OnlineCounsellors.co.uk was developed as a training and information site, building on the work of its founder Kate Anthony (see kateanthony.co.uk ) in the use of the Internet as a communication medium in the field of counselling. As time progressed, we began to get a number of enquiries from people looking to set themselves up as online counsellors, asking for advise on setting up web sites. The more we looked into it however, the more it seemed that people were using systems that were both un-manageable and in most cases, not very secure. As a result we started development on and as the design process progressed, it became clear that whilst it would answer all the needs of individuals and groups looking to use the Internet to counsel clients, it would also be as suitable for anyone or any company currently using email as a method of communication with their client base. The benefits over traditional communication channels are detailed in " vs Email" (see menu).