Since, 2007 I’ve used an extranet program to make communication with clients easy. I used “Basecamp” and really like it . It helps keep clients up date, keeps track of deadlines and helps to share files. It works great and is easy to use.
There is no charge to the client for using it.
You will get copies of all emails sent on the file.
To respond to an email, just send a response from your regular email system and everyone will get a copy. You don’t have to log in to the site to send an email.
To download a file attached to an email, just click the link in the email, enter your user name and password and you can download the file. I hope this helps!