It was predicted at the start of the pandemic that our use of modern communication solutions such as Teams and Slack would increase to the detriment of business emails. However, what we have all seen is an increase in the usage of business emails and email management software.
“How can this be so?” I hear you ask.
The use of these communication tools has been successful for internal communications, informal chat, and ad hoc collaboration. The sheer volume of GIFs and Simpsons memes I receive over Teams on a daily basis very much speaks to this. However, these communication platforms have been less successful for external and formal communications with clients, customers and partners, an area of communication which has been largely reserved for business emails.
Email is the “Modern Letter”
Being today’s version of the letter, email has become a storage facility for important information. This creates several problems, particularly when you need access to a particular email in a colleague’s inbox when they are on annual leave or furlough. Even if you can get access, you must navigate the Crystal Maze and enter the mad mind of the individual who has organised their folders within outlook to find what you need. The worst part of this process? You know the email is in there somewhere.
With all this information siloed in our inboxes, as a business, how does one go about finding the email required for a compliance request or for litigation protection? Even worse, imagine if you were using a legacy physical filing system, with all the information trapped in the office in filing cabinets with no fast way to filter and search for what you need. I imagine when something cannot be found it would look somewhat like the below.
Businesses are relying on email as a form of information and data to enable the execution of business-critical processes, yet most continue with archaic approaches to email management. The most common management of email by employees could be seen as akin to throwing all the letters you receive into a spare room, closing the door, and hoping in the future that you will somehow be able to find what you need.
Improving Email Management
This challenge is exactly why growing numbers of organisations are investing into email management software such as Excitech Mail. Using Excitech Mail, staff file their emails into a centralised location which is accessible to all staff with the appropriate permissions. By having emails centralised, a number of business benefits are created:
- First, it breaks down the barriers to searching for and obtaining the information required to collaborate effectively on a project both internally and externally.
- Second, the email management software provides significant time savings when searching, with a recent customer telling me that a searching task that took around 1.5 hours before Excitech Mail, it can now take as little as 2 minutes.
- Third, it gives peace of mind to business owners when protecting against potential litigation and insuring against compliance requests.
In the future when you get a compliance request, rather than feeling like a member of the night’s watch, living in fear of the endless armies and undead dragon commanded by the Night King. With an email management software you can feel like Bran Stark, calm in your knowledge of all that has come before and your ability to find exactly the information you need (Game of Thrones reference for those of you that have never seen it).
Please get in touch if you feel ready to evolve the way you manage your emails with an email management software.
Author
Matt Russell
Matt has been involved in the Autodesk industry for two years, primarily working with Symetri’s Architecture and Engineering customers. In 2022, Matt moved to our Construction team as an account manager, focusing his attention on BIM Management services, Information Management services and Autodesk Construction Cloud. Matt's priorities will revolve around meeting ever-changing customer needs and ultimately helping our customers to work smarter.
