosting and eventually website hosting. These companies can have a great website themselves – but in reality, they can be a ‘tin pot show’. This is something you need to consider when shopping around. Sometimes a bargain price can spell trouble down the track.
The best email hosting service currently available anywhere in the world is the Microsoft Office 365 product. Cyclone Marcia showed us that having our own in-house email server was not the way to go and we immediately shifted to Office 365. This system has run flawlessly since and easily deals with huge email accounts while offering perfect synchronisation of emails across as many devices as you want.
I have 3 desktops, a laptop, 2 tablets and a smartphone that all stay synchronised perfectly with my sent and received items. This system works from any part of the planet as long as you have Internet access and can tolerate slow Internet connections. It has become the Industry standard and it also integrates exceptionally well with Outlook. There are also a handful of virus scanners that plug into Office 365 to remove problem emails before they get anywhere near your inbox.
Email security is becoming more important each year for individuals and in particular for businesses. There are many elaborate hacking & phishing schemes to trick people into either revealing identity related information or to gain access to substantial funds. I remember 10 to 15 years ago when this sort of activity was in its infancy. Back then the banks gave the money back and axed another several thousand workers each year.
Lately, Internet scams are so prevalent that banks have stopped giving the money back for many of these instances. They have decided sometime in the last 10 years that Internet security is the responsibility of the end user and act accordingly.
Future Byte Me topics can be emailed to [email protected] and Bruce is contactable at Kerr Solutions, 205 Musgrave Street or on 49 222 400.
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