Free mailWeb-based e-mail keeps travelers in touchJanuary 8, 1998Web posted at: 12:12 p.m. EST (1712 GMT) (CNN) -- For many business travelers, e-mail has quickly become a necessity. And with a rapid influx of Web-based e-mail providers, those travelers are finding it easier than ever to check electronic mail away from the office. Without the Web-based variety, getting e-mail on the road means carrying along a laptop loaded with specific software to access the office account. It may even mean long distance charges. Web-based e-mail changes that, allowing some business travelers to leave the laptop at home. "You no longer have to carry around that 10-pound brick in your briefcase in order to just read your e-mail," says CNN business travel consultant Chris McGinnis. Web-based e-mail users can access messages from any Internet-connected computer -- in cybercafes, hotels, airports or even a client's office. "If they know they are going to be near a computer with Web access, that's all they need," says McGinnis. Travelers have their pick of e-mail services, with many similar features. All offer permanent e-mail addresses, chosen by the user. Most free services also offer address books, the ability to attach files, and spell-checkers. Some, like Hotmail, can retrieve messages from your non-Web-based e-mail accounts (barring conflict with firewalls sometimes used by corporations as a security measure). It's a growing Web industry, with free e-mail cropping up everywhere. Yahoo is offering free e-mail, as is American Express. Even already existing service providers are trying to make access to email easier via the Web: America Online has begun providing access to its e-mail accounts -- independent of AOL software -- for subscribers. And software giant Microsoft, in addition to purchasing Hotmail late last year, offers Outlook, which provides Web access to its Exchange mail server. For the most part, Web-based e-mail is free, because it is largely supported by advertisers. Web-based e-mail can make the traveler's life just a little bit easier. As more such services pop up on the Internet, road warriors can stay connected and travel lighter. "With all the furor going on about carry-ons -- if all you're going to do is read your e-mail then you can probably leave your laptop behind," McGinnis says. Based on a report from CNN's Business and Travel and Beyond. The segment appears Monday through Friday on Daybreak at 5:30 AM (ET) and on Early Edition at 7 AM (ET). BT&B also airs Sundays on the World Today at 10 PM (ET). 
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