Advantages and Disadvantages of Email Notes-CSEET

Advantages and disadvantages of Email

Email has changed the way we do business. Sure, people complain about the amount of Email they receive. But when all is said and done, use of Email has made a positive impact on business and has an edge over other methods of communication.

Here are five advantages of using Email:

(i) Managing Email is Easy : You can manage all your correspondence on screen and so can your customers. Your proposal can be answered, revised, stored, and sent to others, all without reams of paper involved.

(ii) Email is Fast : Mail is delivered instantly from your office to anywhere in the world. No other method of delivery can provide this service. Timely buying and selling decisions can be made in one heartbeat.

(iii) Email is Inexpensive : Compared to telephone calls, faxes, or over night courier service, Email is less expensive.

(iv) Email is Easy to Filter : The subject line on an Email makes it easy to prioritize messages. The reader can identify critical correspondence quickly and deal with it immediately. Unlike regular mail which needs to be opened and reviewed, or voice mail which requires you to either listen to or scan all your messages for those that require immediate attention.

(iv) Transmission is Secure and Reliable : The level of security in transmitting Email messages is very high, and the industry continues to strive to develop even tighter security levels. Email is private. Often telephone and fax messages are not. If the address information is correct, rarely does an Email go astray. Fax machines can be out of order or out of paper and this prevents an important message from being delivered in a timely manner.

Email has been credited for increased efficiency, business readiness, and a host of other advantages tied to increased productivity.

However, there are some disadvantages.

Disadvantage of using E-mail
	• Time Consuming • Security • Impersonal Communication • Misunderstanding • Vulnerability • Internet Connectivity

(i) Time Consuming : Writing an email takes less time than it takes to print a letter and mail it off the ease with which an e-mail is send implies that an average person may do more correspondence electronically than he would if all correspondence was done by postal mail. Sometimes the message is better communicated over the telephone or directly. Organizing and reading through emails can also eat up a great deal of time and prove an obstacle in the way of a worker’s producitivity.

(ii) Security : Sensitive information can be easily shared and distributed within a business through email. It does not matter if the email is sent accidentally or deliberately, the damage reamins the same. Moreover, when someone hands you a business letter, you are the only person who receives that letter. An e mail can be intercepted by a hacker or go on an incorrect email address and wind up in someone else’s inbox. Your sensitive information and messages are easily accessible to hackers and to even unsuspecting recipients.

(iii) Impersonal Communication : While email can be faster, the meaning of the message is often lost in the text. It can make customers or employees forget there are people involved in the transaction, which can affect customer service. Since email recipients cannot see one another, the emails do not have any voice inflection or emotion that can help in proper interpretation.

(iv) Misunderstanding : Pronouns and popular jargon can lead to conflicts in emails. In addition, email is filled with abbreviations and short descriptions, which can often be misunderstood and/or interpreted the wrong way.

(v) Vulnerability : It would take a manual effort on the part of someone to access all his important printed documents and destroy them. But all of your emails and important information can be lost with a simple hard-drive crash. Even if you store your email information on another server, you could lose your data if that site goes down or gets out of business.

(vi) Whether an organisation depends on internet connectivity: E-mail depends on the internet connectivity which can get disturbed or disconnected due to various reasons.

– Email cannot be considered a confidential mode of communication.

– Email should not be considered as a replacement for direct, face-to-face communication.

– Email cannot be relied in case of emergency messages as the receiver may read it at his own convenient time.

– Email depends on the internet connectivity which can get disturbed or disconnected due to various reasons.