For the past number of years, we have had a great relationship with Rackspace. They provide email solutions to a large portion of our franchisees. In fact, if you are a new store in one of our brands, odds are – they handle your email. There are exceptions though, for example: anywhere outside of the USA may be serviced by a different provider.
Rackspace has been a fantastic vendor for our email needs. They have had very minimal downtime and recovering nicely from any delays. Their support is top notch. They are available for support directly at 1 (888) 850-3994 and they are open 24/7 365 days a year.
This month we are starting to trial them with some of our stores in Australia. This is for a new brand being introduced to AUS. All existing stores in AUS are still using Netspace (which was recently bought out by iinet). If that all goes well, we will convert existing brands to Rackspace too.
Our deal with Rackspace is fantastic, as a franchisee you pay $1 (US) per email per month, with no minimums.
The service includes:
– 10GB of space
– ability to send large attachments
– access via webmail, POP3 or IMAP
– 24/7 support
– and much much more….
Speaking of POP3/IMAP – in one of my next blog posts I will talk about the two methods. So stay tuned, if you are one of our stores confused by these methods, I will clear the air for you.
Support Issues:
Over the years, we have taken steps to get we are today with email. That being said, there are a number of ways you may have been setup in the past. It is true that Rackspace provides amazing support to our store, however there is one caveat – You have to have an account directly with them.
If not, this is what will happen if you call them for support:
1. They will ask you for your domain or account number.
2. Then they will ask you some security questions.
3. If you cannot provide them the answer they will not support you.
4. You can ask them to contact me to authorize support, but this will delay your support being actioned.
5. They will then submit a ticket to me which I will approve.
6. Then they will contact you and provide support.
A couple of years ago we urged everyone to convert over to their own account. Most have, however some have not.
If you are one of our franchisees that have an older @brandname.com email address, you may want to consider switching to your @brand-city.com domain. Then signing up directly with Rackspace. I can assist with this; if you contact me at my work email addy.
By doing this switch, you will have direct access to Rackspace Support. As a side note, we can help redirect old email addresses over to your new one to reduce the possibility of attrition.
Here are two links in helping you set up your email clients:
Email & Outlook Setup
Mobile Email Setup
Matt is a Systems Development Director for a multinational franchise. Matt has lived and worked in Hawaii, Chicago, South Florida and currently resides outside of Atlanta. He enjoys his hobbies including Technology, Gadgets/EDC, Fountain Pens, Wetshaving, Clocks, Antiques & Coffee. He even roasts his own coffee weekly.
