Can we handle all this mail?

A recent study by Pitney Bowes suggests that corporate America is getting deluged with e-mail and other forms of correspondence at a rate of more than 180 items (sent and received) per person each day. The challenge is to keep up with e-mail and still handle our day-to-day responsibilities. It is also difficult to find the critical messages in this sea of information without reading each one.

The current level of e-mail overload can be addressed through both technical and cultural means. Technology can be used to help handle the problem it partially created. Techniques to better handle e-mail include the use of filters to keep out unwanted messages, rules to better organize messages, auto-responses to lessen the burden on the user, and message priorities to better separate the most critical messages. Cultural changes include using e-mail lists judiciously, copying individuals only on a need-to-know basis, posting certain topics to Web-based intranets or to newsgroups instead of sending e-mail, and developing corporate policies concerning appropriate use of e-mail.

The combination of technical and cultural changes will help us better manage the increasing volumes of e-mail, but it won't fully solve the problem. Many users will continue to be challenged by too much e-mail. But we must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. The tremendous benefits of e-mail have created this problem, and we must continue to work to minimize the negative repercussions of e-mail's growth. As we continue to monitor this issue, send us information about your innovative solutions to e-mail overload at gjrowe@attmail.com. We hope to include some of these ideas in a future newsletter.

Rapport Communication has recently merged with The Burton Group. The Burton Group is a leading information technology advisory and consulting firm. It provides in-depth analysis of emerging network computing technologies such as directory services, next generation messaging, secure messaging, NOS migration, public key infrastructure, and networking infrastructure. As part of its Network Strategy Service for network planners, The Burton Group offers the Catalyst Conference once a year in late July.

Email Overload: Exploring Personal Information Management of Email - An exploration of the problem by Steve Whittaker and Candace Sidner of Lotus Development Corp.

Web-based free-mail winning biz converts: There is more to free e-mail than an unbeatable price. Network World, 8/4/97.

Information Overload: How to avoid getting swamped: CNET, 5/29/97.

Behind the wave: Consequences of the Digital Age - from the San Jose Mercury News.