Will this email app allow me to set up auto replies, use templates, delay emails, and have read receipts with my emails? Also, does it work with POP3 accounts?
I currently use an outdate version of Outlook 2011 for Mac for my travel business, and there are a few features that I am looking for in an email app and I'm hoping to find them all in one program.
1. I would like the ability to set up an out of office/auto reply. Bonus if I can schedule it for certain times!
2. There are several standard emails I send out to clients, so I would love a template feature to make things simpler. Bonus if I can schedule certain emails to send out at certain times!
3. I would love to have a read receipt option. This isn't necessary, but it would be a very handy feature for me to use.
I like the look and feel of Outlook, or I'm at least very familiar with it. I also like the fact that it has a separate calendar, so I can keep my personal life separate from my work life.
We also currently use POP3 email, so I also need to know if Thunderbird can support that format.
Thank you in advance!
All Replies (1)
I think Thunderbird will disappoint you on your scheduling preferences.
If you're using Outlook with an MS Exchange server, then a fair bit of the feature set is actually implemented by the server - particularly Out Of Office notifications, and maybe scheduled sending. If you set these up and the server takes responsibility, then it doesn't need the email client to be running. With a regular email client such as Thunderbird, it has to do all the work so you need to think about whether you'd want to leave it running 24/7.
Thunderbird uses regular POP, IMAP and SMTP protocols to talk to the server and none of these support scheduling, delays, etc, whereas Outlook/Exchange use proprietary protocols set up by Microsoft.
In simplistic terms, I could say "yes" to each of the points in your initial question, though some of the solutions will not be as slick as those you may currently be using.
So…
Will this email app allow me to set up auto replies, use templates,Both can be supported by use of a template, but you need to leave Thunderbird on 24/7 for auto replies, or use your mail provider's facility for OOO notices. You might also look at the Stationery add-on to work with multiple templates.
delay emails,Maybe; look at the Send Later add-on.
and have read receipts with my emails?Yes, but read receipt requests are generally not successful or reliable. The recipient is not compelled to reply.
Also, does it work with POP3 accounts?Yes of course.