Six Reasons LISTSERV Technology Is a Go-To for Communication and Collaboration

By Susan Brown Faghani
Manager, Marketing and Sales Communication, L-Soft

When it comes to IT applications, it's rare to see one that's been around for almost 40 years. So people's first reactions to learning how long LISTSERV software has been powering email communications tend to be quizzical or even stunned. The reason for the longevity is, in some ways, both simple and complex – a confluence of logos, pathos and ethos.

Here are six key reasons why people in all types of organizations keep turning to LISTSERV technology, whether they choose licensed software on-premises or a hosted cloud service.

Bringing People Together

Email lists as we know them today began when Eric Thomas invented LISTSERV software in 1986, which automated cumbersome manual list management. It also led to the world's first email groups, securing and ensuring a space for thriving discussions and knowledge exchange.

"My goal was simply to create a tool that would allow mailing lists to prosper while making life easier for subscribers and list owners. It was a simple idea whose success exceeded all my expectations. Sometimes you set about solving a small problem, and later on you realize that you have actually solved a big problem."

– Eric Thomas, LISTSERV Inventor and L-Soft Founder and CEO

Developing More Secure Communications

LISTSERV was the first software to introduce double opt-in, also known as confirmed opt-in. This 1993 invention became the industry best practice for permission email, which it remains to this day. Two years later, LISTSERV introduced the first spam filter in the industry, keeping email lists clean and safeguarding subscribers from spam. In 2001, LISTSERV became the first email list solution to provide built-in anti-virus capabilities to automatically reject and discard virus-infected messages.

"Respect your subscribers and build trust by giving them full control and only sending email messages that they have explicitly requested via double opt-in. This ultimately benefits your sender reputation, subscriber relationships and, in turn, your communications and results."

– Outi Tuomaala, L-Soft Executive VP

Providing Comprehensive Capabilities for All Needs

LISTSERV is a powerful, flexible and scalable enterprise solution for creating and managing email groups, newsletters, discussion forums and, with the Maestro add-on, marketing outreach with advanced analytics. Among its many features and functions, the searchable list archives with classic, forum and blog view options are a highly used goldmine of helpful knowledge, peer support and user tips. This saves time for both list administrators and subscribers, keeping discussions focused on fresh and emerging topics.

"The searchable LISTSERV archives are a huge resource for our customers. The discussions, events and research findings in JISCMail's archives tell the story of how education and research has changed considerably over the years. And the LISTSERV reporting tools allow us to build a picture of how well used and strong the JISCMail service is. We are measured on how much the service is used, and the reporting tools allow us to do this and give us this information quickly."

– Lisa Vincent, Jisc

Building Community

Discussion groups for people with common interests, challenges and goals to share knowledge, get support and learn make a profound impact. Discussion lists are a unique advantage of LISTSERV because they're not seen among other email list solutions.

"GSI is truly a patient-driven organization, held together by the bonds of our email groups, which serve as our support system."

– Ginger Sawyer, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Support International

Keeping Users in Full Control

Because LISTSERV is an owned channel, users have full control of their mailing lists. Administrators oversee sites and traffic, and list owners moderate discussions and set guidelines. Users can easily subscribe and unsubscribe to mailing lists, manage their email preferences and participate in group discussions.

"The L-Soft cloud-based list hosting solution is very powerful and easy to use. List management is very easy using the LISTSERV web-based interface."

– Michael Hensley, Chief Information Officer, NeighborImpact

Benefiting from Expert Technical Support

L-Soft's support team members are seasoned experts with decades of experience and are available to help you with your email communication challenges, no matter how complex. The technical team has an established reputation for prompt response times to get your problems solved as quickly as possible.

"LISTSERV software gives us the flexibility to accomplish whatever we need, and the support provided by L-Soft's knowledgeable and very helpful staff – a staff that apparently never sleeps – has been invaluable."

– Karen Reznek, ICORS

LISTSERV has been around for over three decades, and its longevity is a testament to the technology's robust capabilities and scalability to grow along with organizations and groups – and, most of all, its users around the world.

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