Email on the Head of a Pin

Email on the Head of a Pin
Etiquette for wireless

It’s now to the point you are never absolutely certain your important communication will actually get read. While spam and the volume of email are culprits, your missive now has another hurdle to jump, -. handheld. devices. Itty bitty screens and ittty bitty keyboards are not the perfect formula for reading and responding to email.

The rules for sending email to wireless devices are focused on one thing – brevity. Ignore the realties of using one of these wonderful tools and you are increasing the odds that your email will get stuck in a spam filter or tossed into the virtual trash, unread .

How do you know when they are using a wireless device? -When folks send you a very short email with abbreviations, chances are your recipient is picking up their email on the fly. Blackberries offer a nice feature that let you know when you are receiving an email from one of their devices. Most often just knowing the person uses a wireless should be enough to alert you. But relax. There’s a way to at least heighten your awareness of the fact that you’re dealing with wireless recipients. In Outlook you can create a rule to move messages from a user who you know is on a wireless account, or based on keywords such as “Blackberry,” to a designated folder.

Don’t over abbreviate – Abbreviation is a good way to accommodate your wireless user, but only if they can understand it. Be brief, but also be clear. It sure beats having to resend the message in order to clarify.

Use the subject line only –Want to get on the good side of a wireless e-mail recipient? Keep your message so short and to the point that opening the actual message is unnecessary. If your message is longer, be sure to give an appropriate header that’s concise and can’t be confused for spam.

Ask before you attach or get long winded – Before you send an attachment, find out if the receiver can handle the file. With wireless e-mail, if you’re thinking of sending more than a paragraph, check first to make sure the recipient can deal with the information.

Cut the funny stuff – E-mails that contain animation, graphics, or anything else.  Many devices immediately truncate the e-mail.

Skip your signature – Just include your name. Signatures tend to get so big and lofty that they clog up the pipeline.

Put yourself in the receiver’s shoes – If you violate any of these rules, be prepared to have your message ignored.

Reprinted with permission from DLP Technologies