Email is now an accepted form of communication, perceived as cheap and immediate and regarded as either an advantage or necessary evil.  But just how instant and reliable is email?

Have you ever sent an important email only to learn it hasn't arrived? Perhaps you've waited all day for an email that was supposedly sent hours ago? This month AGUK provides a brief insight into how emails work and system hiccups.

Along with the dramatic growth in email usage came unsolicited email (spam) and the ever increasing risk of email viruses. Email providers and systems have struggled to battle against these threats and, as a result, many email users are noticing some side effects. What was once a method of near instant communication has become less so and there are a number of reasons for this:

• Congestion
  The internet, just like the UK road transport system, can get congested with traffic. Emails travel via the internet's equivalent of a road network, with traffic lights and junctions along the way to stop them bumping into each other and getting lost. Just as there are rush hours on the road, the same happens on the internet;  at busy times, the traffic slows down and queues start to form. Hence, an email sent off-peak, say, in the middle of the night, arrives immediately, yet one sent at 16:45 can be held up by a closing day's congestion. 
• Security Checkpoints
  As a result of the growth in spam and viruses, the number of security checkpoints has increased. Airports are a good analogy here.  When you jet away on holiday, or business, you may find yourself held up by Customs and kept waiting while your credentials are checked.  The same can happen with your email;  it is called "Greylisting".  A first email from you to anyone can be delayed by a few minutes to a few hours while credentials are checked. Similarly, just as a frequent traveller can be recognised by Customs and simply waved through checkpoints, the same can apply to your email. 
• Checking Your Bags
  In addition to primary checks, further checks may be made.  As in the airport analogy whereby Customs choose to check some bags and sift through their contents, so a similar action is taken with emails. Many email systems now check the contents of emails for abusive words, or anything appearing to be spam, and will check attachments for harmful viruses. Again, like Customs, they only have the capacity to carry out so many checks at once. Consequently, your email may end up in a queue for checking before it is forwarded to its recipient. Plus, the bigger an email attachment, the longer the check. 
• Out For Lunch
  Where immediacy is concerned, an aspect of email often overlooked by senders is an assumption that recipients are at their desks, with their email clients open to receive messages.  However, if they are chatting to a colleague by the coffee machine, in a meeting, or out for lunch, there will be an obvious delay in reply.  A much longer delay will occur if your email recipient is actually away, and has not set up an automatic message to notify you of their leave of absence and date of return.

What Can I Do?

Here are our tips:

• Understand and appreciate how emails work.  They are fast, economic and effective but should not be relied on as a fail-safe form of instant communication.
• Where urgency is paramount, consider the alternatives of either reverting to the long trusted technology of the telephone, or using a mobile/fax/or SMS text messaging service.
• If you know your addressee needs time to respond but want to check your email has arrived safely, set up a receipt confirmation request.
• Show email consideration to others:  if you are going to be out of the office for any length of time, set up an automatic email advice notification to explain your absence, giving the name of a colleague if the matter requires attention before your return.
• Ensure emails containing customer data are handled correctly, and your email policy complies with the Data Protection Act