With three people, email organises itself. With thirty, it needs a plan: who gets an address, which addresses are shared, and how much storage everyone needs.
Personal and role addresses
- Personal addresses (firstname@ or firstname.lastname@) for each person who emails customers or partners.
- Role addresses (sales@, support@, accounts@, jobs@) that stay the same when people change.
Role addresses can be real mailboxes that several people check, or forwarders that deliver to the right person. Publish role addresses on your website and documents; they survive staff changes.
Mailing lists for groups
A mailing list such as team@ or management@ delivers one message to a group without everyone typing a dozen addresses. It also makes onboarding and offboarding simpler: add or remove a person once.
Storage per mailbox
Most office users are comfortable with a few gigabytes; people who exchange large attachments every day need more. Rather than giving everyone the maximum, start sensibly and raise quotas for those who need it. Teach people to share large files through a shared drive instead of attachments.
When someone leaves
Do not delete the mailbox the same day. Change the password, set an automatic reply pointing to a colleague, forward new mail, and keep the mailbox until the handover is complete.
Security
Enforce strong passwords, and connect phones and laptops with secure settings (IMAP over SSL). Train the team to recognise phishing, which almost always arrives by email.
Choosing a plan
IDX business email offers single mailboxes and team plans. The Grow, Business and Enterprise plans include 50, 75 and 100 mailboxes, with 10, 20 and 30 mailing lists respectively. Compare them on the business email page and pick the one that fits your headcount for the next year.
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