what is the Electronic Mail? Its History and Benefits for Businesses

One of the most frequently used communication addresses in today’s digital era is electronic mail (e-mail). Thanks to technological developments, now you don’t need to send a letter through the post office anymore. Simply digitize the letter or document you want to send, then send the message via electronic mail.

Through this article, you will learn more about what is meant by e-mail along with its history. In addition, you can also find out what are the benefits of e-mail for business. Let’s see the full explanation below!

What is the Electronic Mail?

Electronic mail, which can be shortened to e-mail, is a method of exchanging messages (or letters) using electronic devices via computer networks or the internet. E-mail thus can be interpreted as an electronic (or digital) version of a physical letter written on paper and usually sent through the post office.

The word “email” itself can refer to the method of sending messages and the message itself, both as messages that have been sent and received. Originally, e-mail was created to transmit messages between computer systems on the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) in the 1970s.

Today, modern e-mail has become available to the public at large since the creation of software-based e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook and web browser-based ones such as Gmail. Web browser-based e-mail clients themselves allow their users to send and receive messages over the Internet using these e-mail clients.

In this digital era, e-mail has become one of the most popular methods of communication, both for personal and professional needs. The security level of e-mail also makes it an excellent tool because it can prevent you from cyber-attacks such as phishing, domain spoofing, and Business Email Compromise (BEC).

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The History of Electronic Mails

The history of e-mail can be traced back to 1965. The first examples of e-mail can be found on computers at MIT in a program called “MAILBOX”. Users of computers at MIT can leave messages with this program on those computers for other users. , who will see the message when they log back in. This system is quite effective, but only if the people who want to communicate with each other regularly use the same computer.

In 1969, the United States Ministry of Defense, through DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) began implementing the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was a network that connects many computers in all departments for communication purposes within the organization. On October 29, 1969, the first message was sent from computer to computer on the ARPANET.

However, the e-mail system itself was launched for the first time in 1971 when Ray Tomlinson developed an e-mail system on the ARPANET network. This practical communication concept has proven to be very effective in helping an organization start to spread throughout the world. However, with the advent of internal networks, messaging protocols have become more complex.

Fortunately, Ray Tomlinson once again found a breakthrough in the development of e-mail. At that time, Tomlison introduced the use of the “@” symbol which could indicate a user’s system address, such as “username@computername”, which is still used in e-mails today.

Since then, there have been many programmers creating increasingly modern email clients, ranging from software-based to web-browser-based. Then, thanks to the rapid development of the internet since the 1990s, the use of e-mail which was originally only intended for the needs of an organization can now be widely used by the public as it is today.

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Benefits of Electronic Mail for Businesses

E-mails have become the most used method of communication in businesses across all sectors. The following are some of the benefits of using this mail for businesses.

1. Can Be Sent and Received Immediately

Electronic mail is very easy to use because you only need to register an account and set up a profile. After that, you can start creating, sending, and receiving messages quickly. You can bulk send one message to several users at a time.

This will certainly greatly help businesses to communicate, both with their employees and with consumer or clients. For example, when there is a change in company regulations, management can immediately send notifications via e-mail to all employees. In addition, companies can also provide details of orders to consumers or clients quickly and directly.

2. Saves Costs

E-mail allows your company to reach consumers, vendors, and business partners around the world without spending a penny on postage. You can send simple messages, documents, or even consumer invoices without having to pay to print the messages, pay for envelopes to send them, or pay for a delivery service.

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3. Saves Time

Electronic mail can help you reach anyone and anywhere in the world instantly. Other communication methods such as faxes can be interrupted by busy telephone lines, telephone calls may go unanswered, and letters sent through the post office can take up to days to reach their destination.

On the other hand, e-mails can be sent and received without a hitch. In addition, many professionals spend all day at the computer or just spend a little time accessing e-mail several times a day. As a result, e-mail is the most powerful way to convey important information quickly.

4. Safer

The encryption of e-mail allows you to send a message securely to other users. On the other hand, letters sent through the post office can be stolen, lost, or opened by someone who is not the recipient. As long as you have confirmed the email address you are using as well as the destination email address, the message you send will arrive safely to the intended recipient.

5. More Convenient

Company leaders, managers, and employees are busy people. They don’t always have time to take phone calls or read letters sent through the post office. Messages sent via email will go to your inbox and will remain there until you read them.

If the message sent is important, the sender can mark it as an urgent message (such as starred message) to get your attention. In addition, sending e-mails can be easily adapted to suit your schedule, so there will be no problem regarding the time of receiving them.

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Use AdIns’ Digital Signature for Files That will be Sent Through Electronic Mail

When using electronic mail, you will simultaneously send a message or digital document along with the message. For the submitted documents to be valid and have legal force, you must sign them with a certified Electronic Signature (TTE). To get it, you can use the Digital Signature service from AdIns. This is the time for you to start carrying out digital transformation for more effective business management. Contact us here to get more information about them!