I've been in search of communication project management tools as well. I like using Procore for project management, but it could be cost prohibitive for small firms. It is a great place to share documents, drawings, RFI's, email communications, etc. I've used Basecamp for AIA committee communications, which could potentially be a good project management tool of utilized properly. It isn't free, but is easy to use.
I'm interested in what everyone else uses, too.
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Mandy Freeland AIA
Owner / Principal Architect
Mandy Freeland, Architect, Inc.
Bakersfield CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-06-2018 17:33
From: Paul Gladysz
Subject: MS Outlook email management
For those of us using MS Outlook/Exchange Server email what are people using to manage the ever-increasing flow of purely digital communication?
It's becoming more common that project info, directives, RFI's etc. are received as simple emails. For almost 20 years we have been using Outlook public folders for each project with subfolders for owner, consultant, contractor, etc. messages. By enforcing a standard syntax for the subject: <job number><job name><subject> we have been able to have firm-wide access in an easily searchable format. Capturing and retrieving has worked very well.
Microsoft in their infinite wisdom has begun degrading functionality for public folders (can no longer do a search as of Outlook 2016) and in the next version of Exchange Server will disappear altogether. I'm now looking for a replacement tool. Most seem to be SharePoint based add-ons that add functionality inside the Outlook client, MarcoView and Colligo as examples.
Has anyone found a product they liked? We've looked at moving to Gmail/Google Docs and other in the cloud options, would much rather stick with Outlook.
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Paul Gladysz AIA
Partner
BDA Architecture, P.C.
Albuquerque NM
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