Backup Plans

Recently the news (ex: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012602087.html) discussed how the White House experienced an email slowdown/stop. The mail server which funnels incoming and outgoing emails was temporarily down. Now perhaps the White House may have more sensitive information to convey and therefore needs more security than we do. But hearing about this reminded us about the importance of alternative communication tools. At times we all experience internet tool sluggishness to say the very least. Today there are so many options for free web-based email accounts with large storage capabilities.

The Tech Angels of New Rochelle would like to recommend setting up one or more backup email accounts to facilitate your business/personal communications. Sometimes when one email system is unable to allow you to login your flow of communication is still functioning you just are unfortunately blocked from accessing it. If you setup a mail forwarding (a standard where every email one email account receives sends a second copy to another email address), you may still receive new messages and not be left out of the loop while your main email provider repairs it's login page. So many options abound: gmail.com, hotmail.com, mail.yahoo.com, aim.com, mail-us.gmx.com, inbox.com, and more.

Why not setup more than one? Then you have more chances of locating and maintaining the ability to send emails. There is also an excellent tool: http://www.e-mailanywhere.com.
This website allows you to login to your other web-based pop3 emails. At times one of my accounts will have difficulty with it's main page for logging in. But my actual email account is still flowing email in and out. If I use e-mailanywhere (don't forget the hyphen and the www), then I can still read my recent emails that I otherwise would have missed.

If the White House experiences the occasional slowdown/stopage, you know we will experience it from time to time. Be prepared. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having a backup plan might mean the difference between completing an essential task and not following through on someone's communication. May your email experiences be smooth. But for those moments when they aren't, have a backup!