Email

To switch you need to add a new email account, which may have different connection details, eg. instead of and incoming server of pop.yoursite.com you now have to use imap.yoursite.com but you could also be lucky (like our clients) and find it is the same settings for both. Basically you need to ask your service provider.

We would suggest using a different name when adding the account, eg. Personal Email IMAP, especially while switching over (you can usually change this later). Also remember that if any of your devices are using POP3 then they will download all the email until you turn off the POP3 accounts on all of them.

Once you've setup the IMAP account you can drag up some of your emails that are on your computer that you would like to see online. A couple tips though: 1) there is always a limit for emails online, so only choose ones you are likely to need on the go and 2) try to upload less than 500 at a time.

These are both types of email account (Microsoft Exchange is another), and are the most common variety.

In simplest terms, an email is sent to you and sits on the server, waiting for you to login; turn on your email program; or check your mobile to see it. The biggest difference is that:

• POP3 downloads it fully to your computer, removes it from the server when you or your computer does Send/Receive
• IMAP4 downloads a copy (or the start of and more when you click) - also no need to Send/Receive anymore

Deleting Differences

If you delete an email using POP3, then you have downloaded the email and it is fully deleted. On IMAP4 (depending on the device) you might just see it marked as ready for deletion, i.e. with a strikethrough (iPhones make it disappear but actually only mark for deletion). You then need to 'Purge' the items marked for deletion.

In Microsoft Outlook this can be a bit hidden (under the Edit menu), so a tip for older versions (that don't have the new 'ribbon') is to choose 'Tools > Customize' and then go back to the edit menu (while the pop-up window is there) and drag the 'Purge' button onto the main toolbar. It will save you oodles of time!

Online Folders with IMAP (within limits)

You can also choose to make some folders online for your emails if using IMAP. This can be really handy, especially if sometimes looking at your email through a web browser. These should then synchronize to all your devices automatically, though you might find you have to 'subscribe' to the folders in your Email Client/Program (right-click on the account usually). They can take a couple hours or restarts to fully appear.

These folders can usually be seen by clicking on the + sign to the left of your email account name. This can also be a little confusing as you will still often have a normal 'Personal Inbox' (Outlook particularly) but now you have a new 'Inbox' which is online, your 'Personal Inbox' is just on your computer.

Please do remember though that your IMAP account will have normally have a size-limit and hence we would recommend to keep a few simple folders online but if the email needs a folder then it should really be fully downloaded into your normal folder structure. A little cleanliness with your emails goes a long way!

When Do I Choose?

This choice needs to be made when you add the email account to your computers. This is true of pretty much any device or computer as they have to connect in a different way to the server, i.e. an always-on active connection. For some devices, eg. an iPhone, you need to choose 'Other' to set it up.

Tip: If you keep seeing 'server timeout' or something similar then under somewhere like 'Advanced' when editing your email accounts you can reduce the frequency of checking from once a minute to once every 5-10 minutes. This helps especially if you have multiple devices checking at once (Laptop, Desktop & Phone).

It might seem odd to split Mobile Phones and Mobile Internet Dongles (basically a mobile phone without a keypad, battery or screen) but you'll find they can work differently, especially when trying to send email. Receiving email usually isn't a problem.

Many people find that when they connect their laptop that worked fine at home or work and try to send an email it doesn't work. This is due to a security requirement which doesn't usually apply to mobile phones that you use your Mobile Internet provider's Outgoing/SMTP Server.

Essentially this means every time you go out and need to use Mobile Internet if you want to send an email you need to change the settings. Alternatively you could write the email and wait until you are next on a normal connection to send them. Of course, this is a complete pain!

You can switch SMTP servers with just one click, not having to edit all the settings. If your Email Client allows, setup a default outgoing server for all your accounts if your host allows it (we do), then you just have to change the one set of details. Mozilla Thunderbird has a useful add-on called SmtpSelect

Check if you have a WebMail interface (freshSPRING clients do) so you can read and reply to emails through a web browser while using mobile dongles. It will be a bit slower and less functional than the full email program but it does get around the 'can't send' issue

USB Dongle Tips

• Sometimes sitting in a place with a metal table or closer to the window can dramatically improve the signal you receive while out and about, especially true in coffee-shops (or use their Wifi if you can)
• Some providers 'crunch' images on web pages so they look a little pixellated but they aren't in reality so don't have a heart-attack and think something has gone wrong!

We are starting to 'need' it more every day, though whether it's a good thing for society in general is something you might want to ask your partner!

Mobile Phones

Often you'll feel like you want to get all your emails on your mobile, but do you really want this? Surely the request to subscribe to your newsletter could wait until you are next back at your desk? We would suggest that if you need to monitor several emails on the go you keep it down to only the stuff you really need to 'deal with right now' or 'can deal with'.

Apple's iPhone, Blackberry and Android-based phones (HTC especially) are email-focussed devices and can all handle multiple accounts with ease. We won't get into the debate about which is best as it's really a question of trying them out and seeing which you get on with, but so you know most of our team uses iPhones.

Mobile Email Tips

• You can usually set a 'signature' (bit of text after your email that is always there) which can have a line like "sent from my mobile" which helps explain why you didn't write a 2-page reply to the recipient
• Don't expect everything from mobile phones, you are using a small screen with limited formatting options and also it won't open every attachment ... just relax and use it for short messages
• Patience! Just like text messages don't always go, emails won't always go (they're like lots of text messages strung together) so you may need to move around until your email will send

These accounts are more than large email accounts, they include shared calendars, contacts, and possibly an Intranet and/or shared document space. They are also tightly integrated with Microsoft Outlook (PC) / Entourage (Mac) Email Clients.

They used to also require running a server, though now you can get 'Hosted Exchange' services where you don't have to. Exchange now also includes a webmail experience which is very much like having Microsoft Outlook in your web browser.

If you haven't already got an email setup for your organisation then you are best looking at IMAP4 or POP3 Accounts as they do most of what you need already - Exchange Accounts tend to be charged per account per month whereas IMAP accounts are usually in bundles, or with ourselves unlimited 400Mb accounts.

Who needs them?

We find that clients requiring this level of Email/Account tends to be best suited to organisations of at least 5 people who need to work together tightly and have rapidly changing calendars and other integration needs. We would also recommend using Microsoft Outlook and Entourage for your email program, to some level of skill, though there are other programs which work.

There are also some free alternatives, for example Google Calendar Sync allows you to merge calendars online with other users (all our web clients use Google accounts) and indeed the webmail allows allows a simpler calendar sync option. So you can get quite a few of the benefits without needing to spend anymore.

Well they are pretty good at the online provision of email through a website, but some (especially GMail) can also work with these kinds of programs using IMAP or POP3. Of course they don't mention it too much because they make their money through online advertising but it is a useful addition.

The main benefits of an email client over webmail is speed and functionality. A program based on your computer using your computer's processor is going to be faster than needing to wait for a website to catch up after you've clicked something and they are more customisable. However, there is a lot going on in the online world and you will find webmail systems trying to do more of the functions of an email program but also integrate more tightly with other online services (eg. Google Apps).

The main reasons for choosing one or another is that most free email services require you to have an @yahoo.com kind of address which doesn't look as professional as @yoursite.com. It's similar to using a mobile phone as the main contact number for a business rather than a landline. In most cases @yoursite.com emails need to be used with an email program like Outlook (though you can sometimes integrate it, eg. Google Apps).

If you've worked in an office or use a program rather than a web browser to access your email then you use an Email Client. They work in the area of 'Personal Information Management' (PIM)!

A selection of some popular examples are:

• AOL's program (With AOL Broadband)
• Eudora (Lite and Regular versions)
• MacMail (Comes with Apple Computers)
• Outlook (Free 'Express' or paid, often with Microsoft Office)
• Thunderbird (Free, same people behind the FireFox browser)
• Windows Mail (Free, replacing Outlook Express in Windows 7)

They all need setting up to receive your email and are the best way to handle multiple email accounts at once, though most people only use them for one account. Their main benefits are:

• easy to receive on one address (eg. personal) and reply from another (eg. work) and see all emails at once
• mixing offline and online folders (see IMAP)
• shared contacts, multiple calendars (eg. personal/ work)
• task/ ToDo management (less so with free versions)
• synchronization abilities with mobile phones
• additional functionality like Social Media (eg. Xobni) or working with Microsoft Exchange accounts