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Tips on using mobile e-mail effectively

Mobile e-mail now works on a ‘push’ technology, which means that e-mails are pushed to the handset in real time, thus avoiding the need to repeatedly check for and download e-mails. Mobile e-mail can be synchronised with whatever is on the e-mail system at your workplace. In addition, it includes the calendar, tasks and address book functions that you can access anytime. Given below are a few tips that will show you how to use your mobile mail effectively:

Duplication of e-mail: E-mails are downloaded on to your mobile phone in two ways. The first method is when the e-mail is downloaded from your e-mail account, such as Yahoo!, Gmail or any office e-mail service, onto e-mail clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. Your e-mails then get deleted from the original reservoir. In the second method, your e-mails are retained on your Web-based e-mail account, like Gmail. The latter allows you to check your e-mails from both your cell phone as well as your laptop. If you delete any e-mail from your cell phone while checking it, do not expect it to show in your inbox when you see the same mails on your laptop. Thus, make sure that you know how your client handles the mobile/computer divide. However, most common e-mail clients like Gmail or Yahoo! do not delete any mails that you download.

Two e-mail accounts: One way to reduce the load of e-mails on your mobile phone is to open a separate account for it. The account used to access mails on the mobile can only be used to check text e-mails while you can check all your newsletter subscriptions, heavy attachment files, etc, from your laptop. This way, you will not only reduce your GPRS bill but also save time.

Keep your cell-phone protected: Since you are now checking your e-mails on the mobile phone, update your device with the latest firmware, which is a set of operations and tools that reside between the hardware that the phone uses and the software that runs on the phone. This enables features, fixes bugs, and attends to the functioning of the phone. You can learn more about it from your mobile phone’s company website, e.g., nokia.com. This step will help keep your mobile phone protected against viruses and hacking.

Clear the cache: After you have checked your e-mails on your mobile phone, try and clear your Web browsing history as often as once a week. This way, if your phone falls into the wrong hands, no body will come to know about your personal details. You can clear out the browsing history just as you do on your laptop/computer by going to your browser’s Properties, then Tools options, where you can select ‘Clear Recent History’.

Avoid saving passwords: Though it may seem convenient to save passwords of personalor official e-mail accounts on the phone, one should avoid it. What if your phone gets stolen or you drop it somewhere; your entire data is easily accessible to others. Anirudh Gambhir, who runs a small business in Ludhiana, says, “I once forgot my cell phone in the train while commuting and came to know about it only after I reached my destination. My biggest fear was that I had saved all my passwords to my e-mail accounts on my phone. Anyone who got access to my phone would have access to all my e-mails.So I immediately went to the office and changed all my passwords.”

Lock it up: Lock your phone with a password. Some phones have a default pin code that also restores factory settings. For example, Nokia uses 12345. However, to avoid any problems, always change this number.

Train your staff: If you have made enterprise applications like an ERP system available on your employees’ mobiles, always train your staff on how to use mobile e-mail, browsing and any other apps. Else they may not only add to unnecessary expenses but may also end up placing confidential business data at risk.

Special thanks to Nidhi.