Email remains backbone of business communication

Quickly, of the top of your head, how old is email? Most people would probably guess 20 years maybe? That makes sense as the mid-90s saw the start of the email boom where everyone signed up for an AOL or Hotmail account. Now it is not uncommon to have multiple accounts for personal, work, online shopping and more. However, email is actually gearing up for middle age.

Earlier this year, the electronic mail technology turned 41. A recent TechRepublic article from Monica Seeley highlighted the history and declared email still going strong.

“Email celebrated its 41st birthday a couple of months ago and amazingly how we use it remains largely unchanged,” wrote Seeley. “It still is basically a messaging system, pure and simple, devoid of feelings (unlike talking). What has changed is the volume, accessibility and how we have bent this simple messaging system to be a tool by which to manage, collaborate, negotiate, conduct illicit love affairs etc.”

In the time that email has been around, technologies like the fax machine, beeper and dial-up modem have come and gone. New communication options like social media have not hurt email either, as the messaging platform still outshines them when it comes to business communication and sharing documents.

A Radicati study that was cited by Seeley found that email is still the backbone of business communication. Worldwide corporate users receive an average of 110 emails per day with a predicted growth rate of 25 percent year on year.

Companies need to ensure they have a solid email solution in place. As more sensitive business information is shared through electronic means, having an IT consultant that can help with spam and virus filtering, disaster recovery, archiving and compliance can be crucial.

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