Virtual Private Email for Business

Business

Virtual Private Email for Business

⚠️ CRITICAL: Not for Cold Email Marketing

EMail Parrot™ is designed for business communication with existing relationships. It is NOT for cold email marketing or unsolicited bulk email.

Prohibited:

  • ❌ Cold outreach to purchased lists
  • ❌ Unsolicited marketing campaigns
  • ❌ Spam or bulk marketing to strangers

Allowed:

  • ✅ Customer support for existing clients
  • ✅ VA communicating with your vendors
  • ✅ Team collaboration with known contacts

Why This Matters: High complaint rates hurt deliverability for ALL users. We monitor complaints and will cancel lists with excessive complaints without refund.

Best Practice: Only email people who know you and expect to hear from you.

Give Your Team Email Access Without Sharing Your Email

Traditional business email solutions force impossible choices: share credentials (unsafe), buy expensive per-user seats, or use unprofessional workarounds. Virtual Private Email (VPE) changes everything.

The Problem:

  • Sharing Gmail passwords with your VA → Security nightmare
  • Google Workspace at $72-144/year per user → Adds up fast
  • Shared Gmail account → No accountability, messy, unprofessional
  • Email forwarding → They reply from personal addresses

The Solution: EMail Parrot™’s Virtual Private Email gives your team professional email access under your brand while keeping everyone’s personal addresses completely hidden. Add or remove team members in seconds. No provisioning, no IT department, no per-user fees.

$10/month for unlimited users with custom domain (you provide domain, we manage subdomain for $5/mo) vs. $72-144/year per email seat.

Start Your Free Trial

Primary Use Cases

Virtual Assistant Email Delegation

The Challenge:

You need to give your VA email access, but your options all have serious drawbacks:

  • Share your Gmail password – They have full access to everything. When they leave, you hope they don’t still have access. Major security risk.
  • Buy them a Google Workspace account – $6-12/month per VA, plus IT overhead for setup. When they leave, you pay for deprovisioning time.
  • Forward emails to them – They reply from their personal email. Unprofessional. Clients see random Gmail addresses.
  • Give them limited API access – Complex setup, limited functionality, still requires technical knowledge.

None of these solutions are good. You need email delegation that’s secure, professional, revocable, and doesn’t break the bank.

The VPE Solution:

Create role-based sublists for different VA functions:

vendors@yourbusiness.com
scheduling@yourbusiness.com
customer-service@yourbusiness.com

Your VA emails vendors using Virtual Private Email addressing:

+vendor=at=example.com+vendors@yourbusiness.com

What Happens:

  • Vendor receives email from vendors@yourbusiness.com
  • Sees your professional brand, not your VA’s personal email
  • Replies to vendors@yourbusiness.com
  • Reply routes back to your VA through EMail Parrot™
  • You maintain oversight by being a member of the same sublists
  • When VA’s engagement ends, remove them in 30 seconds—access revoked instantly

Real-World Example:

Sarah runs an e-commerce business and hired a VA to handle vendor communications. Previously, she shared her Gmail password—stressful when the VA left. Now:

  • VA handles vendor emails via vendors.sarah@sarahsboutique.com
  • Customers email via support.sarah@sarahsboutique.com
  • VA manages scheduling via appointments.sarah@sarahsboutique.com
  • Sarah sees all communications by being member of these sublists
  • When VA left, Sarah removed her access instantly
  • No password changes, no security worries, no gaps in service

Cost Comparison:

SolutionAnnual CostSetup TimeRevocation Time
Google Workspace$72-144/VA2-4 hours1-2 hours
Shared Password$0 (+ security risk)5 minChange all passwords
EMail Parrot VPE$120 total15 min30 seconds

For one VA: Save $0-24/year plus eliminate security risks
For three VAs: Save $216-432/year
For five VAs: Save $360-720/year

Try VPE for VA Delegation

Freelancer Collectives & Small Teams

The Challenge:

You’re three freelancers who want to present as “ABC Design Studio,” but:

  • Individual emails – john.smith@gmail.com, mary.jones@gmail.com look unprofessional. Clients see you’re individuals, not a studio.
  • Buy business email for 3 – Google Workspace: $18-36/month for 3 users. That’s $216-432/year for email.
  • Share one Gmail account – Who sent what? Messy threading. What’s the password? Who handles password resets?
  • Each person gets their own domain – john@abcdesign.com, mary@abcdesign.com – Still looks like individuals. Plus $18-36/month.

You need one professional identity, equal access for all team members, accountability, and you need it cheap enough to make sense for a small team.

The VPE Solution:

Create one list at your professional domain:

hello@abcdesign.com

All three team members are members of this list. When clients email hello@abcdesign.com:

  • All three team members receive the email
  • Anyone can respond
  • Responses come from hello@abcdesign.com
  • Clients see one unified brand
  • Internal team sees who actually responded (via pseudonym)

Emailing New Clients:

Any team member can initiate contact with prospects:

+prospect=at=company.com+hello@abcdesign.com

Prospect receives email from hello@abcdesign.com with display name “ABC Design Studio”. Your personal emails never exposed.

Role-Based Sublists:

Create sublists for different functions:

  • projects@abcdesign.com – Project communications
  • admin@abcdesign.com – Administrative tasks
  • sales@abcdesign.com – New business inquiries

Each team member can be in different sublists based on their role. When someone leaves or a new person joins, it’s a 30-second change.

Real-World Example:

Three graphic designers formed “PixelPerfect Design.” Previously:

  • Each used personal Gmail – unprofessional
  • Shared one Gmail account – constant confusion about who said what
  • Considered Google Workspace – too expensive for their budget

Now with VPE:

  • All client emails to team@pixelperfectdesign.com
  • All three see every client email
  • Whoever’s available responds
  • Clients see one consistent professional brand
  • When they added a fourth designer: 30 seconds to add them
  • When one designer left: 30 seconds to remove them

Cost: $10/month ($120/year total) vs. $216-432/year for Google Workspace for 3 users.

The Professional Difference:

Clients perceive you as an established studio, not three freelancers. When a client emails your studio address:

  • They get responses from your studio
  • They don’t know or care which team member handled it
  • They have one contact point for everything
  • Professional trust increases
  • Higher rates justify themselves

Create Your Professional Brand

Contractors & Seasonal Workers

The Challenge:

You need to bring on temporary workers—contractors, seasonal staff, interns—but:

  • Buy them email accounts – For 20 seasonal workers for 4 months, that’s $240-480 for Google Workspace. They’ll barely use it.
  • Personal emails – summerhelp2024@gmail.com emailing your customers? Unprofessional. Damages your brand.
  • Shared account – 20 people sharing one password? Recipe for disaster. No accountability.
  • IT overhead – Setting up 20 accounts, training 20 people, then deprovisioning 20 accounts. Your time is valuable.

You need a way to give temporary workers professional email access without the cost or overhead of provisioning full email accounts.

The VPE Solution:

Create team lists for seasonal functions:

support@yourbusiness.com
warehouse@yourbusiness.com  
seasonal@yourbusiness.com

Add seasonal workers as members. They can:

  • Email customers through support@yourbusiness.com
  • Coordinate with suppliers through warehouse@yourbusiness.com
  • Communicate internally via the team list

Customers see emails from your business domain, not personal addresses. When season ends, remove all seasonal workers in bulk. Done.

Real-World Example:

A tax preparation firm has 8 full-time staff and brings on 25 seasonal preparers for 4 months during tax season.

Old Approach:

  • Google Workspace for 25 seasonal accounts: $150-300/month × 4 months = $600-1,200
  • IT setup time: 10 hours (setting up accounts, training)
  • IT teardown time: 5 hours (deprovisioning accounts)
  • Total cost: $600-1,200 + 15 hours of time

With VPE:

  • One list: preparers@taxfirm.com
  • Add 25 seasonal workers: 15 minutes total (bulk CSV import)
  • Workers email clients via VPE addressing
  • Clients see emails from preparers@taxfirm.com
  • Season ends: Remove 25 workers in bulk: 2 minutes
  • Cost: $40 for 4 months (no overage charges with their volume)

Annual Savings: $560-1,160 plus 15 hours of IT time

Additional Benefits:

  • Consistent customer experience (all emails from firm domain)
  • Easy oversight (full-time staff can be members to monitor)
  • No credential management or password sharing
  • Instant revocation when someone leaves early
  • No training needed (they use their own email client)

Contractor Projects:

Works equally well for project-based contractors:

  • Web developer building your new site: dev.project@yourbusiness.com
  • Marketing consultant running a campaign: marketing.project@yourbusiness.com
  • Bookkeeper handling quarterly taxes: books.q1@yourbusiness.com

Each project gets its own list or sublist. Add contractor, they get professional email access, project ends, remove them. Clean, simple, professional.

Solve Your Seasonal Staffing Email Problem

Cost Comparison: VPE vs. Traditional Solutions

Google Workspace

Google Workspace Costs:

  • $6-12/user/month
  • 1 VA: $72-144/year
  • 3-person team: $216-432/year
  • 20 seasonal workers (4 months): $480-960
  • Plus: IT setup time, training, deprovisioning

EMail Parrot VPE:

  • $10/month flat = $120/year
  • Unlimited users
  • Custom domain support available
  • No IT overhead
  • Instant add/remove

Savings:

  • 1 VA: $0-24/year (break even to small savings)
  • 3-person team: $96-312/year
  • 20 seasonal workers: $360-840/year
  • Plus: Eliminated IT overhead

Microsoft 365

M365 Costs:

  • $6-12.50/user/month (Business Basic to Business Standard)
  • Similar per-user costs to Google Workspace
  • Similar IT overhead
  • Similar savings with VPE

Shared Email Accounts

Shared Account “Costs”:

  • $0 monthly fee
  • BUT: No accountability, security risks, confusion, unprofessional appearance
  • Password sharing vulnerabilities
  • Access revocation requires changing password for everyone

EMail Parrot VPE:

  • $10/month
  • Individual accountability (know who sent what)
  • Professional appearance
  • Instant revocation
  • No password sharing

Email Forwarding / Aliases

Forwarding “Costs”:

  • $0-5/month depending on provider
  • BUT: Recipients reply from personal emails
  • No team collaboration
  • Unprofessional appearance
  • Limited control

EMail Parrot VPE:

  • $10/month
  • Replies come from professional domain
  • Full team collaboration
  • Professional brand appearance
  • Complete control over access and routing

Secondary Business Use Cases

While VPE excels at the use cases above, it also enables several other valuable business applications:

Lightweight CRM & Client Communication

Turn your email into a lightweight CRM without the complexity or cost of HubSpot ($30/mo) or Salesforce ($25/user/mo).

Client Communications Hub: Use team@yourbusiness.com to manage team-client emails. Clients email the group, your team coordinates internally and replies. Even a temp contractor can participate, discuss client needs, and interact with the team—all while maintaining professional appearance.

Customer Feedback & Focus Groups: Gather insights with feedback@yourbusiness.com. Customers discuss in email anonymously, team members reply as needed. Run interactive email discussions, collect feedback, and act fast. Anonymity ensures honest responses, no forms needed.

Build Customer Trust: With support@yourbusiness.com, customers email your team, and unified replies are sent—all while keeping team and client emails hidden. 80% of customers value privacy (Verizon 2024). This builds trust and encourages honest feedback without exposure.

Lead Capture and Follow-Up: Set up leads@yourbusiness.com. Prospects email, your team replies. Multiple team members can track responses, provide context, and follow up—no forms or CRM needed.

Client-Specific Support: Use clientname.support@yourbusiness.com for client-specific issues. Manage support queries by client, maintain context, coordinate team responses.

Anonymous Customer Communities

Client-to-Client Support: Let clients answer each other’s questions. Create a customer forum via email at community@yourbusiness.com. Clients can discuss your product/service anonymously, reducing your support load while building community.

Beta Testing & Feedback: Create beta@yourbusiness.com for beta testers to discuss new features anonymously. Get honest, unfiltered feedback without users worrying about being identified or judged.

Internal Team Innovation

Anonymous Brainstorming: Create ideas@yourbusiness.com for team members to propose ideas anonymously. Foster innovation without the constraints of traditional communication hierarchies. Anonymity encourages honesty.

Collaborative Strategy: Team members can propose ideas for new products, improvements, or logistics, then refine contributions collectively. Anonymity protects those who might hesitate to voice objections or alternative viewpoints.

Professional Boundaries

Service Providers: Therapists, consultants, coaches, and other service providers can email clients professionally without giving out personal email:

  • practice@drsmith.com for therapist-client communications
  • coaching@johncoach.com for coaching sessions
  • consulting@bizadvisor.com for consulting projects

Maintain professional boundaries while providing seamless client communication.

Multiple Business Roles

Unified Presence with Role Clarity:

Small businesses and startups often have more roles than people to fill them. Everyone does multiple jobs. EMail Parrot™ allows each role to be a list or sublist at your domain:

  • sales@yourbusiness.com – Sales inquiries
  • support@yourbusiness.com – Customer support
  • billing@yourbusiness.com – Billing questions
  • hr@yourbusiness.com – Human resources
  • info@yourbusiness.com – General inquiries

Emails to these roles route to the appropriate members—even if one person owns several roles. Emails sent or replies come from these roles, so your organization has clear communications for each topic.

Benefits:

  • Look larger and more organized than you are
  • Clear communication channels for different topics
  • Easy to reassign roles as team grows
  • Professional appearance regardless of team size

How VPE Works for Business

The Email Flow

Outbound (You to Client):

1. You send to: +client=at=company.com+sales@yourdomain.com
2. EMail Parrot™ processes and secures email
3. Client receives from: sales@yourdomain.com
4. Client sees display name: "Sales Team" or "YourBusiness Sales"
5. Your personal email never exposed

Inbound (Client to You):

1. Client replies to: sales@yourdomain.com
2. EMail Parrot™ receives and routes
3. You receive from: +client=at=company.com+sales@yourdomain.com
4. Display name: "Client Name [Sales Team, External]"
5. Reply routes back through VPE to client

Internal Team Coordination:

1. Team discusses via sales@yourdomain.com
2. All team members see discussion
3. Anonymous via pseudonyms
4. Coordinated response sent to client
5. Client sees unified professional communication

Security & Privacy

For Your Team:

  • Team members never see each other’s real email addresses
  • Communication via pseudonyms internally
  • Personal privacy protected even within team
  • “No walk-away” contact info—departing members can’t take client lists

For Your Clients:

  • Client email addresses virtualized with VPE
  • Your team members can’t extract client emails
  • Clients protected from potential data breaches on your end
  • Professional boundary maintenance

Complete Security Stack:

  • Virus scanning (ClamAV + AWS SES)
  • Spoofing detection (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
  • Malicious attachment removal
  • Tracking pixel removal
  • Dangerous link detection
  • Size limits and quarantine system

Setup Process (5 Minutes)

  1. Create Account & List

    • Sign up at emparrot.com
    • Create your business list
    • Choose custom domain ($10/mo) or emparrot.com ($5/mo)

  2. Add Team Members

    • Enter team emails and assign pseudonyms
    • Set roles and permissions
    • Create sublists for different functions

  3. Enable VPE

    • In admin settings, enable “Open Email Group”
    • This activates Virtual Private Email functionality

  4. Configure Sublists

    • Create sublists for: support, sales, admin, projects, etc.
    • Assign appropriate team members to each

  5. Train Your Team

  6. Update Your Systems

    • Update email signatures to use list addresses
    • Configure email client filters
    • Document addressing patterns for team

That’s it. Your team now has professional email without per-user costs.

Get Started Now

Real-World Success Stories

“Saved $2,880/year and eliminated IT headaches”

Tax Preparation Firm - 8 Full-Time + 25 Seasonal

“We used to spend $600-1,200 per tax season on Google Workspace for seasonal preparers, plus countless hours setting up and tearing down accounts. With EMail Parrot VPE, we spend $40 for the season and it takes 15 minutes to add everyone. When the season ends, we remove access in bulk. Our clients see professional emails from our domain, and we maintain perfect oversight. Switching to VPE was the easiest decision we made this year.”

— Michael R., Managing Partner

“We look like a 20-person studio with a 3-person budget”

PixelPerfect Design - 3 Freelancers

“Before VPE, clients saw our personal Gmail addresses and knew we were just three freelancers. We considered Google Workspace but $216-432/year felt like a lot when we were starting out. For $120/year with EMail Parrot, clients email team@pixelperfectdesign.com and we all see it. Whoever’s available responds. We look professional, coordinate easily, and clients think we’re an established studio. It’s helped us land bigger clients and justify higher rates.”

— Jessica T., Co-founder

“My VA has the access she needs without me worrying about security”

E-commerce Business Owner - 1 VA

“I used to share my Gmail password with my VA. Every time she left and I hired someone new, I had to change all my passwords—not just email, but everything that used that email. It was a nightmare. Now my VA handles vendor emails, customer support, and scheduling through EMail Parrot sublists. I can see everything she’s doing by being in the same sublists, but she doesn’t have access to my personal email. When she left for a better opportunity, I removed her access in 30 seconds and onboarded her replacement in 5 minutes. No password changes, no security worries, no gaps in service.”

— Sarah K., Owner, Online Boutique

💡 Why Businesses Should Use Custom Domains

While EMail Parrot™ works at `@emparrot.com` addresses, businesses gain significant advantages with custom domains:

Security & Flexibility:

  • Mix closed and open groups as needed
  • Each list has proper access controls
  • Better than using only open groups with restricted sublists

Professional Branding:

  • All emails from `@yourbusiness.com`
  • Clients trust your domain

Cost Effective:

  • $10/month for unlimited lists vs $72-144/year PER USER for alternatives

Why Choose VPE Over Alternatives?

vs. Google Workspace / Microsoft 365

Cost:

  • VPE: $10/mo flat for unlimited users
  • Google/M365: $6-12/user/mo (adds up fast)

Simplicity:

  • VPE: No IT overhead, no provisioning/deprovisioning
  • Google/M365: Admin console, user management, training

Flexibility:

  • VPE: Add/remove users in seconds
  • Google/M365: Setup/teardown per user

Privacy:

  • VPE: Built-in anonymization, even internally
  • Google/M365: Standard email (no anonymization)

Best For:

  • VPE: Variable teams, contractors, VAs, budget-conscious
  • Google/M365: Large stable teams needing full office suite

vs. Shared Email Accounts

Accountability:

  • VPE: Know who sent what (via pseudonyms)
  • Shared: No idea who did what

Security:

  • VPE: Individual access, instant revocation
  • Shared: Password sharing, must change for all when one leaves

Organization:

  • VPE: Clean threading, clear communication
  • Shared: Messy, confusing, overlapping

Professional:

  • VPE: Role-based addressing, team coordination
  • Shared: One account, one identity

vs. Email Forwarding / Aliases

Collaboration:

  • VPE: Many-to-many, team coordination
  • Forwarding: One-to-one, no collaboration

Replies:

  • VPE: Replies come from professional brand
  • Forwarding: Replies from personal emails (unprofessional)

Security:

  • VPE: Full scanning, threat detection
  • Forwarding: Just passes email through

Flexibility:

  • VPE: Sublists, roles, permissions
  • Forwarding: Simple pass-through

vs. Customer Support Platforms

Cost:

  • VPE: $10/mo flat
  • Support platforms: $15-50/user/mo

Simplicity:

  • VPE: Works in email client, no new tool
  • Support platforms: New platform to learn

Scope:

  • VPE: All business email (support + more)
  • Support platforms: Just customer support

Best For:

  • VPE: Small teams, budget-conscious, simple needs
  • Support platforms: Large support teams, complex workflows

Getting Started

1. Choose Your Plan

$5/month - EMail Parrot Domain

  • Lists hosted at emparrot.com
  • Perfect for testing or single use case
  • Example: support@emparrot.com

$10/month - Custom Domain (Recommended for Business)

  • Unlimited lists at your domain
  • Professional branding
  • Example: team@yourbusiness.com
  • All lists share 5K emails/5GB per month

Both include:

  • Unlimited team members
  • All security features
  • 30-day free trial

2. Set Up Your Lists

For VA Delegation: Create sublists: vendors, scheduling, support, admin

For Freelancer Team: Create main list: hello@yourteam.com or team@yourteam.com

For Seasonal Workers: Create team lists: seasonal@yourbusiness.com, warehouse@yourbusiness.com

3. Add Your Team

Import via CSV or add individually. Assign:

  • Email addresses (their real emails, kept private)
  • Pseudonyms (how they appear internally)
  • Sublist memberships
  • Permissions

4. Enable VPE

In Group Settings, enable “Open Email Group” to activate Virtual Private Email.

5. Train Your Team

  • Show VPE addressing format: +external=at=domain+list@yourdomain.com
  • Share External Email Virtualizer tool
  • Set up email filters for organization
  • Document addressing patterns

6. Update Your Systems

  • Email signatures
  • Business cards
  • Website contact info
  • CRM/systems
  • Documentation

You’re ready to go.

Start Your Free Trial

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use EMail Parrot for email marketing?

EMail Parrot is for communication with willing parties, not marketing campaigns. You can email existing customers who expect updates, but NOT cold outreach to purchased lists. High spam complaint rates result in immediate list cancellation without refund.

Q: Can external clients send directly to our VPE list?

No. External addresses cannot send TO + addresses. They can only reply to emails they’ve received from your team. This prevents spam and abuse. If a client needs to initiate contact, they email your regular list address (e.g., support@yourbusiness.com), which you receive normally.

Q: What happens when a team member leaves?

Remove them from the list in your admin dashboard (30 seconds). They immediately lose all access. They cannot send through your lists, they don’t receive emails to the lists, and they can’t take your contact list with them because they never had access to real email addresses.

Q: Can I see what my VA is sending to clients?

Yes. Be a member of the same sublists your VA uses. You’ll receive copies of all emails sent and received. You can monitor without interfering, and your VA knows you have oversight.

Q: How do we coordinate internally?

Team members send to the list address (e.g., support@yourbusiness.com) without any external addressing. All team members receive it, can discuss internally, and coordinate responses. External contacts don’t see internal discussion.

Q: Can one person have different roles?

Yes. One person can be a member of multiple sublists. For example, John might be in sales, support, and admin sublists. He sees emails to all three and can respond in appropriate contexts.

Q: What if we need more than 5K emails per month?

Purchase overage blocks: $5 for 10K emails + 10GB data. Buy as needed, no automatic charges. Most small teams stay well under 5K. (5K emails = 100 clients × 50 emails/month.)

Q: How is this different from a shared Gmail account?

Accountability (you know who sent what), security (no password sharing), professionalism (organized by role), and ease of use (clean threading, clear communication). Plus proper access revocation when someone leaves.

Q: Do clients know we’re using EMail Parrot?

No. They see emails from your domain with your branding. There’s no indication you’re using EMail Parrot unless you choose to tell them.

Q: Can we use our existing email alongside VPE?

Yes. VPE handles specific use cases (team email, contractor access, VA delegation). You can keep your personal email for personal use, banking, etc. Many users have tier 1 (personal), tier 2 (internal team), and tier 3 (VPE external) email addresses.

Q: Is there a contract or can I cancel anytime?

No contract. Cancel anytime. 30-day free trial on your first list.

Next Steps

Try It Free for 30 Days

No credit card required for trial. Create your first list, add your team, test VPE addressing, and see if it solves your business email challenges.

Start Free Trial

Schedule a Demo

Want to see VPE in action for your specific use case? Email us at info@emparrot.com to schedule a personalized demo.

Read More

  • User Guide - Complete setup and usage documentation
  • VPE Overview - Detailed explanation of Virtual Private Email
  • Pricing - Full pricing details and cost comparisons
  • FAQ - Common questions and answers

Questions?

Email us at info@emparrot.com - we respond within 24 hours.

Stop paying per-user fees. Stop sharing passwords. Stop using unprofessional workarounds.

Start using Virtual Private Email for business.