Why email

Email is one of the most effective technologies for business communication.

Email allows each party to communicate at their convenience, avoiding the time overhead of schedule synchronization. Messages can be triaged by urgency and handled for the necessary amount of time, no more, supporting efficient time allocation.

Communication in writing has several advantages.

• Encourages reflection and precision

• Allows deliberative writers to focus on what matters without burdening recipients with the intermediate thought process

• Reduces errors among people with different levels of language fluency or strong spoken accents

• Enables the use of tools that enhance clarity and reduce miscommunication

• Generates a durable, timestamped record that aids recall and accountability

Email messages can include URLs, images, and attachments of virtually any file type. This makes supporting materials readily available to recipients.

Email is decentralized, accessible to nearly everyone on the internet, and free to use. This makes it resilient and portable across organizations, countries, and decades.

Email is built on open standards, enabling a global ecosystem of compatible tools that improve organization, workflow, and security. Open standards also allow transparent, testable security models and support end-to-end encryption as needed.

Other communication modes offer specific advantages, but email’s flexibility and universality make it one of the most effective technologies for business communication against which new platforms are judged.