Many people have multiple email addresses, including a personal one used to communicate with friends and family and a business one that is in most cases allocated to them by the company where they work. However, the abilities of each email address will vary depending on the type of personal email account a person chooses to use and the type of account the corporation sets up for them. Etiquette and security also vary, depending on which account you’re using and what messages you’re sending. In the next paragraphs, Doing Business looks at the main features that will differentiate a personal email from a corporate based email. Email Access According to Chron.com, personal email accounts can be accessed from almost anywhere, even if the user reads their mail at home through a program such as Microsoft Outlook. Most personal email services have web-based email inboxes where you can read, write and edit email from any computer. In contrast, in most instances, corporations have email accounts that can only be accessed at work or through a work computer. Usually those accounts are routed through a program such as Outlook, and users don’t have access to the web-based service. Passwords and other items that need to be edited in corporate email are changed through an IT employee instead of through your own settings, as they would be in personal email. Security Features Consequently a user can be relatively sure that their email use isn’t being monitored only when they are using the personal email. Corporate email, on the other hand, should be considered an open book to your employer. Everything from the messages you write to the attachments you send are subject to scrutiny and should be kept strictly business. Unlike a personal email account, which can be used as you please, corporate email accounts are maintained and paid for by a company that wants the accounts used for business purposes. Some companies will also have stronger password and email security than you would find on a standard account. This is especially true if information like client names or financial spreadsheets are exchanged via the corporate email system. Etiquette and Attachments Similarly, according to netmannes.com, personal and corporate-based email systems have different standard etiquette. Though you might send a casual email to a family member or a funny picture to a friend from a personal email account, the same should not be done from a corporate-based email account. Corporate email messages should be checked carefully for grammatical or spelling errors; they should include your full name and the full name of the recipient. Netmanners recommends that a user is always sure to use their corporate email address and refrain from emailing clients from your personal address as it looks unprofessional. In addition, attachment sizes may also be different on different email systems. Consider some of the top email services: Outlook offers 10GB attachments, while Yahoo and Gmail both have a 25MB attachment limit for email, according to The Windows Club. Cost of Accounts Also different is the cost of personal and corporate email. Many people get free personal email accounts from Internet service providers with Internet plans; free email accounts are also available from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and also a few other companies. When a business wants to offer employees a corporate-based email account, it usually incurs a significant cost. Each individual email account, as well as the attachments and volume of email being sent, contributes to the final cost. Though corporations can also use free email accounts for employees, they won’t come with a corporate domain and won’t look as professional. Ultimately, chron.com highlights that the best email services for business will depend on a user’s specific business and its needs.
