All workgroup members must meet two requirements. They all must be connected to a network, and they all must use a MAPI-compliant, 32-bit e-mail system.
All of the workgroup members’ computers must be connected to a network that’s capable of conveying e-mail messages. The typical choice for this function is a local area network, or LAN.
A number of e-mail systems comply with the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI). MAPI is the standard programming interface proposed and supported by Microsoft for accessing electronic messaging. Some popular MAPI-compliant e-mail products are Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Mail.