If you’re like me and you like technology, then I’ve got something you’ll find interesting: Xobni. Pronounced ZOB-KNEE, this little add-on for your email is a neat tool to enhance your communication experience. Available for Outlook or Gmail, and with apps for Android, iPhone and Blackberry, this simple add-on will take your inbox to the next level.
Xobni, which is “Inbox” spelled backwards, is free to download, and installs quick and easy. It will also look through your Outlook/Gmail and sync up with your address book upon installation. You can download it here: xobni.com.
I know you’re asking, “What does it do?” Xobni automatically finds people you’ve exchanged emails, calls or SMS messages with. It instantly provides a full view of each contact – complete with photos, job titles, company details and email history – including updates from LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter – right in your inbox.
Take a look at this sample screenshot from my Xobni, from an email that I received from Jess Brandenburg, who heads our Creative Services department:
You can see it shows me her Facebook picture, there’s buttons for different ‘Gadgets’ that Xobni offers, as well as her contact information. I can also see I’ve sent her 136 emails (Wow) while only receiving 29 from her (Looks like I bother Jess too much!) I can also see she’s ranked #13 – which means if I made a ranked list of contacts I emailed most – she’d be 13th. On the other hand, my boss Tony Zayas is #1 on my list (and rightfully so).
Now I’m not just going to gloss over the Gadgets I mentioned. There’s a ton of them, and they will help you “Be more productive,” “Close more deals,” and even share files. Some have a cost associated with them, while most are free. Some of the free gadgets include:
• Evernote – Take notes on your Xobni contacts (I’ll cover Evernote on July 16th)
• Dropbox – Browse and share files
• WebEx – Start a one-click meeting and send reminders
• LinkedIn – View titles, company info, and profile images
• Facebook – Bring profile pictures and updates to Outlook
• Twitter – Get status updates and post tweets and replies
• YouTube – View videos from YouTube inside an email message
• Flickr –Instantly view thumbnails for Flickr links emailed to you
..and the list goes on.
There’s also a bottom half to the Xobni toolbar – I’ve already shown the top with Jess’ image – and it looks like this:
With this section, I can easily locate any email or files we’ve exchanged, see what contacts we have in common and more. There is a paid Pro version available, which unlocks more of Xobni’s capabilities, and the cost is around $7.99/month.
So if you want to enhance your email – and potentially find out what some of your email contacts look like, try Xobni. For no cost at all, you can stay organized on a contact level, right in your email.
Keep an eye out for my next blog post, where I will outline why Evernote is an absolute ‘can’t miss’ program, that will keep you more organized and more focused.
Until next time,
Tom Zobel
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