There is a about a half hour delay before getting the form via email (auto respondents & myself) - anyway to speed this up?

Using auto-responder and from an email field in form.

Hello schen,

Please be noted that submission emails and the auto-responders are sent almost instantly as soon as the form is submitted. 

I am not sure what is causing the delay but it could be related to your server. I would suggest you to use your own email address to send submission emails instead of using "noreply@jotform.com.  You should setup a custom "Sender E-mail" option. The following guide should help you:

http://www.jotform.com/blog/86-Send-Form-Emails-From-Your-Own-Email-Address-JotForm-Now-Support-SMTP 

http://www.jotform.com/help/236-How-to-use-Mandrill-to-Send-Emails-From-Your-Own-Email-Address 

Do try the custom sender option and see if this speeds up the time in receiving the submission emails.

Thank you!