This is a follow up to my post on Gmail for domains. We got accepted into the beta program a couple of weeks back, and now that everyone is back from conferences etc. we flipped the switch and started using Google's hosted Gmail solution.

So far, it's working great. There are a few little bugs in some of the admin tools (click twice instead of once to create a temporary password), but after switching MX records, we're up and running with a Bryght-branded login for Gmail. You can create user accounts (username@domain.com), nicknames (othername points to username@domain.com), and email lists (listname@domain.com delivers to user1@domain.com, user2@domain.com, etc.). Email lists can't include non domain addresses, so you'll still need Google Groups or similar if you want "real" mailing list functionality.

Best feature? Set a few more DNS records, and every single email account can also be a Jabber account, run through Google's talk.google.com server. Yes! Jabber world domination continues... (so add boris AT bryght.com to your Jabber buddy list)

That's about it, there isn't much more to tell. It's free for now (and looks to be free up until around a 1000 users, judging from the "Account Plan" link on the management dashboard), works well for basic email and chat account services, and has all the regular features of GMail.

But Google is not the only provider of hosted email (although the first to offer hosted chat using your own domain, I believe...). This Ars Technica article points out:

But lest I come off as a fawning Googlite, let's not pretend that Google is the first to do this. Yahoo already offers group rates for a co-brand of its email service, and MSN is currently beta testing its own "Windows Live Custom Domains" service, which aims to provide similar functionality. Feature sets, pricing, and options are all in flux right now. Competition is good, but Google is the last of the "big three" to head down this route.

Some more thoughts on what I want out of email after the jump. And yes, let's just assume Google Calendar is a given...I'm talking about actually dealing with/managing email in a more intelligent way across a company.

This is a follow up to my post on Gmail for domains. We got accepted into the beta program a couple of weeks back, and now that everyone is back from conferences etc. we flipped the switch and started using Google's hosted Gmail solution.

So far, it's working great. There are a few little bugs in some of the admin tools (click twice instead of once to create a temporary password), but after switching MX records, we're up and running with a Bryght-branded login for Gmail. You can create user accounts (username@domain.com), nicknames (othername points to username@domain.com), and email lists (listname@domain.com delivers to user1@domain.com, user2@domain.com, etc.). Email lists can't include non domain addresses, so you'll still need Google Groups or similar if you want "real" mailing list functionality.

Best feature? Set a few more DNS records, and every single email account can also be a Jabber account, run through Google's talk.google.com server. Yes! Jabber world domination continues... (so add boris AT bryght.com to your Jabber buddy list)

That's about it, there isn't much more to tell. It's free for now (and looks to be free up until around a 1000 users, judging from the "Account Plan" link on the management dashboard), works well for basic email and chat account services, and has all the regular features of GMail.

But Google is not the only provider of hosted email (although the first to offer hosted chat using your own domain, I believe...). This Ars Technica article points out:

But lest I come off as a fawning Googlite, let's not pretend that Google is the first to do this. Yahoo already offers group rates for a co-brand of its email service, and MSN is currently beta testing its own "Windows Live Custom Domains" service, which aims to provide similar functionality. Feature sets, pricing, and options are all in flux right now. Competition is good, but Google is the last of the "big three" to head down this route.

Some more thoughts on what I want out of email after the jump. And yes, let's just assume Google Calendar is a given...I'm talking about actually dealing with/managing email in a more intelligent way across a company.

I'm not a fan of email. I wish I got less of it, got better/richer email when I did receive it, and that I didn't have to do anything about hosting it. It also needs to exist forever, be easily searchable, and have a great web front end.

I've personally been using Google's Gmail to manage my email for about a year now. I alias my main accounts (boris AT bryght.com and boris AT bmannconsulting.com) to two separate Gmail accounts, but then use Mail.app and Thunderbird on OS X, respectively, to download mail via POP3. Gmail's secure SMTP servers are my main/only SMTP servers (except for some places which block that port completely, in which case walkah.net serves as a backup...thanks, James). When I'm away from my desktop, I use the web interface to keep on top of things -- and since everything accessed via POP3 is automatically archived, I see only the email that hasn't been dealt with yet.

So, I just asked Gmail to host the Bryght.com domain. Actually, my evil plan is that I'd love for Google to steal ALL our email. We currently offer aliases for users (we decided to not offer email directly except for a select few pre-existing clients...most people can't handle/don't need more than one email address, and don't get me started on SMTP services), but I want to be able to offer domain-specific email without it being a giant pain. Bryght is not an email company, but we strive to offer a complete solution to people. Some people need email, and more want mailing lists or other email related solutions.

I'm not a fan of email. I wish I got less of it, got better/richer email when I did receive it, and that I didn't have to do anything about hosting it. It also needs to exist forever, be easily searchable, and have a great web front end.

I've personally been using Google's Gmail to manage my email for about a year now. I alias my main accounts (boris AT bryght.com and boris AT bmannconsulting.com) to two separate Gmail accounts, but then use Mail.app and Thunderbird on OS X, respectively, to download mail via POP3. Gmail's secure SMTP servers are my main/only SMTP servers (except for some places which block that port completely, in which case walkah.net serves as a backup...thanks, James). When I'm away from my desktop, I use the web interface to keep on top of things -- and since everything accessed via POP3 is automatically archived, I see only the email that hasn't been dealt with yet.

So, I just asked Gmail to host the Bryght.com domain. Actually, my evil plan is that I'd love for Google to steal ALL our email. We currently offer aliases for users (we decided to not offer email directly except for a select few pre-existing clients...most people can't handle/don't need more than one email address, and don't get me started on SMTP services), but I want to be able to offer domain-specific email without it being a giant pain. Bryght is not an email company, but we strive to offer a complete solution to people. Some people need email, and more want mailing lists or other email related solutions.