= Transmission Protocols
:navtitle: Protocols 

The true value of email is that any one party can communicate with any
other party located virtually anywhere. All they need are a common understanding
of a xref:messages/index.adoc[message format], and a means of
transmitting the message.

Transmitting email messages between parties requires a mutually-known protocol. 
It turns out that there are several standard protocols used for the 
transmission of email messages, each with a different purpose:

 ** xref:protocols/smtp.adoc[Simple Mail Transfer]
 ** xref:protocols/pop.adoc[Post Office]
 ** xref:protocols/imap.adoc[Internet Message Access]
 ** xref:protocols/jmap.adoc[JSON Meta Application]
 ** xref:protocols/lmtp.adoc[Local Mail Transfer]
