Zendio Email Tracking v Microsoft Email Read Receipts

Zendio Email Tracking v Microsoft Email Read Receipts

A common question we get is how Zendio email tracking differs from an email read receipt in Microsoft Outlook. We first addressed this question about a year ago in this blog post, but thought it might be time for a refresher. As we will explain, Zendio offers a far more robust and reliable service when it comes to tracking emails.

One of the most noticeable differences between Zendio email tracking notifications and Microsoft Outlook read receipts is that Zendio does not require any action on the recipient’s part to activate notifications.

Zendio works automatically once installed and sends email notifications every time the email is opened, a link was clicked or the message was forwarded. In Microsoft Outlook, an email notification is contingent on the recipient’s decision to activate a read receipt. This makes for unreliable and nebulous insights.

As you can see in the chart below, Zendio offers link tracking and location tracking where Microsoft Outlook does not. Microsoft Outlook read receipts, if opted by the end user, are sent only once. With Zendio, a more robust picture of the email life cycle emerges. Notifications are sent each time the recipient clicks on a link or attachment, each time the email is opened and when it is forwarded to a secondary address.

Zendio users retain a history of their read receipts and can assess follow-ups by using the analytics data in the Zendio inbox. We’ve never seen an Outlook read receipt do that.

Outlook Tracking v Zendio Tracking
	Zendio	Outlook
read receipts	yes	yes
time and date read	yes	yes
delivery receipt	no	yes
set on as default	yes	yes
read receipts sent automatically? (no user interaction)	yes	no
link tracking	yes	no
time and date link clicked	yes	no
IP based location tracking?	yes	no
multiple reads - notification of each read	yes	no
maintain history of read receipts	yes	no
aggregate individual recipient data	yes	no
analytics to help sender determine best send time	yes	no