Notes Client / Mail: Intelligent address book search when sending Lotus Notes email

Fri, 14 May 2010 12:22:45 +0000

Author: Chiang Kai Er
Tags: lotus notes client lotus_notes_improvement productivity usability user_experience
Idea:

There are many cases where wrong email recipients are chosen by Lotus Notes, especially if common names like "Michael" are entered. Lotus Notes should be able to intelligently determine the recipients that the message is most likely intended for.

What would implementing this idea accomplish?

If this idea is implemented, it would reduce the likelihood of emails being sent to the wrong recipients. This would, in turn:

* Prevent confidential information from being leaked to the wrong parties.

* Improve productivity since time is spent in making sure that recipients are correct. If email is sent out wrongly, the wrong recipient's time is wasted in reading the email, and the intended recipient does not get the information in a timely manner.

How would it work? How might it be implemented?

Lotus Notes client should intelligently determine who is the most likely recipient when the name is being typed in the "To" or "cc" list. Within IBM, it can make use of the following information:

* Direct linkage on Lotus Connections: people who are connected to the sender on Lotus Connections are most likely the intended recipients.

* Degrees of linkage on Lotus Connections: for people who are not directly connected to the sender on Lotus Connections, a person who is connected to a 2nd degree is more likely the intended recipient than a person who is connected to a 3rd degree, and so on.

* Tags on Lotus Connections: a person who has been tagged with info related to the subject and body of the message that is to be sent will likely be the intended recipient.

* Previous emails: previous emails that have been received or sent by the sender would indicate who are the more likely intended recipients. A further enhancement would be to allow non-exact name search. Since the search space is already narrowed, Lotus Notes should be able to make use of word sounds to suggest the closest match.

Why should IBM invest in implementing this idea?

This feature would make Lotus Notes much more usable and live up to its name of a "collaboration platform".

Internally within IBM, this idea is also posted on ThinkPlace as idea 128348.

re: Intelligent address book search when sending Lotus Notes email

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:51:43 +0000

Author: Mike McPoyle
Comment: Might be an interesting idea for IBM internally, but I don't think it has much merit outside of IBM. You're looking at a small percentage of Notes users who are also Connections users, and an even smaller subset would likely find it worth implementing this. I just wanted to make sure I explained myself before demoting.

IdeaJam(tm) : Intelligent address book search when sending Lotus Notes email

Notes Client / Mail: Intelligent address book search when sending Lotus Notes email

What would implementing this idea accomplish?

How would it work? How might it be implemented?

Why should IBM invest in implementing this idea?

re: Intelligent address book search when sending Lotus Notes email