As you know, our industry experiences a notable increase in bandwidth availability. More than 24,000 vessels are equipped with VSAT today, and the increased bandwidth is a significant driver when more and more shipping companies turn towards digitalisation.
New systems and software increase consumption of ship-shore bandwidth. Nonetheless, e-mail continues to be the most efficient means of business communication, providing companies with a trusted, readily available and non-intrusive form of information sharing.
Read more: Why email is still business-critical in the shipping industry
The Dualog email solution as a strategic business driver
Robust email brings undeniable value for today’s shipping companies, as it is still the primary communication platform for ships at sea, particularly for business.
The question now becomes, how exactly does Dualog’s email solution add business value to your company?
Let’s look at three key ways the Dualog email solution helps you secure and ensure an efficient and uninterrupted flow of business-critical data.
1. Maritime-optimised system secures email across your fleet
As email per se is neither intrinsically secure nor reliable, a maritime-optimised email system with multilayered security is crucial to enable efficient and dependable business operations at sea.
Email is a source of constant threats targeting your vessels. According to the U.S. Cyber Command, over 90% of cyber attacks today start with email. That makes email the number one cyber threat vector.
At Dualog, we process a total of 110 million emails per year. If we break down this number on a per vessel basis, we see that actual email volume is stable over the past few years.
An area where we see an increase, though, is the number of phishing emails. Phishing is the act of sending emails to specific and well-researched targets while purporting to be a legitimate sender. The aim is to either infect devices with malware or hoodwink the recipients into handing over information or money.
Phishing is a very lucrative way of causing harm, and the numbers back it up. Compared with 2018, we saw an increase of more than 300 percent in phishing emails in 2019. In March 2020 alone, Dualog blocked no less than 7 million phishing attempts.
Phishing remains one of the most frustrating and persistent threats that Internet users face – and your vessels are no exception. How does Dualog’s email solution help you deal with this issue?
Simply put: Our service Dualog® Business Mail is built from the ground up to detect and block phishing and other malicious attacks.
The value for your company: Dualog’s multilayered cybersecurity prevents phishing and similar email-borne threats from disrupting your day-to-day business communication between ship and shore. That means fewer distractions and risks, and at the end of the day – sustained business and reduced costs.
Read more: How Dualog® Business Mail secures your fleet email
2. Continuous development of email and backbone services
Dualog has invested significantly in the shoreside infrastructure for service provision, especially in terms of reliability, availability, and the increasingly important cybersecurity aspect. We are probably unique in terms of our service level agreement and how that relates to our customers.
Furthermore, Dualog’s R&D is entirely in-house, with core focus always on improvement and new features, based directly on customer feedback. As a Dualog customer, you can present your suggestions and requirements via the Dualog Ideas Portal, then interact with our product management, as ideas are discussed, refined and then scheduled for development and release.
The value for your company: Dualog’s continuously developed email solution does not only ensure a robust and secure email service on your ships, but it will also adapt to your company’s evolving business model and continue to meet your operational needs.
For you as a user, this translates into both cost savings and efficiency gains. Moreover, it will help you stay competitive and continue to deliver top-notch customer service.
Read more: Maritime-specific vs. generic IT systems – pros and cons
3. Platform independence creates strategic flexibility
Dualog is independent of airtime and hardware, giving you the strategic flexibility to at all times choose airtime and hardware best suited for current and future needs. In times of increasing bandwidth and new airtime providers, it is imperative to avoid the lock-in situation that bundled email software creates.
What does this mean in practice? Unlike business mail solutions offered by generic software vendors, Dualog Business Mail is specifically designed for the maritime industry’s particular challenges. This makes Dualog’s email solution a strategic choice for the future.
The value for your company: The maritime segment will continue to see an increase in bandwidth availability and innovative service providers. As the landscape has become even more dynamic in recent years, the need to remain flexible in terms of providers and technologies is more important than ever.
Dualog will continue to provide independent email to ensure strategic flexibility – a flexibility that gives you the leverage, power and possibility to challenge and change airtime providers.
Conclusion
As available bandwidth at sea steadily increases, and modern shipping companies transform their business towards more and more digital operations, the role of email remains business-critical.
Considering email solution is a careful decision with a long-term impact.
Dualog provides airtime-independent email solutions to shipping companies of all trades and types. Essential for 4,500 vessels relying on our services today, is that we provide innovative software, a proper 24/7 support, and rock-solid backbone infrastructure with industry-leading guaranteed uptime.
Key takeaways
Dualog’s email solution…
- is platform independent, which creates strategic flexibility when choosing airtime provider(s).
- is specifically developed to meet current and future maritime requirements.
- offers multilayered email security, usability and best-in-business 24/7 support, which are cornerstones in enabling uninterrupted ship-shore business communication.
Source: Dualog by Lars Martinussen 
