The next version of my favourite Outlook plug-in for helping to make a huge incoming stream of email manageable is being released tomorrow. The 2.0 version of ClearContext comes with a raft of new features, tons of fit and finish, and effectively turns Outlook into the email management solution it should already have been.
The new software is called ClearContext Information Management System Professional, or IMS Pro for short. (If ever there was a product Microsoft should purchase, it’s this one; both for the awesome functionality and also the Microsoft-inspired mouthful of a name… 
)
I’ve been a ClearContext user since the 1.0 days, and had the good fortune to act as a beta tester for IMS Pro for the past few months. It’s clear that ClearContext have noticed the popularity of David Allen’s Getting Things Done system, in particular amongst technical people, and much of the functionality in IMS Pro is in service of supporting a GTD system. In fact, I used to use the official Getting Things Done Outlook Add-In, and found that after using IMS Pro for a short while I was able to remove the GTD Outlook Add-In and retain all of the functionality I needed (and more).
I should also mention that the team at ClearContext is one of the most approachable and easy-to-communicate-with teams I’ve ever dealt with for a consumer software product. In fact, one of the new views in IMS Pro is the direct result of a question I sent to them when trying to build a view in Outlook that it simply can’t do natively. That view (it’s called “Threaded” if you’re curious) is now of vital importance to me in my work-flow, and I bet you’ll like it too.
Let me put it this way: if you find your email difficult to manage, and don’t feel that Outlook does enough to help you, give ClearContext a try. There is a short adaptation period, but because it’s very cleverly designed to work within Outlook’s framework, you are free to use as many or as few of the new features and work-flows that ClearContext adds. Of course, I suspect you’ll find you like almost all of them.
IMS Pro will retail for $69.95 USD. Luckily, ClearContext will also soon be releasing a free offering based on the same technology: ClearContext Inbox Manager 2.0 Personal Edition (yet another mouthful). The free version doesn’t have the GTD work-flow functionality, but will still go a long way towards helping you get a handle on your inbox.
Heh – I just re-read this post, and I sound like a commercial. But I don’t mind; I really love this software and if you’re an Outlook user I think you should try it.
[tag] email, Outlook, ClearContext, ClearContext 2.0 [/tag]
Please note: I've moved my active blogging over to a new site, called Jason Clarke - Infinite Bass Line. I will leave this site up indefinitely, but if you're interested in my latest posts please consider visiting the new site.
by Brad Meador
27 Mar 2006 at 17:45
Thanks, Jason! Some link love here: http://blog.clearcontext.com/2006/03/what_people_are.html .
Did I mention that we liked the Threaded view so much that we made it the default view for new ClearContext installs? THANKS for the great suggestion!
by Sue Holloway
14 Aug 2006 at 18:09
Hi, Jason– I know you previously used the GTD Outlook Addin and Mailfiler Pro. That’s the configuration I’m currently using and, of course, I’m running into the “where to file it” conflict you mentioned in your 03/05 entry. And it seems to be getting worse the longer I use the combination. It sounds like ClearContext might be a good option but I dread the thought of having to start over again; I have almost 400 GTD projects and most of those have at least one subproject. Were you are to to migrate from those two packages to ClearContxt? Thanks. –Sue
by Jason
14 Aug 2006 at 19:29
Hi Sue, thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, when I decided to switch Outlook add-ins, I decided to not worry about my historical information. That being said, if you have your folders organized under your Inbox or in a specific folder, ClearContext can be configured to work from the parent folder to where your project files live (be it the Inbox or some other folder) and will then interpret each folder as a “Topic” (ClearContext’s concept of projects).
I realize that doesn’t get you all of the way there, but it’s a good running start at switching tools. And in my opinion ClearContext is so good that it’s worth going through the pain of switching.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
by Brad Meador
14 Aug 2006 at 19:50
Hi Sue – I just responded to your post on our forums and basically said the same thing Jason did:
http://www.clearcontext.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=389
If I can be of further assistance please let me know.
by Jason
14 Aug 2006 at 20:01
Hah! Sue, one thing I was going to mention is that you’ll never find a nicer bunch of guys than the ClearContext guys. They really pay attention to their users, too – I’ve even had them use a couple suggestions I made.
Thanks Brad!
by Sue Holloway
15 Aug 2006 at 15:01
Thank, Jason. I posted a couple of other questions to Brad on the ClearContext forum. I like the fact that they are so responsive to their users and have an active forum. I have changed vendors several times based mainly on those factors.