Need recommendation for really solid email hosting

[yadmonkey]

I'm working with a small business who has had issues with two email hosts and is looking to upgrade to something more professional.

The problem is that we've used shared hosting in the past (MediaTemple GridService and Hostgator)... when someone else on a shared plan abuses the service, we get blacklisted with them. It happened recently when an entire MediaTemple outgoing node got blacklisted and a bunch of our emails were bounced back. Some of them didn't bounce back for days and we didn't know that our clients were left hanging. Not good.

So can anyone recommend a real solid email provider with great support? Money isn't much of an object here. We just don't want to go with another shared-type host.

 

[miles01110]

GMail.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I believe Google has some services you can buy. The company would keep its domain but it would be coming from Googles servers and as such you should not get black listed..

 

[yadmonkey]

I believe Google has some services you can buy. The company would keep its domain but it would be coming from Googles servers and as such you should not get black listed..

Yep, they include properly hosted email with Google Apps, which is under consideration. I've heard good things from at least one person.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[elistan]

I have no experience with them, but Microsoft offers "Exchange Online."
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/en-us/exchange-online-hosted-email.aspx
$5/month per user.

 

[hfletcher]

I use Google Apps, the free version.
(http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html).

There is a limit of 10 users, but it's really good and as reliable as normal GMail. Plus you can use your own domain by pointing your mx records at google's servers.

You can pay to have more users though..

 

[yadmonkey]

I use Google Apps, the free version.
(http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html).

There is a limit of 10 users, but it's really good and as reliable as normal GMail. Plus you can use your own domain by pointing your mx records at google's servers.

You can pay to have more users though..

I've played with the free version, but only by fudging the "from" address to make it look like it came from our domain, which gets us in trouble with some servers, but it hadn't occurred to me that you could point your mx records to the free version. 10 users would be too few - do you know how much they charge for additional users? I can't seem to find that info on their site.

Also, are there any notable reasons to go with the paid version over the free one, other than ads, which doesn't matter too much since everyone would mostly use email clients.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I've played with the free version, but only by fudging the "from" address to make it look like it came from our domain, which gets us in trouble with some servers, but it hadn't occurred to me that you could point your mx records to the free version. 10 users would be too few - do you know how much they charge for additional users? I can't seem to find that info on their site.

Also, are there any notable reasons to go with the paid version over the free one, other than ads, which doesn't matter too much since everyone would mostly use email clients.

It over to right side of the screen. $5 per user and it is the Google Apps for business.

At a glance:

Google Apps for Business offers powerful messaging and collaboration apps that meet business-critical needs:

$5 per user per month
Proven cost savings
99.9% uptime guarantee
25GB of email storage per employee
Blackberry and Microsoft Outlook interoperability
Mobile email, calendar and IM access
Industry-leading security
Full administrative and data control
Helpful support choices

 

[yadmonkey]

It over to right side of the screen. $5 per user and it is the Google Apps for business.

Roger that. I saw the $5 per user with Google Apps, but didn't know if there was a way to use it in tandem with the 10 accounts through free Gmail. But that might not matter - I think these people would give an arm and a leg at this point to put these issues behind them.

Thanks again to everyone for your replies. If there are any other options I should consider, I'd still love to hear about them, but for now I think I'm leaning toward Google Apps.