What is Email Notification?

Email notification alerts you when new mail arrives and can take place a number of ways depending on the application in use. Most email clients (the software that manages email) use sound files, an animated icon in the system tray (systray), a popup window or some combination of these. Although fine while working at the computer itself, they aren't much help if you're on the go. In this case, special monitoring software can offer advanced options for mobile email notification including sending a text message to your cell phone, sounding an alarm on the phone, or sending a message to your pager.

The way it works is simple. The monitoring application is left running in the background along with your email client which is set to check for new mail at regular intervals that you have preconfigured. When new mail arrives the monitoring program automatically utilizes a SMS (Short Message Service) gateway to send the email notification to your cell phone. SMS is used by virtually all cell phone services and pager companies to relay text messages of 160 characters or less. The text message informs you that you have new mail and includes the sender's address and perhaps the first few words of the message body. In lieu of a text message you might choose that the program sound an alarm on your cell phone or send a message to your pager.

Email notification software is inexpensive and simple to find via a search engine. It's great for business allowing you to stay on top of emails that require timely replies. In fact it's so convenient it's nearly unthinkable that the options of contacting a cell phone or pager won't soon find their way into standard email clients, negating the need for additional monitoring software.

If you are someone on the go who requires quick turnaround for your email correspondence, mobile email notification software might be just what you're looking for to network your world.