Email can be an essential part of business communication. But it can be frustrating when you just want to fire off a quick message to a coworker from your phone and have to mess around with subject lines and the like.
Microsoft Garage, a project lab where employees from all areas of the company can turn their ideas into projects, today announced a new app that it claims will cut down on the time it takes to send email from your phone.
Simply named Send, the idea behind the app is quick, in-and-out email.
Instead of traditional email with greetings, subject lines, and other formal email constructs, Send promises more of a text message-like experience. When you want to send a quick message to a co-worker you simply tap a contact to begin a conversation.
You can also respond to email by swiping to choose a Quick Reply such as “On my way,” if you find typing a reply too much of a hassle.
Microsoft claims that email sent through Send can be read anywhere. This means you can message anyone with an email account even if they don’t have the app. Send will also only display messages started from the app, so you don’t have to wade through your entire inbox.
With the app behaving similar to text messaging you may be wondering why not just send a text. But Microsoft has added some features that may make the app a more appealing choice than texting or sending a quick message through other mobile communications.
The company claims Send messages comply with your organization’s email compliance policies and are treated like other work email.
Conversations sent through Send also sync to Outlook so messages will also be delivered to your traditional email inbox. This allows you to respond later – perhaps in more detail – from you computer or other device if you choose.
Currently the app is only available on iPhone but Microsoft says it will be coming soon to Windows Phone and Android. The app connects to Office 365 so you will need this if you want to use Send. If you want to give it a try you can currently download Send through iTunes.
Image: Microsoft/iTunes Store
andy
This sounds great. But once again Microsoft treats its own user base like second class citizens by making the product available for a competitor’s device! Sure there are more ios users out there but c’mon! How do you really keep the few folks who are actually supporting your product, ie all the Windows Phone users from jumping to your competitor’s devices when you don’t even give your own loyalists first bite at the apple? Wow. Great product but not available on Microsoft devices. I bet MS executives all use ios 🙂