integrated Emails module (CE 5.5.4)

[kazuoF]

I would be grateful if some of you could share your views on the
* stability
* speed
* functional scope
of the integrated Emails module.

Do you recommend using it?

I am concerned that it may be unstable, slow and lacking numerous functions that a client software such as Mozilla Thunderbird (which we use right now) would have.

[kazuoF]

Come on guys, somebody must have an opinion on this.

[Angel]

I should preface my comments by mentioning that I think web based email clients in general leave a lot to be desired. More importantly, I also think many people have a bad habit of trying to make the comparison of the email functionality in Sugar to that of a full blown email client like Outlook/Thunderbird/etc. You cannot make a direct comparison.

The former is part of a larger, CRM focused product, while the other is a dedicated email client. It is unrealistic to expect the email feature of Sugar to work like Outlook et al, just like it is unrealistic for me to expect Outlook et al to have CRM/contact management features that are equal to that of Sugar.

All that being said, there are 2 main gripes that I have against the email client and I personally try to steer people away from it.

The first is the performance. If you create a lot of folders, it will be slow. Group IMAP email accounts tend to be slow during retrieval. Checking email? Prepare for some slowness there as well. If you accidentally entered some incorrect info for an account, prepare to wait when you save it. There are numerous examples. Some of these can be mitigated and/or vary on the environment, but in general, I wouldn't expect it to be blazing fast. Certainly not as fast as a desktop client like Outlook or Thunderbird.

My bigger pet peeve, however, is its almost complete lack of error catching, etc. Here is an example: Suppose you setup the system wide outgoing email account. There is a test feature on said page which allows you to send an email to verify it is working. On the surface that sounds great. However, the system does not behave any differently whether it goes out or if it fails. Thus, if you input the wrong info, the only indicator of something not working is the fact you didn't get the test message. Unfortunately, it doesn't give you any type of indication as to what the error was, not even a generic "Look at the sugarcrm.log file for more info" which is about the best chance you have at finding anything useful that may assist you in troubleshooting the problem.

There are numerous areas that are like that, and that's just on those two topics. As a side note, I personally dislike dealing with the email client because I often feel like I am being led through a mine field by blind man. You never know what's going to happen next, and the chances of you getting to the other side unharmed are pretty slim.

[kazuoF]

Thank you Angel for your detailed reply!