SMTP, which stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the software that permits you to send out e-mails from your email addresses. Without this, you won't be able to employ e-mail applications or webmail. Whenever you send a message, your SMTP server creates a connection to a DNS server to discover exactly where e-mails for the recipient domain are managed. After that, it creates a connection to the remote email server and trades details. If the recipient mailbox is present, your server sends the email to the receiving POP/IMAP server and the latter delivers that message to the particular mailbox where the recipient can see it. If you want to be able to send emails, it is recommended to ensure that the web hosting company has the service with their packages. Even though you work with an online form that website visitors use to get hold of you, you will still require an active SMTP server for your hosting account for the web form to operate.