Hi David,

you can use exclusive lock and skip locked for implement max performance.

A TRACE ( for direct code or a stored proc ):

BEGIN TRAN
-- if EMAIL format change sporadically you can use a @DEQUEUED  table
SELECT TOP 10 * INTO #DEQUEUED FROM EMAIL WITH (READPAST,XLOCK) WHERE STATUS='OP'
UPDATE EMAIL SET STATUS='SE' WHERE EMAILPRIMARYKEY IN ( SELECT EMAILPRIMARYKEY FROM #DEQUEUED )
SELECT * FROM #DEQUEUED
DROP TABLE #DEQUEUED
COMMIT

Fabio