Looking for a Gmail alternative?

Best for …

Fastmail is a great choice for smaller and medium-sized businesses in education, media, and eCommerce.

Pricing

• Free trial
• Basic plan: $ 3 per user/month
• Standard plan: $ 5 per user/month
• Professional plan: $ 9 per user/month

What are the key factors for choosing a Gmail alternative

Email continues to be an important communication tool for not only individuals but also many businesses. While Gmail has been a popular choice among many users, people are seeking email alternatives that offer improved privacy, security, and additional features. Let’s look at some key factors that may help you determine which Gmail alternative is right for you.

Business needs and requirements

Businesses’ particular needs and requirements play a crucial role in email provider selection. By understanding these needs, businesses can ensure that they choose a provider that aligns with their objectives and enhances their overall productivity. Some companies require a particular suite of features, while others keep a close look at the available payment plans.

For example, if you need an affordable solution with omnichannel capabilities, opt for something like LiveAgent. If you’re working with confidential customer data and require a higher level of privacy, consider Mailfence, or StartMail.

Universal inbox and multi-agent dashboard

A universal Inbox allows users to manage multiple email accounts from various providers in one central location. It helps streamline email management and saves time by eliminating the need to switch between platforms.

The Multi-Agent Dashboard is a particularly important feature for businesses that require multiple team members to access and manage a shared email account. It enables more efficient collaboration, where team members can assign tasks, track progress, and ensure timely responses to inquiries from their customers. LiveAgent, a ticketing system, and email management software, provides both of these features with the added advantage of customization options.

Integration with other tools

Another key factor to consider is the possibility to integrate your email service with other tools that are necessary for your day-to-day operations. Seamless integration between your email and other productivity tools can significantly enhance efficiency and collaboration within your organization. These tools might include calendars, CRM systems, help desk systems, analytics, and many others. Although there is not a recommended amount of integrations an email tool should have, opt for one that can cover all your needs and still have some spare.

Storage capacity

Storage capacity is a crucial factor that determines how much data can be stored within the system. This data includes things such as emails, documents, audio files, photos, videos, etc.

Having adequate storage is important to manage all communications without worrying about running out of space and having to delete important information.

Therefore, it is crucial to choose an email provider that offers enough email storage space for your particular needs to ensure smooth and uninterrupted communication.

Security and privacy

Companies send emails every day that involve sensitive data and confidential information. This is the reason why you should never overlook email providers’ security and privacy policies.

Make sure that they offer end-to-end encryption that ensures your emails are encrypted during transit and can only be decrypted by the recipient. Another important feature is a Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) can add an extra layer of protection to your account by requiring a unique code in addition to your password.

Make sure that your email service does not rely on advertisements or tracking to generate revenue. This way you don’t have to be afraid that they will sell your data to third parties for marketing purposes.

Reading Privacy Policy and Data Storage is also essential to understand how your data is stored, processed, and protected by the email service provider. Ideally, they should follow strict data protection regulations and store data in secure locations with strong encryption standards.

Collaboration features

Collaboration features are another key factor to consider when choosing a Gmail alternative, as efficient teamwork and communication are vital for businesses to thrive and grow. Advanced collaboration features can streamline workflows, improve productivity, enhance team cooperation, and improve customer satisfaction.

These collaborative features may include:

• Shared inboxes and folders: These enable multiple team members to access, manage, and respond to emails collaboratively.
  Email tagging and assignment: It allows users to tag and assign emails to specific team members, ensuring that everyone stays on top of their responsibilities.
• Internal notes and comments: Adding notes and comments to emails without changing the original content can help team members discuss matters related to specific emails.
• Sharing calendars and scheduling: Sharing calendars, creating events, and scheduling meetings within your email service can improve team organization and keep everyone informed about upcoming deadlines, appointments, and milestones.
• Integration with collaboration tools: An email service should offer seamless integration with popular collaboration tools like Slack, WhatsApp, Jira, and more. This ensures smooth communication and task management across teams.

Customizability and branding

Being able to customize and personalize everything you use for your business is important to make sure that it aligns with your brand identity and meets your unique needs. An email service with customizable branding can help maintain a consistent and professional business image.

Here are some examples of customization features that can be beneficial for your company brand:

• Creating a custom domain for email addresses
• Email templates
• Signatures
• Customizable filters and labels

How to ensure a smooth transition to your chosen Gmail alternative?

Prepare your team

If you are considering switching from Gmail to a different email service, make sure you prepare your team for this change to ensure a smooth transition.

The first step is to communicate the reasons for switching and the benefits that the new service can bring to the team and the company in general. This will help your team understand why the change is necessary and motivate them to learn the new system.

Once your team is on board, it’s important to assess their training needs and create a training plan. It should take into account your team’s familiarity with the new system and take action accordingly. Providing hands-on training and resources such as video tutorials, in-person training or seminars, or even keeping an updated knowledge base can be helpful.

Last but not least, ongoing support and resources for further skill development are crucial for ensuring your team gains confidence in using the new system. This can include regular check-ins, feedback sessions, and access to additional training.

Manage data migration and integration

To have a smooth migration process from Gmail to the new email service provider, manage your data migration and integration as effectively as you can. Here are some tips on how you can ensure a seamless transition to your chosen alternative.

Firstly, create a plan for data migration from Gmail to the new service. It should outline the steps you need to take to move all your emails, contacts, and files to the new platform. Make sure you have a backup of all your data before initiating the migration.

Next, ensure your new email service integrates seamlessly with other tools you use in your organization for communication, collaboration, and productivity. For example, if you use a project management tool, make sure that your email service integrates with it.

Some email providers like LiveAgent offer a seamless free Gmail migration to your new account.

Conclusion

In conclusion, many available alternatives can provide you with many benefits and advantages based on your particular needs and requirements. Whether you are looking for better security, more storage space, advanced features, or improved collaboration tools, there’s an email service out there that can offer you just that.

Don’t hesitate to explore your options and make the switch to a Gmail alternative that will work for you. LiveAgent is definitely an option worth considering; it offers a wide range of benefits, including advanced email management features, seamless integration with other tools, and excellent customer support.