How Intruders are Using Your Email

I've written quite a lot about how email is either moving your business forward or causing a nuisance in your daily work life. The good news is that your email is available everywhere in the current age, the bad news is the same, it's available everywhere. And once your email address is out in the wild you only have a few ways to protect it. This is a short synopsis of the top ways intruders are lurking in your lifestyle by way of invading your inbox and some ways to mitigate the issue.

Here are a few facts about what is going on with your email. Take note of these 5 key areas of action:

• The rise in gmail accounts correctly invading your inbox
  It's so easy to get a free gmail account and now to associate the gmail account to a domain name either hosted elsewhere or on the gmail platform that you as a startup business can have a valid and proper email account which will get through to other's inboxes without having to set up all of the systems able to send email.

• Correct setup is the first step (SPF, DMARK, Hosting, Proper Use)
  Although many of these items get setup correctly by default they tend to get mixed up over time as folks change DNS records. Also, requirements for proper email sending are ever evolving and change over time. These must be administered correctly in order to ensure proper delivery.

• Device optimization options
  Incredibly important and typically thrown to the side is the matter of setting up each device correctly as your lifestyle dictates. Improper setup on a device or device(s) will interrupt your daily workflow and/or stop you from getting proper notifications and delivery. It is my opinion that your mobile should have the ability to receive and send email only during optimum work hours. For me that means 6am to 6pm. On my mobile, my email moves to Do Not Disturb any time outside of these hours and I suggest the same to our workforce. If/when I open my email during the DND hours it will deliver all new email to me and allow me to interact as I choose however I do not receive notifications after hours. From my desktop I allow all hours and my tablet is setup the same as my mobile as I carry it with me just about everywhere for ease of use.

• Integration with other systems (Beware the freeware)
  When integrating your email with other systems like a CRM, Reports, etc... you'll need to actually READ the license agreement because in many ways you give up your email and personal/professional information for use by other related partners when doing so. Who knew that signing up for a CRM to use for free just posted your professional information and that of all your potential leads to another?

• No other systems allow the redundancy and delivery of our email platform
  I've watched so many successful folks use text messaging as a way to interact within their own organization as well as to others. It's a massive mistake. SMS/Text is NOT redundant no matter what your carrier tells you and it won't get better. It relies on an operating system for a device, the carrier you are on, the hardware you use, the reception at the time of sending/receiving as well as the length of the message being shortened which causes issues with clarity in reading and composing. It's literally the shorthand and smoke signals of professional communication.

In summary, your email address for work is the way the most critical information will be sent to you. It needs to be protected, secure, available everywhere but available when you set it to available.

Our team will show you how to make this happen and we'll keep you ahead of the reality of email.