The return confirmation option is a feature offered by some email service providers. As with physical “postal mail”, using this feature can be very helpful. On the one hand, it serves as delivery confirmation. You can also provide additional valuable information, such as the time and date the email was read and the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer or local network that received it. With the plethora of email service providers available, the best way to find out which ones have a recognition option is to contact the service and ask.
Some email service providers offer the return confirmation option.
The request for acknowledgment of receipt does not necessarily imply that it will be received. First, the recipient’s email application may not support this feature, and some privacy policies allow individual users to opt out of email tracking. This means that the recipient can disable the feature and still read the email. Also, if the sender’s email address is not pre-approved or filtered, the email may automatically go to a “junk” folder and never be seen.
Not all recipient email applications support sending receipt receipts.
While there are dozens of web-based email providers, and a few that don’t require an internet connection, surprisingly few offer the return receipt feature. Some of the more conventional email clients have such as America Online (AOL), Netscape®, and Microsoft Outlook®. Still, users should note that while these apps may have this option, it is usually disabled by default. In fact, sometimes it can take a few extra clicks for the sender to figure out how to send an email with this feature enabled.
For example, the Outlook® application has several proof of receipt options that can be accessed by selecting “Options” from the drop-down menu under “Tools” on the main menu bar. From here, the user can choose to request an acknowledgment for all emails sent, receive a warning before sending an individual email, or disable the feature entirely. The user can also choose to send a receipt for the email received.
America Online is much easier with its options. With this application, there is a tab that says “Request a receipt” at the bottom of the window from which the email is composed and can be verified. Also, because AOL is a subscription-based service, members can track the status of all email sent to other AOL members. This feature is available even without requesting a receipt.
With Netscape®, these options are available in the “Mail and Newsgroups” area under “Preferences” of the “Edit” pull-down menu. As with Outlook®, Netscape® users can choose to request a receipt for all emails sent or just some. As with AOL, users can simply select “Write” to open a new email window and check the box to request a receipt from there.
An unapproved sender email will be moved to a spam folder.
