Managing your Enterprise inbox is simplest on BlackBerry

on 2 Sep 2011 09:05 AM

Filed Messages

I'm an "Inbox Zero" guy - my goal is to empty my email inbox as quickly as possible. Once a message has been dealt with I file it in an appropriate folder immediately. Once it's filed I move on to the next one. This is also how I deal with my follow-up - if it's in the inbox it is not done yet.

Depending on how many folders and sub-folders you have it can be quite time consuming to file messages in Outlook, I'm forever dragging and scrolling messages from the Inbox to my labyrinth of sub-folders. I've moved to filing exclusively on my BlackBerry smartphone because it is just easier and for those of you who use Outlook can appreciate, the BlackBerry is actually smarter than Outlook.

How to file a message on the BlackBerry

While reading a message click the MENU button scroll to and select "File", note a quicker way to do this is to use the build-in shortcut "i" so while reading a message and are ready to file it press "i".

Menu - File

You will than be presented with your tree of folders.

My Folders

To quickly drill down to the desired folder begin typing in the name of the folder, in this case I'm looking to file it in folder "Personal".

Personal Foler

Now where this really gets exciting (as exciting as filing email messages gets) is that the BlackBerry learns as you file. It begins to remember where specific types of email get filed, so if I file messages from Kevin and Adam in my "CrackBerry.com" folder. Therefore the next time I press "i" to file it will drill down to the CrackBerry.com folder automatically anticipating that I will want that folder. There is no app for that on other platforms. :)

I find that with the short cut "i" and the filing memory the BlackBerry develops I'm able to manage a Zero Inbox much more efficiently than I can using the Outlook window. Now when all my filing is done and my inbox is empty I feel as though all the planets are in alignment perfectly when I see the magical message on my BlackBerry *No Messages*

Inbox zero
Ahhh, nerd nirvana

Filed Under: Enterprise; Tags: email, Exchange, mailbox management

23 Comments

Posted by cas118 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Would be lovely if the gmail plugin worked this way.

Scrolling through loads of labels is a pita.

Otherwise, it looks quite cool.

Posted by thaboy Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

this is great. however, when i go to file its not showing me any of my sub email folders.

Posted by mavsguy842 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Doesn't work for my hotmail account unfortunately. All I get are Inbox with a subfolder of Spam. In reality I have maybe 15 subfolders.

Posted by tyraxe Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

same problem. anyone knows why? would be a great to sort my Mails on the go...
my mail is offered by domainfactory
greetings

Posted by tim99va Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

The "i" shortcut didn't work for me so I went to menu and looked for "file" and its missing. I installed a leaked os on my 9930 and wonder if that's my problem...

Posted by romanista Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

is BES data plan required to do so? I got BIS and have only Inbox folder.

Posted by pineypl Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

I do think BES is necessary for full Outlook integration.

I have been using most of these methods for some time and it is indeed rapid and efficient.

Posted by deebo550 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

I have a BIS plan and am on a BES Express server and this works fine. Also running an Exchange 07 server.

Check the web desktop manager maybe

Posted by dkonigs Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

BIS still, for the most part, is a crude Inbox poll-and-push service. (Gmail might be a special exception) Honestly, it kinda sucks in comparison to BES.

As long as that doesn't change, I have a reason to keep developing LogicMail (3rd party standalone mail client).

Posted by djdonnyk Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Has anyone tried BES Express?

Posted by deebo550 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

yup and filing emails works for me

Posted by kjjb0204 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Another great tip taking filing one step further. If you have multiple messages in your Enterprise inbox on the same subject, you can highlight on one of them, click menu, search by subject, hold alt key, scroll to highlight them all, then hit I and file them away appropriately. Sometimes by the end of the day I've had a dozen messages on the same subject, so this makes it super easy to file them all away at the same time instead of filing them one by one. Or, change display type to group by subject and it's even easier. Coming back to BB for the 9930 has increased my efficiency tenfold when it comes to mobile email management and general productivity.

Posted by nogutsnoglory Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

This works great on BES. Very efficient way to manage your emails remotely and avoid duplication with your work station. Thanks for reminding me about this.

BTW, I am back to my Tour after attempting to use the HTC Thunderbolt for 2 months. Thunderbolt is great media type phone but doesn't compare to BB and BES when it comes to communication.

Posted by Pirks Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

"Thunderbolt is great media type phone" - meh, you're saying so because you haven't tried Torch 9850/60 yet, now THIS one is one helluva media phone, gotta give it a shot someday man! It's total orgasmic if you wanna combine best media/video features on the market with signature BB experience.

Posted by raremage Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

"I'm an "Inbox Zero" guy - my goal is to empty my email inbox as quickly as possible."

I found this to be a cute comment. Zero inbox. I lost the ability to do that around 1998.

Posted by lcohen999 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

@raremage +1!!

Posted by pmich Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

I love how it remembers where i've filed files before. I use this all the time... it's actually creepy at how well it knows where to file my emails.

Posted by asherwiin Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Issac, you should check out the Outlook add-in called "QuickFile for Outlook":

http://www.addins4outlook.com/quickfile/default.asp

Best solution I've found to date to keep my inbox to a minimum, while still maintaining a complex folder structure for in-bound and out-bound emails.

Posted by aTALL1 Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Ok here's a question: I am on BIS with a BB that I was allowed to keep when I left my employer. When I look at the email folders, the folders I had on my work BES Outlook laptop show up. How do I get rid of these folders? AND...
How do I tell which inbox folder goes to which email account? You cant really manage the folders on BB with a BIS account?

Posted by seaners Friday, Sep 02, 2011 265 days ago

Yeah I prefer filing messages on my BB versus on my desktop. I would always hit Menu > F x 3 and then click the trackpad. It would remember common ones like you said, but it is also easy to start typing the name of the folder for unrecognized emails. But your 'i' tip is something I didn't know, and am REALLY stoked about! This is awesome!!!

Posted by cyberjew Saturday, Sep 03, 2011 264 days ago

This would be totally awesome, however there's something I have never been able to figure out....

My BlackBerry is associated with a BES Server -> Exchange 2007 mailbox. If I read or delete messages on my BlackBerry, they do not show up as read when I log into Outlook. The same applies for the inverse...if I open messages or delete in Outlook, they don't necessarily show up as read or deleted on my BlackBerry.

It does work occasionally but overall the behavior is very inconsistent.

Am I the only one experiencing this behavior? Is there a setting I have missed somewhere? I have tried "Reconcile Now" and that has no effect.