Nearly
one third of all businesses are conducting legally binding transactions by
e-mail, according to research by application service provider Interliant.
The
survey, called E-mail: coming out of the amateurs closet, warns that
employers are taking a huge risk in doing so.
"I
am surprised at the level of e-mail complacency in light of its increasing use
in business-critical transactions," said David Yuile, managing director of
Interliant UK.
"Businesses
are taking a huge risk every day, both legal and financial, if they do not take
e-mail seriously. It is clear that although businesses now rely to a great
extent on electronic communication, they are not backing up this dependency in
the same way they would with traditional written media," he added.
The
survey also claims that 40 per cent of its respondents send between 30 to 50
e-mails a day and 78 per cent communicate with customers via e-mail.
It
estimated there will be an increase of up to 25 per cent in e-mail volume by
the end of the year.
By
Paul Nelson
