SmarterMail end users generally fall into one of several categories:
First, there's the web client user. You use SmarterMail's revolutionary web client exclusively for all mail and collaboration, keeping a browser tab open all day and checking emails, setting up appointments, creating tasks and notes, or chatting with your co-workers.
Then there is the desktop user. You use a desktop client like Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mail, Apple Mail, or eM Client to communicate. You may use the chat app in eM Client or other clients like iMessage, Adium, Digsby or Gajim for group chat via the XMPP protocol. You even use things like the Notes app on MacOS, the default calendars that are part of your email client of choice or separate calendar apps like what's available on Windows 10 and MacOS for managing your appointments and events. The bottom line is that you have a number of desktop apps you like to use, and you use them often.
Then, there's the mobile user. Whether you're on an iPhone or one of the vast number of Android devices out there, you prefer to stay mobile, using the NATIVE email, calendar, task and notes apps on the mobile device. You even like using something like IM+ which supports the XMPP protocol for group chat on your device. Or, you scour the app stores looking for newer, better or different clients that you can use on your phone or tablet.
Finally, there's the all-around user. For you, flexibility is key so you use a combination of all of these: desktop apps on your work machine, the web client at home, but you still have everything set up on your various mobile devices, from your phone to your new iPad Pro.
Regardless of the type of user you are, the key component is SmarterMail and its ability to cater to whichever user type you are. SmarterMail has the ability to meet your needs regardless of where and how you want to communicate.
Revolutionary Web Interface
We didn't simply "update" our web client; we completely re-built it from the ground up using the latest web technologies and our new API-driven architecture. What does that mean for users? Well….
- The new interface is cleaner than previous iterations, but more powerful
- It's a single-page app, so it's much faster than previous versions and transfers far less data between the browser and the server
- It's compatible with any browser, both desktop and mobile, eliminating the need for a separate app for accessing your email, calendar or group chat
- Its responsive layout is perfect for any screen, and any device, giving you the same look and feel regardless of how you're accessing your account
- It's more customizable: select one of the pre-built light or dark themes, or users can create their own themes by simply editing the existing files
- It's built on top of our extensive API, meaning that any future additions are easy to implement and roll out to you, our users
We revolutionized web-based email with the initial release of SmarterMail, and SmarterMail 16.x does it again! The new web client is powerful, flexible and extremely simple to use, regardless of where you are or what device you're using.
Enhanced Group Chat
Group chat has been a part of SmarterMail for many, many years. With SmarterMail 16.x, we completely re-wrote our chat server to bring more features and more functionality. We know that customers use third-party products like HipChat or #Slack to improve their internal communication. However, those services cost extra and can cause undue burden on IT managers. So it's now possible to leave those services, and their costs, behind and simply use SmarterMail.
SmarterMail 16.x's enhanced group chat now offers things like:
- Image and video link previews - Just upload an image or paste a link to a video and see what you're clicking on BEFORE you click on it
- Video chat - It's easy to start a video chat, and then invite up to 7 other members to participate, all from within the group chat area
- Shareable links - Share a link to an external site, or even a meeting workspace, and it's fully clickable for anyone you share it with
- Use of third-party chat clients - If you're used to using Pidgin or Adium on your desktop, or IM+ or Xabber on your mobile device, go right ahead! Unlike other services, SmarterMail's group chat is fully compatible with most chat clients using the XMPP protocol
- File sharing - Simply drag a file into a chat and it's automatically saved to your file storage and made publicly available
- Flexibility, so adding in things like our own voice and video, which is very much in demand, is easier to manage and develop
Best of all, since this is all contained within SmarterMail, it's fully archived and saved. And unlike third-party services, is easy to retrieve archived chats whenever you need to.
Introducing Team Workspaces
As if improvements to group chat weren't enough, SmarterMail 16.x introduces Team Workspaces. We are determined to help customers save money and avoid using paid services such as GoToMeeting or AnyMeeting. That means integrating web conferencing and turning SmarterMail into a truly unified communications platform.
Team Workspaces include live video chat for up to 8 participants, screen sharing, video and audio controls, a group chat sidebar, the ability to upload and share files and much, much more.
And using a Team Workspace couldn't be simpler: All you need is an updated, modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Microsoft Edge that ships with the Creator's Update. Just create your team workspace and share the link to other people, either inside your organization or outside. It doesn't matter if you have a group of offsite employees, have "work from home" days or want to have a video conference with customers or contractors: SmarterMail's Team Workspaces can easily replace virtually any third-party service you're using.
Improved Mobile and Desktop Integration
SmarterMail 16.x brings with it improved mobile support. We spent time and effort improving our use of Microsoft Exchange Web Services for mobile and desktop support for things like eM Client, Apple Mail and a variety of mobile devices. In addition, we improved mobile support and performance for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, the most popular and most-used protocol for syncing mobile devices to your email, contacts, calendars, tasks and notes. We've also improved support for both CalDAV and CardDAV, free protocols preferred by many for syncing contacts and calendars to desktop clients and both Android and iOS devices. The world is becoming more mobile, and SmarterMail is constantly moving in that direction as well.
Convenient, Native Notifications
We understand that you're not in the webmail interface 100% of your day, much less have your webmail browser tab open. That can make it harder to know when a new message is delivered or when you get a team chat or calendar reminder. Well, SmarterMail 16.x fixes that with browser-based notifications. Having operating system-level notifications make the SmarterMail web client feel MORE like a desktop client or native application, across all platforms.
Now, regardless of the browser you're using, you'll see a notification at the bottom of your display when you get a new message, receive a calendar reminder or even get a new chat. Simply click the browser notification and you'll open your new message, go to a live chat, go to a meeting workspace or open your calendar event. If you don't like browser notifications, you can toggle them on or off. On top of that, we're looking at introducing browser extensions that will allow you to access your inbox, live chat or other areas of SmarterMail without having to have SmarterMail open at all!
Extended Functionality
Did you know that you can add your Dropbox account to SmarterMail and link to files from it when you send an email? What about your Google Drive or OneDrive accounts? Did you know you can use SmarterMail as a centralized inbox for multiple email addresses, such as Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo! or even addresses with custom domains? Did you know you can migrate these accounts over into SmarterMail? Did you know you can check which devices are connected to your SmarterMail account?
All of that and more is available on the new Connectivity page. Now you can see how your SmarterMail mailbox is being accessed and centralize multiple different email accounts in one convenient location. With Connected Services, you can greatly extend the functionality available to you and extend your use of SmarterMail to fit virtually any need.
Unlock Your Aliases
Aliases are a powerful way to manage your email, manage your communication and manage your life. And we all use them: group aliases for sending messages to departments or your entire organization; domain aliases for consolidating brands or multiple variations of your domain; user aliases for your "extended" employee base; disposable addresses for one-time conference registrations or even plus addresses for newsletter sign up and organization. Each type of alias has its own function, and now they're even more powerful.
In SmarterMail 16.x you can now reply from aliases or even compose new messages using an alias. We've also expanded on that functionality and added the ability to create and map signatures to each new identity you create. For example, if you have multiple brands in various locations -- say you have offices in Tampa and Miami, and each has a different domain name -- you can create a domain alias and actually use that as a primary address for new or ongoing communications. You no longer need 2 different email accounts set up, and no longer need to manage each account separately. All of your communications can be centralized in one account in SmarterMail!
Simplified Account Management and Reporting
We've simplified every aspect of managing your account: from connecting to third-party mail services to managing signatures. We've even grouped similar features and streamlined the interface so it's easy to find the settings you want, or need, to make for your account. In addition, we've improved the readability and display of report information so you know the status of your mailbox quickly and easily. The overview gives you set of cards, each offering a nice snapshot of your SmarterMail account, including your disk space, messages sent and received, as well as a breakdown of the spam messages and viruses blocked by your antispam and antivirus settings. Clicking on a card takes you to a more detailed breakdown of each area, letting you dig deeper and view information by the dates of your choice.
On top of all the other changes, SmarterMail 16.x gave us the opportunity to really look at our help documentation. We've made it easier to navigate, we've cleaned up some older language and we've actually added HOW a feature works versus WHAT the feature is. The intention of the help docs are to make everyone's life easier, and this version does just that!
These are just a few of the changes that bring users of SmarterMail 16.x a truly ideal user experience, regardless of the type of user you are. With SmarterMail 16.x we spared no expense and evaluated a number of new technologies that would allow us to re-build the best email server software on the market, plus ensure that what we built would be available well into the future. We're very excited to bring SmarterMail 16.x to the millions of end users we have, worldwide. Next, read about how SmarterMail 16.x benefits Domain Administrators and offers System Administrators an ideal management experience.