How Do I Manage My PVI Mailbox From More Than One Computer?
It's not uncommon for users to need to be able to access their email
from multiple devices: work and home, desktop and laptop, cell phone or
Pocket PC. Your PVI email service offers you several options for
managing your mailbox; choose the one that best fits your situation.
Option 1 - Web Mail
You can access your mailbox from any device with a Web browser
by logging in with your email address and password to
http://mail.pviproductions.com.
With our WorldClient Web mail you can check email, compose
messages, set up an address book, etc. The interface is very similar
to other Web mail services like Hotmail or Yahoo that you might be
familiar with. Web mail accesses our mail server directly, so all
your messages stay on the server. Because of this, Web mail is a
good solution for users who sometimes check their work mailbox
remotely and still receive all their messages on their work computer
in Outlook.
Web mail is also the best solution for users who use many
different devices for email since it allows them to keep everything
in one centralized place instead of trying to constantly
synchronizing different address books and mailboxes.
Limitations: Web mail requires a
device with a Web browser that supports Javascript, so it may not be
appropriate for all handheld devices. Web mail cannot access
contacts or messages stored locally in Outlook.
Option 2 - IMAP protocol
The IMAP messaging solution is a compromise between the Web mail
and POP3 options. With IMAP, everything stays on the mail server
like Web mail, but you still need a computer and an email client
program such as Outlook.
Setup in Outlook or Outlook Express is nearly identical to a
traditional POP3 solution, but instead of Outlook storing your
messages on your local hard disk all data is read from the mail
server. IMAP is a good solution for users who must frequently access
email from a remote computer as well as from the office, such as
teleworkers.
Limitations: IMAP requires a
computer and compatible email client software. Due to the high
amount of data transfer between the server and client, this solution
may not be practical for slow Internet connections.
Option 3 - POP3 protocol with duplicate local storage
Some users find that they can use a traditional POP3 setup with a
simple change to their mailbox settings. Most email clients have an
option to "Leave a copy of mail on the server" or "Disable
message deletion after download". By checking this box your mail
client will download all new messages from the mail server but not
delete them. This means you can access those same messages from another
computer and download them again. This approach works for users who
occasionally wish to check their email from home but still want to have
those messages available on their desktop when they return to work.
Typically the home computer will have the option checked and the work
computer will not, so when the user is working at the office their
server mailbox is constantly emptied.
Limitations: This solution keeps two separate copies of
everything, so a situation can occur where a needed contact or message
is inaccessible because it is stored on another computer. Care must be
taken to be sure old messages are cleared from the server by one of the
client computers or your mailbox may become full.
Of course it is possible to mix and match the above solutions as you
see fit. You can use Web mail from a hotel business center, IMAP from
your work and home computers and duplicate storage POP3 with your PDA.
PVI gives you all the options, but the choice is up to you! |
