Before you can decide which one to use, it’s important to understand the differences between the three main ways email is delivered to your inbox, as well as the pros and cons of each service.
pop3
pop3 (sometimes just “pop” – Post Office Protocol, version 3) was the first major email protocol to gain universal adoption when the Internet became widespread in the 1990s. in pop it’s simple: your email client (such as outlook, macmail or thunderbird) connects to the mail server and then downloads your emails directly to the computer. downloaded email is removed from the server (although most clients have settings to prevent this).
advantages:
- inexpensive: no licenses required.
- universal adoption: compatible with virtually all devices.
- easy to deploy and configure.
cons:
- when a message is downloaded, it is deleted from the server (if you save messages on the server, you may end up downloading the same email multiple times).
- when a sent message is downloaded, it is not there is a copy of the server.
- if you access your mail on different devices, you will see different emails depending on what was downloaded on which device.
- there is no way to organize your inbox inbox the inbox is your only folder.
- hasn’t had a major update since 1988.
- largely outdated.
should i use pop3?
not. it’s 2017. you should be in imap.
map
imap (Internet Message Access Protocol) is the second major iteration of how people access their email, and also the most popular today. It has all the features of pop3, but it also has one major benefit that is important to most users: email synchronization between multiple devices. this allows you to have the same email experience across devices because all your email (incoming and outgoing) is stored directly on the server, rather than downloaded directly to your computer. for this reason imap replaced pop3 and has largely made it obsolete. if you’re using gmail, you’re using imap.
advantages:
- Inexpensive: No licenses required.
- Universal adoption: Compatible with virtually all devices.
- Email sync. all messages, including sent messages, are saved on the server.
- folder support to organize your inbox.
- compatibility: if your server supports imap, most likely is that it supports pop3.
cons:
- folders on the server can be duplicated if not set up correctly.
- easy to run out of inbox space if you never delete emails or are low on storage space.
- requires more powerful servers.
should i use imap?
simply: yes.
microsoft exchange
microsoft exchange / microsoft office 365 is a proprietary platform developed by microsoft. requires the purchase of user or server licenses. It has traditionally been marketed to the enterprise-grade consumer and offers all the functionality of imap, but also has other features to help businesses and organizations better collaborate between employees and staff.
features like shared address books & calendars, shared file storage, and native integration with other microsoft products like sharepoint and office. Microsoft Office 365, a relatively new offering, competes directly with Google Apps for Business and is designed to make the enterprise-grade functionality found in Exchange more cost-effective for small and medium-sized businesses.
advantages:
- email synchronization: instead of downloading an email, a copy is created on your device while the original remains on the server.
- folder support for organizing emails.
- sent messages are saved on the server.
- native integration with most microsoft products.
- offers many collaboration tools to allow users to team members share resources like calendars and documents.
- licenses can be purchased per user or per server to help scale costs.
cons:
- can be expensive: user and server licenses can end up costing thousands of dollars a year.
- updates are not free on the exchange: microsoft releases a new version every 1 to 3 years and requires you to buy new licenses to use it. You can avoid this by purchasing Microsoft Office 365 accounts instead.
- Setup and maintenance require specialized knowledge.
who should use microsoft exchange
- those who work in a team environment and require collaborative tools such as shared contacts and calendars, shared file storage, use many other microsoft products.
- organizations that want full control of the email server.
- organizations with technical expertise available to manage and maintain it (or a trusted technical partner).
should i use microsoft office 365?
- if you want the benefits and functionality of the exchange server, but a simpler and more streamlined experience.
- if you want to avoid the license costs of a full exchange server and only want to pay per user.
At envisionup, we offer managed service and support for our web design clients for all email service platforms, including Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft Office 365. Our email infrastructure offers full redundancy so emails never fail. are lost, as well as in real time. backups, email delete recovery, best-of-breed 3-layer protection against spam, malware, and viruses, and optional access to a control panel if you want to manage emails yourself.
If you don’t have the in-house technical expertise to help with your emails or are looking to take the next step, we’d love to chat!