Choosing an E-Mail Program

If your business depends on e-mail, you need an e-mail program that's easy to use, yet powerful enough to handle a high volume of messages. While some e-mail programs are free, more robust ones can cost up to $100.

Before you buy an e-mail program, decide which features you must have and

Autocompletion. Autocompletion is a real timesaver. If you've e-mailed someone before, autocompletion will fill in an e-mail address after you type the first few characters.

Spellchecker. All good e-mail programs will include a spellchecker that catches misspelled words and typos.

Filters. Whether you get 50 or 500 e-mail messages a day, you can bring order to your inbox by letting your e-mail program automatically sort your incoming mail for you. Filters scan the sender and subject line, and route messages to folders you specify.

Multiple Personalities. Some e-mail programs allow you to set up different user profiles for different audiences. For example, you can set up an informal personality profile for personal and internal company messaging, and an alternate "business" personality for more formal correspondence.

Multiple signatures. A client that supports multiple user profiles may also allow you to set up more than one signature. The signature you use for clients, for example, may include your name, title, and contact information, whereas your informal signature may include just your first name.

Check multiple e-mail accounts. If you have more than one e-mail address, insist on an e-mail client that can log in and check all your accounts. This allows you to centralize your e-mail by collecting all your messages in one inbox.

Sort options. You can end up with crowded folders even with diligent use of filters. The sort option lets you categorize your mail by date, sender, or subject, which makes it easier to locate messages.

Search capabilities. In addition to sorting mail, sophisticated search options can make short work of tracking down specific information contained in an e-mail message.