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Handling mail messages as information
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Posted by Ken
Aug 17, 2015 at 04:40 PM
While I am currently relying on Asana and OneNote to handle my projects’ tasks and information, I am still trying to see if I can find a more effective task/information management arrangement. And as I have been trying to do my work, I realized that my (Outlook) mail messages with their attachments are a key source of information for me. Unfortunately, our network operates with a mandatory deletion policy in conjunction with its own proprietary archiving system which is not at all conducive to actively searching and using information stored in mail messages. I have sent key project messages to OneNote, and while the program retains the attachments with the messages, my preference is for a program to handle messages (and their attachments) in some expandable/collapsing manner (without pop up windows like Todoist uses). My limited research into a few programs so far has not been very fruitful. some programs strip out the attachments, and others require Outlook to open a message. Are their note taking programs that can easily receive/convert an Outlook message into an item that retains the message contents and attachments and that does not rely on Outlook to read the message?
—Ken
Posted by MadaboutDana
Aug 17, 2015 at 05:16 PM
Hm, the only thing I can think of off the cuff is MailStore, the Home version of which is free (for individuals). And which has an awesome search function.
More details at: http://www.mailstore.com/en/mailstore-home-email-archiving.aspx
It has a lot of archiving functions - I believe it’s capable of archiving directly from Outlook, as well as from your e-mail accounts. It’s lightweight enough to use on a standard desktop; even the server version doesn’t take up much in the way of resources. In fact, it can even be run as a “portable” solution (from e.g. a USB memory stick). Which may assuage the wrath of your IT techies… (or not, of course!)
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by MadaboutDana
Aug 17, 2015 at 05:26 PM
You might also want to take a look at Oasys Mail Manager; Oasys is a spin-off from one of the giant engineering companies, and their software is really quite powerful; we used to use Mail Manager when it first came out (we now use MailStore Server).
Its main advantage is that it saves mail out to standard system folders, allowing you to keep mail together with the relevant project documents. But Mail Manager also keeps tabs on it and can search for mail very quickly, by multiple criteria.
There’s a 30-day trial version, so definitely worth a look. But do try MailStore Home first - it’s free! And I can thoroughly recommend it.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Aug 17, 2015 at 05:26 PM
Sorry, forgot the link: http://www.oasys-software.com/products/email-and-document-management/mailmanager.html
Posted by MadaboutDana
Aug 17, 2015 at 05:35 PM
Distant memories prompt me to suggest you also take a look at Mailbird (https://www.getmailbird.com). It doesn’t run on Mac, unfortunately, otherwise I’d take a look myself.