SMTP, which stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the software that permits you to send out e-mail messages from your email addresses. Without this, you won't be able to use e-mail apps or webmail. Every time you send a message, your SMTP server connects to a DNS server to discover where the emails for the recipient domain name are handled. Subsequently, it connects to the remote mail server and trades details. In case the recipient mail box is present, your server sends the email to the receiving POP/IMAP server and the latter brings that email to the particular mailbox in which the recipient can access it. If you would like to be able to send e-mails, it is recommended to make certain that the website hosting company offers the service with their packages. Even though you make use of online form that website visitors use to make contact with you, you still require an active SMTP server for your hosting account for the web form to operate.