Common features in email

Now that you have an understanding of what email is, let's explore some of the features that email applications can offer us.

To send an email, you need to type your message and confirm the email address of the person that you'd like to send the email to. You are also able to attach photographs, documents or spreadsheets to your email. And to top it all, to make your email look more professional, you can insert an electronic signature at the bottom of your message! Let's find out how we can do all of the above.

When you receive an email there are a number of responses that you can action, these being:

• Reply to the email
• Forward the email on to someone else
• Open the attachment that came with the email

But what happens to my emails if I am on vacation? Learn how to put an 'out of office' or 'vacation' message on your emails. This vacation message can automatically be sent to everyone who sends you an email.

Once you start using email on a daily basis, you will find that the quantity of emails that you receive can get quite daunting! It is very important that you learn how to manage your emails to ensure that your emails remain organised and uncluttered. Have a quick look at the tutorial below which will guide you through a process of managing your email box. Although we are focusing on Gmail for these exercises, all the other webmail applications (like Yahoo!.com and Outlook.com) will offer similiar functionality.

Just as you may have a manual telephone and address directory, why not create this within your email application? The advantage of this is that it is easy to access their information anytime and anywhere!

Find out how to do this by reviewing the tutorial below.

Most of us are fortunate enough to have a SmartPhone which has the ability to link to your email service provider. The implication of this is that you are able to receive (and therefore respond) to your emails irrespective of where you are and irrespective of the time of day! So it is wise to set the expectation with colleagues and learners with regards to your availability to respond to emails after hours!