e-mail on inter office network

ATI2009 on Win XP machines
my buddy wants to network his computers and does not want internet connections. can the e-mail feature be used on an interoffice e-mail service like Snapmail to send e-mail when a backup fails. How about sending an IM message instead to a specific user on the network from the same e-mail option? This would be preferrable as the receptionist is more likely to see an IM