“After spending a week with ClearContext, I can honestly say that I am quite impressed. Those that don’t live in an Outlook world might not see the value ClearContext offers, but I think that the ultimate tribute to it is the fact that since I have installed it, I have reduced my inbox size by 1/3. More importantly, the number of new messages sitting in my inbox that have arrived since installing ClearContext is……drum roll…..ZERO.”
THAT’S what I’m talking about! Have a great weekend.
Posted by brad at 6:06 pm on August 14th, 2009.
Categories: reviews.
“If I were going to recommend only one tool, ClearContext … offers the most immediate productivity gains. The Outlook add-on looks at who you're replying to and how often, then automatically prioritizes the messages. It color-codes the most pressing ones, graying out mass emails. This is a small thing, but it minimizes a torrent to a manageable few. ClearContext removes that dread we feel when we open our inbox.”
Inc Magazine has named ClearContext “Best for Organizing Outlook Chaos” in their article E-mail’s Little Helpers:
“What’s cool: It scans your inbox and automatically color-codes all tasks, appointments, and e-mails according to the subject matter and how frequently you correspond with the sender. That typically means everything in Outlook having to do with a key client shows up in red, while spam is shaded gray. ClearContext reminds you to follow up on unanswered e-mails from important contacts. In the pro version, you can schedule a meeting from within an e-mail — a function sorely lacking in Microsoft’s original.”
“Recently my demo expired and while I already deeply appreciated the tool, that appreciation has been further emphasized due to the tools absence.”
Lucky for Drew, our long-standing, free license program is still in place. Write a review of the product in a public forum (blog, website, discussion forums, newsletters, etc.), send us a link, and we’ll send you a license that will unlock the trial version of IMS. It’s really that easy.
Here are the details:
We don’t care what the subject matter of the forum is, as long as it’s in good taste.
We don’t expect a dissertation. Just post a few paragraphs that clearly show you have used the product.
Post in a venue that gets some traffic. Brand new blogs that were created solely to post the review don’t qualify.
Reviews posted in the ClearContext discussion forums are not eligible for this program.
That’s it. Follow the guidelines above, send us the link, and we’ll send you a license.
And Drew, thanks for the help putting the word out about ClearContext! Drop us a line at support at clearcontext dot com and we’ll get you a key.
*** The free license program has been discontinued. This blog post remains up for reference only
"The company’s Web site claims you can save up to an hour a day by working more efficiently with ClearContext prioritizing your inbox messages and unifying your view of messages, tasks, and appointments. That’s probably a safe bet, given the flexibility and organizational features that ClearContext adds to Outlook to help you make better use of your Inbox — letting you manage your Inbox, not being swamped by it."
Long time user Craig Kennedy has posted a thorough review of ClearContext IMS v4 and how he applies GTD practice using ClearContext + Outlook as his trusted system:
"Recently ClearContext released version 4 of the Information Management System, and with this release I finally uninstalled the Netcentrics add-in and have moved snugly into ClearContext as my sole workflow tool. What finally tipped the scale for me was the introduction of the Dashboard, a central hub where I can view all my appointments, email messages and tasks according to project. This welcome addition was what turns CC into a GTD powerhouse."
I was most pleased to see that Craig gets the theory behind the IMS Daily Workflow:
"What really knocked my socks off and has served to turbo-charge my work habits is Step 3 in the process, Succeed. … What ClearContext has provided is much needed "context". When I move into the dashboard and begin quickly clicking through my projects, I inevitably find a number of small actionable tasks that I’m all too willing to tackle because I can now see clearly "why" I wanted to do it. By seeing that clear link from task to project, my motivation remains high and I’m getting much more done."
On a related note, despite the praise Craig has heaped on the Dashboard, this is just v1.0 of that feature. Future releases will add additional flexibility and interactivity to make it an even more powerful tool for workday management. If you would like to help us prioritize the features we build next, please go to this forum thread and let us know what you would like to see next.
There have been some new articles and reviews written about IMS v4 over the last couple of weeks:
Email’s Friendly Fire – November 27, 2007 Rebecca Buckman – Wall Street Journal "ClearContext… uses algorithms to quickly analyze a user’s email to determine which contacts and messages are the most important."
Email Overload – November 27, 2007 Gui Cremerius "Who doesn’t suffer from email overload these days? Even my 75 year old mother sometimes claims she’s getting too much email!"
ClearContext : pour mieux organiser ses e-mails dans Outlook. – November 26, 2007 Stéphanie Renault – 01net. "IMSv4, édité par ClearContext, permet de s’y retrouver facilement face aux avalanches quotidiennes de messages, grâce à des règles simples de tri, de priorité, de suivi des alertes…"
ClearContext IMS Review: How to Manage Email – November 25, 2007 Bill Masella – Projects Possible "With each release of this product I find that I am becoming more and more of a fan and my Outlook life is now so entrenched in it’s use that I couldn’t even imagine what Outlook would be like without it."
ClearContext Information Management System Pro 4.0 – November 11, 2007 Heinz Tschabitscher – email.about.com "Version 4 adds a helpful Dashboard that collects emails, tasks and appointments on a project basis. Also new are ClearContext alerts for messages from certain people or in a particular thread — as well as a handy Do Not Disturb button that turns off Outlook’s email notifications for a while."
Posted by brad at 2:26 pm on November 27th, 2007.
Categories: email, news, reviews.
E-mail overload? ClearContext promises solution for Outlook users Eric Lai – ComputerWorld "Version 4 of Information Management System (IMS) gives users an integrated dashboard view of all the e-mails, appointments and contacts related to a given project — something that ‘fundamentally hasn’t been possible in Outlook before,’ said ClearContext CEO Deva Hazarika."
ClearContext – Helping you with email overload Chris Morrison – VentureBeat "So ClearContext helps give some structure to the user’s day. It allows new email notifications to be selectively turned on or off, giving the user breathing room to work on the actual projects related to their email communications. At other times, users are encouraged to go through and deal with their prioritized emails."
“After spending a week with ClearContext, I can honestly say that I am quite impressed. Those that don’t live in an Outlook world might not see the value ClearContext offers, but I think that the ultimate tribute to it is the fact that since I have installed it, I have reduced my inbox size by 1/3. More importantly, the number of new messages sitting in my inbox that have arrived since installing ClearContext is……drum roll…..ZERO.”
Drew Loika has written a 