Many of us spend every day with email by our side. It’s the main form of communication used in business and the starting point for almost every service you can use online. It’s not just something people can use; it’s intrinsic to modern life.
They say familiarity breeds contempt and email certainly suffers from its familiarity. A lot of people have a problem with email. The rise of mobile technology, instant messaging and social media mean email is no longer the only form of online communication, but it’s the only one a lot of us are forced to use.
We Need to Use Email Every Day
The main problem with email may be that we have to use it every day, for work or when we want to use an online service. It’s difficult to live without email. But it can be a frustrating medium. Since it’s possible to communicate instantly through more efficient services like instant messaging and social media, people find email slow and archaic.
People also have a problem with how email is used. A lot of us share tasks via email; we use it as an online to do list. This can lead to duplication of messages and conversations around basic topics like the breakdown of duties. There are services out there that cover this too, which just leads to more frustration for users.
Spam is another serious and unavoidable problem with email, especially for businesses. It clogs up servers, takes time to delete and delays important processes like backup and eDiscovery. Email archiving solutions can help with these problems, but email remains something that business users tolerate rather than embrace.
Email Needs to be Embraced
For such an old system, the first ever email was sent in 1971, email has found its way into every facet of modern existence. Even though it’s not as efficient as other services, it still provides the framework for most business communication. It is here to stay, so we need to embrace it.
Embracing email shouldn’t be too difficult either. A lot of the problems come from how we use email. Rather than complaining about the problems with email, we should to find better ways to use email. Services like email archiving make email storage and eDiscovery more efficient, but it’s down to users to make email less frustrating.
