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Do I need Microsoft Outlook?

Microsoft Outlook is a popular email software for business use.

We currently support Outlook 2019 / Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) and Outlook 2016 for PC and macOS.


Mail Client software such as Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc. are completely optional applications that some people use in addition to our Webmail. 

You do not need a mail client to access your email, use our security features, or to be HIPAA compliant. In fact, most of our customers prefer to take advantage of our Feature-Rich Webmail Interface instead. However, we want you to have the best experience possible when using our services, therefore we support adding your email account to Microsoft Outlook and managing it from there.

 

Some users find that Outlook is a useful tool for managing their email accounts.

Outlook offers some advanced functionality that any webmail service, in general, would not:

  • Keeping multiple email accounts logged in at a time.
  • Cross referencing multiple email addresses, from multiple services, from the same application.
  • Integration with third-party software, calendaring systems, or services.
  • Offline backup and migration capabilities via import/export tools and copy/move tools.

 

There are also potential downsides to relying on Outlook.

  • Microsoft Office software costs money and needs to be updated regularly.
  • Microsoft Outlook stores data in .PST and .OST files with a maximum file size of 50GB, please ensure that you have enough disk space on your computer for at least 50GB.
  • Performance degradation occurs at 12GB or roughly 12,000 messages in a single folder. We recommend keeping your Inbox clean by creating folders and moving messages you do not need to those folders. Outlook will run optimally with an Inbox size of 4GB or less and approximately less than 1,000 messages.
  • Leaving an email account logged in 24/7 technically increases your security risk if you do not protect the office environment / computer. 
  • Constant syncing to our servers uses bandwidth, which can be an issue for overtaxed or weak internet connections.
  • If Outlook breaks, you have to contact Microsoft Support for assistance.