FastMail integrates e-mail services

Arguably, the Web’s power lies not just in its ubiquity but also in its flexibility making it the ideal platform for all kinds of applications that have traditionally been client-based.

Web-based e-mail is not news but a service that allows Webmail, POP3, and IMAP on multiple providers to coexist, and provides a single point of integration at a low cost (a kicker) is news.

This is what a new service, FastMail.FM from the company of the same name (see links below), is now offering.

FastMail.FM provides clients with access to the standard e-mail services (POP3, IMAP) and Webmail with the ability to “pull” mail from POP3 and Hotmail accounts on other providers. Essentially, FastMail.FM provides a unified e-mail service that can be accessed from anywhere and more-or-less from any e-mail client you like.

Also included are anti-spam and virus filtering via Kaspersky Anti-Virus. The sophistication of the anti-spam service depends on which level of FastMail.FM service you subscribe to. The levels available are:

* Basic, which applies to all levels.

* Normal, which is available to all paid subscription users only.

* Whitelist Only.

* Custom, again for paid subscription users and allows users to set the performance of all filtering methods including spam score thresholds for deleting, filing, and marking messages and special treatment of messages from people in your address book.

Virus checking is available for all paid subscription levels.

FastMail.FM offers a huge number of domains that your account can be under or you can have the company host your own domain.

There are four levels of subscription:

* The free Guest account offers up to 10M-byte storage space and 40M-byte bandwidth per month with IMAP/Web access and advertising tags in messages.

* Member account involves a $14.95 one-time sign-up fee and offers up to 16M-byte storage space and 80M-byte bandwidth per month with IMAP/Web access and SMTP for sending e-mail, mail forwarding, and virus checking.

* A Full account is available for $19.95 per year and offers 50M-byte storage space, 200M-byte bandwidth per month, 20M-byte file space, IMAP/POP/Web access and SMTP for sending e-mail, mail forwarding, virus checker, advanced spam filter, and three aliases.

* An Enhanced account for $39.95 per year offers 150M-byte storage space, 750M-byte bandwidth per month, 150M-byte file space, IMAP/POP/Web access, SMTP for sending e-mail, mail forwarding, virus checker, advanced spam filter, five aliases and the ability to host your own domain.

This is an interesting service and the reviews have so far been uniformly good. Check it out and let me know what you think.