POP3: The problem with POP3 sharing is that you are essentially downloading the same email 2 or 3 times; and these are being marked as ‘unread.’ This means you will have to wade through your email each time on each machine. Therefore, this is not truly syncing but rather sharing.

The only way to truly sync your email is with Exchange Server (for Windows) or utilize Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).

IMAP allows for two-way communication between your e-mail account and your devices. That means whatever software or computer you use to access your e-mail, they will sync. But this requires that the email remain on your email server. If you are like me, I have over 2GB of emails and many hosting accounts limit your web and email space. If you go over this amount, your website can go down for going over the limit. If you choose this, be sure that you have enough email space and bandwidth to account for this traffic.

Exchange Server: For my business this was the best solution. All my emails are truly synced on all of my devices. The downside is the Exchange Server can get expensive if you require several email accounts (on a hosted solution) or intend to host your own email at your business. They generally run between $8 – $25 per month per account. Having said that, how much will you save in frustration and time reviewing the same emails.

We recommend Apptix for Hosted Exchange Service

Setup POP3 on several devices

By default, when you download new messages from a POP3 e-mail account, the messages are deleted from the POP3 mail server. If you check your POP3 e-mail account from different computers by using the default Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 POP3 settings, the computer that downloads a new e-mail message is the only location where the message is stored. The message is no longer on the POP3 mail server when you connect from another computer. – Microsoft.com (read more)

To setup your POP3 with your Outlook on your PC and laptop, here are the steps:

1. Click Tools | Account Settings
2. Under Name, select the POP3 e-mail account that you want to change, and then click Change.
3. Click More Settings.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Delivery, select the Leave a copy of messages on the server check box.
5. Then be sure to select the number of days to remove older messages from your server. These settings might help prevent you from exceeding the maximum mailbox size set by your Internet service provider (ISP) or web host.

There are various solutions to consider:

As an example,  WestHost will setup an alternate port (2525 versus 25). Then you would need to set your Outlook to send email on port 2525 and to authenticate to the outgoing server, using the same information as the incoming server.

Each host will have their settings or you can use the server settings that your ISP provides you. Below are various SMTP settings for top ISPs. You will need your ISP login and password if you decide to use their outgoing SMTP.

AT&T: Set your outgoing SMTP to mailhost.worldnet.att.net
Comcast: Use Port 587 or set your outgoing SMTP to smtp.comcast.net
AOL :  outgoing mail server to smtp.aol.com
NetZero: outgoing mail server to smtp.netzero.net

Below is Comcast’s Explanation:

“Port 25 is an unsecured port on a computer that those sending spam can take control of to send spam – often without the user ever knowing his/her computer has been compromised. When spam from a compromised computer is detected, Comcast’s anti-spam systems automatically apply a sending block and send an email notification to the affected subscriber’s comcast.net email address. This block does not interrupt mail service for Webmail (e.g. Comcast, Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail); however, this block does prevent email programs or clients (e.g. Outlook Express) from sending email. Client e-mail programs will still receive email. The instructions at our mail client help page explain how to configure common email client programs to use Port 587, which includes authentication, instead of Port 25.”

1. In Outlook, select Tools / Account Settings.
2. On the Email tab, click the New button.
3. Check the “Manually configure server settings or additional
   server types” checkbox.
4. Click the Next button.
5. Click the Internet E-mail button.
6. Click the Next button.
7. In the appropriate boxes, type the information given to you in a prior email.
• Your Name—Enter your first and last name. This is the name that will appear in the From field of messages you send.

• E-mail Address—Enter your entire email address (e.g., myname@mydomain.com), using all lowercase letters.
• Account Type—Select POP3 from the drop-down menu.
• Incoming mail server— See your email
• Outgoing mail server (SMTP)—See your email
• User Name—Enter your entire email address (e.g., myname@mydomain.com), using all lowercase letters.
• Password—Enter the password for your email account.
8. Click the More Settings button.
9. Depending on your email, you will need to edit the following tabs:
   • Outgoing Server Tab:
     Check the “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication” checkbox.
   • Click the Advanced tab:
     Outgoing server (SMTP):
     Port: 25 or 26
10. If you are pulling the same email to another computer or mobile device, Check the “Leave a copy of messages on the server” checkbox, if desired.
    But be sure that one computer or device is deleting the email from the server to prevent your email server from getting too full.
11. Click Test Account Settings to verify that your account is working. If there is missing or incorrect information, such as your password, you will be prompted to supply or correct it. Be sure your computer is connected to the Internet.

7. Click Finish.

If the picture is too big, press (Ctl) (Print Screen) at the same time to capture an image of the error message box. Then you you can paste the screen into Windows Paint imaging utility and press into the picture. Save the picture as a JPEG and you can attach the picture to your e-mail and send to your tech support person.

1. if you have an e-commerce website, you could be missing out on customer orders. The last round of spam related limits placed by AOL has disallowed many emails with generic email headers, for example, info@yourcompany.com
2. Potential customers may be trying to reach you using their e-mail server but AOL may be blocking their ISP ip address.

What can you do?

• Create an e-mail using your company domain, info@yourcompany.com, and use the POP3 accounts that come with your web host. You can download these emails to your computer, save, and archive.
• If you don’t want to switch, make sure your phone number is quite prominent on every page of your website. This should just be prerequisite for having a website though.

(1) Incorporate a Frequently Asked Questions section in your websites.

(2) Hire more first-level employees to handle customer questions and inquiries.

(3) My favorite, since I am a small business and cannot afford to hire more employees, is to utilize my Microsoft Outlook and create various signatures within File | Signatures section answering specific questions. I also create draft emails for when I have e-mails with attachments like my Web Development Workbook.