Archive for the ‘Ivy DSL’ Category

Picking an Email Address – Don’t use a Free Account from your ISP

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

I’m about to rant about our local cable internet provider, Shaw’s, mediocre email. Their hit-and-miss SPAM filters decided to block an email newsletter that I manage for a local retailer. I hate it when that happens. Shaw.ca email addresses are about 25% of the list, so when they block a message, I know. And it makes my numbers look bad.

When picking an email address, you have three general options:

  • Your own hosted email (maybe like the one at work?)
  • A free webmail provider such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail (actually, these are not strictly webmail, in particular Gmail offers excellent standards based access to your mailbox that you can use with any standard email application).
  • Your Internet Service Provider’s free email. Around here, the two big providers are Telus (ADSL) and Shaw (Cable). Of course, if you use our Ivy DSL service, we offer you ivydsl.com email addresses too.

    • What should you use?

    I strongly recommend that you use a webmail provider. Especially Google’s Gmail.com. However, Microsoft’s Hotmail.com and Yahoo’s Mail are satisfactory too, certainly better than your ISP.

    Why?

  • To your ISP, email is an expense. No one ever chooses between ADSL and Cable Internet because the email is “better”. Thus, the incentives are to put the least effort and expense into email services. As long as the service is passable… it doesn’t really matter.
  • To a webmail provider? Email is the product. Period. It has to be good, and it has to keep getting better to be competitive. The more people that use their service, the more advertising that they can sell.
  • The big webmail guys have 100′s of millions of email accounts. Your big ISP? I think Shaw and Telus each have less than 10 million accounts. Bigger is better when it comes to providing email. Your staff and equipment and processes get spread over more users. Providing good email boxes is complicated, thanks to the incredible volumes of SPAM.
  • Besides, some day you will change your ISP – unless of course you intend to stay with your ISP until the day you die. When you do change providers, you’ll have to also change your email address. That’s a lot of work. Choose a 3rd party email provider, and you won’t have to worry about that.

    • The proof is in the pudding. Most people don’t maintain an email address at major email providers for testing purposes. I do. The test shaw.ca email address is full of opt-in email newsletters that have been misfiled as SPAM. Including the occasional one that is managed by me.

    There will probably be more posts regarding email newsletters, particularly ones in BC and Alberta. It’s something I deal with a lot, and it’s about time I share some tidbits.

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    Posted in BC, Ivy DSL, annoying, email, spam, vancouver | No Comments »

    Ivy DSL – Internet for Retailers Launched!

    Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

    Perceptus Solutions Inc. is proud to offer our ADSL service, Ivy DSL, to the public as of today!

    We have been providing two retail chains of 8 and 12 stores in BC and Alberta ADSL service in a private beta test for a year. We’re happy with our product, and we’re now ready to take on new clients.

    The back story: Perceptus does a lot of IT contracting work for local, Vancouver based, retailers. We realized last year that we could offer retail chains a great deal on basic Internet access. We know your situation well. You need multiple ADSL lines, one for each store, plus your offices, and you deserve to get it at a better price than the incumbents will offer you. And you need someone on the other side of the conversation that understands the complexity of a retail environment.

    Our private beta test chains saved 30% and 38% of their monthly ADSL service charges after moving to Ivy DSL. We offer business grade 3MBps ADSL lines with a static IP address for $40 per month ($55 per month for a 6MBps line). Further, their ADSL uptime and service quality is as good or better than before. And they’re happy to deal with a smaller provider. Most of the time you’ll be able to deal directly with me, Leonard Chan, the main guy behind Perceptus Solutions Inc.

    So, for the best value in ADSL based Internet access for retail chains, visit IvyDSL.com.

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    Posted in Ivy DSL, perceptus, small business | No Comments »