I use Outlook 365 for my emails. Currently, I drag emails from the inbox / sent items folder into sub-folders for each client under the Cabinet. So, I'm not totally disorganised with my emails and don't have a huge inbox where I can't find anything but I am wondering if there's a better way.
Ideally, I would like to store the emails as a file (pdf?) along with all my Excel / Word docs etc on my server where I have my main client folders set up. Is that possible within Outlook? Or is there software which handles this for you?
Any and all suggestions gratefully received.
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Replies (12)
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As a matter of course I print important Outlook eMails to .pdf and store them in relevant client folders.
The software than I most often use for this purpose is do.pdf.
I have tried pdf Architect but it constantly crashes or freezes up.
Newer versions of Windows have a Microsoft print to .pdf function built in and this works OK for me.
I've used Mailsafe, an Outlook/Exchange add-on for the past 5 years, you can manually or automatically tag all emails with up to 6 criteria, eg client name, year, accounts, etc etc and the search facility is really good. Give them a call to see if they can link to your 365 Outlook.
I'd never go back to manually doing this, plus, if you have colleagues it will save all the firm's emails in one store.
I just print out anything important and stick it in the file.
I then just leave all the remaining ones dumped in the deleted item box indefinitely.
Saving all client emails to PDF will take a lot of file space on your server!
I have rules set up for each client, something like 'if sender email is Mr R Sole then send to inbox but also store a copy in sub-folder R Sole'.
I use Google Apps for Work, but this can be done with most providers.
There are also add ons that will save email attachments to specified folders, I believe, but I don't use these.
I also have rules for one client whereby if the client emails an attachment , the email gets forwarded to the Xero inbox. This effectively grabs the PDF (or other) attachments and drops them into the Xero file store.
We then post direct from within the Xero inbox. This is a client however where we enter his purchase invoices onto Xero.
Email file sizes recent example for one Outlook message:
# Save Outlook file (drag & drop) = 57kb
# Save as .pdf file = 11kb
So, I'll stick with .pdf files for now, no issues with file size / HDD capacity.
Many thanks for all replies: all food for thought.
Have looked at Mailsafe (and similar products): they all look a bit too OTT for me but it's helping me to refine what I want.
I already did print the important emails because I like paper files and I already did save the odd one to client folders using the PDF printer, but what I'm looking for (if it exists) is something which sits between that and Mailsafe on the scale of sophistication just to take some of the strain away.
Now that I know that, I can start having a serious look. Cheers, all :)
Mailsafe sounded like a good idea. I tried calling them but got cut off after ringing for a while.
I sent them an email asking them to call me back and...nothing. So I prefer to look at fully functioning businesses.
This is not so much about technology but about management. There is a chap http://www.michaellinenberger.com/ who has helped a great many people with improvements in personal email management. His book really helps and has practical advice on email management.
Have a look at File Center by Lucion. YOu may also want to consider a document management solution ook at www.docusoft.net. We use both
And many thanks again for the further comments.
FileCenter looks like exactly the thing I was after. I was only really intending to start updating my procedures in Feb but this looks so on point that I'm tempted to download now and start playing.
