We are part of a transitional time period, where trends come and go and industries change rapidly. This change is apparent in one of the fastest growing industries - communication. It seems like every month there is a new app being released that is designed to save us all from the clunky mishaps of email. You know, the app that will finally put email to death, from Slack, to HipChat, to Facebook messenger.
This rapid change in the way we communicate with each other is being driven by those individuals under 20, whose email savviness can be compared to those over 70. Though one might argue that it is important to abandon email and jump on the chat-like app bandwagon, chat-like apps will not provide the end-all solution to the issues engraved in email, and they come with an entirely different set of problems.
Problem 1: No structure
According to a study commissioned by Accelo, the average person receives 304 emails a day week. Imagine trying to keep track of your messages through a chat-like app. You have no way of finding the message you are looking for and no way of labeling your messages. If you’ve ever used a chat-like app, the lack of structure is very apparent, and the chaotic mess you have to deal with is highlighted.
Problem 2: The subject line is missing
Subject lines are the titles to your emails. They are small snippets of text that give you a chance to decipher the content of the email without opening it. You can skim through your inbox without having to read the body of the emails, giving you the option to store it away for later or delete it altogether.
Problem 3: gif and memes are taking over
Where did that one important message go? It might have been swallowed by the endless array of cute cat gifs and homemade memes. Everyone loves a good laugh in the office, and to be honest, chat-like apps provide a great way to build camaraderie, but when it comes to accurate communication, chat-like apps fall short.
Problem 4: Where are all the people?
You may have noticed that everyone from your mother to your doctor has an email address, and it’s probably because it’s the way to go. Basically, your clients and vendors are probably not on your chat-like app, and even if they are, there's no guarantee they won’t move on to the next trending app by next year, and they are probably not using chat-like apps for external purposes. Ultimately, you probably should be communicating with them via email. This means that if you do have an internal chat-like app, you now have a disjointed experience where you have to switch between email and chat while sacrificing the history and natural flow of the conversation, because you can’t just pick up a chat where you left off, as it probably got swallowed by endless cat gifs.
Problem 5: There’s nowhere to hide
Imagine the last time you received an email and you didn’t feel like responding. What happened next? You ignored it. We take that flexibility for granted. Email gives us the ability to hide from the people we want to ignore for the time being, and come back to them later, whereas on a chat-like app, you do not have that option.
Our approach: The modern inbox
Email is archaic, both from a technology and user perspective. But one can not deny the important role email plays in the online realm - it holds the key to all online accounts. Imagine trying to create an account anywhere without an email. It’s virtually impossible unless you sign in using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. But, of course, you still need an email account to create a Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn account. So, instead of working against it, why not try to modernize email and have it work with you?
With Accelo, you no longer have to deal with the common problems associated with email, and you don’t have to acquire the new problems that come with a chat-like app. With its automatic email capture functionality, it captures every email using the same tools you already use on a daily basis (Google Apps, Gmail, Microsoft Exchange & Microsoft 365), giving you a single, integrated place to share emails and contacts and easily collaborate with your colleagues and clients.
Unlike other systems that require manual intervention, Accelo works automatically, which means your staff does not have to remember to tag, copy, paste or index emails, and you still get the benefits of a single, integrated client correspondence history. This modern inbox liberates company silos and unifies your team with a Facebook-like newsfeed that gives you and your team a dynamically searchable inbox. A fast, fluid solution that allows you to pull up any client-related communication, instantly: that could definitely be worth it, right?
