Have you ever sent an email to another person requesting they do something? If so, do you wish you could make sure they do not forget about your request. There are times when we send these requests out and people forget. It can be very frustrating. But, there is something you can do to make sure people are reminded about your requests. The following will detail three features of Outlook that will make sure you emails are seen, read and addressed by the people receiving them.
Receipts
In Outlook, you can add Delivery or Read receipts to your messages. The delivery receipt will send you a notification when the message arrives in their inbox. The read receipt will send you a message when they open the email. However, before you are sent the read receipt the recipient has to agree for it to be sent. If they deny it then you will not get the confirmation.
The way you attach these receipts to your email is pretty simple.
- Click on Options in the message you have open
- Select Request a Read Recipt or select Request a Delivery Receipt. You will find this in the tracking section of the message.
If you would like to view the receipt, you can do so within your Sent folder. Open up the message and select the Message Tab. You can look at the Show group and click on Tracking to see the results.
Flag a Message
This is a neat trick if you have emails that you want some action performed on. If you do, you can flag an email before sending. This will put a flag in the info bar at the top and will tell the recipient when you expect some sort of follow up.
You can add the flag by:
- Click on the Message tab when writing a new message.
- In the Tabs group you will see Follow Up
- Select the flag for the action you want performed.
Add a Reminder to Your Email
Sometimes it is necessary to add a reminder to an email message you send to someone. If you do this, they will get a reminder on their screen at the appointed time. In order to accomplish this, do the following:
- Click the Messages tab when you write a new message.
- Look at the Tabs group and select Follow Up.
- Select Add Reminder and click the box that says Flag for Recipients
You can choose different options for the reminder. These include Follow Up, Schedule and Meeting. You can also pick the time you want the reminder to be shown to the recipient. Furthermore, you can also have the reminder sent to you.
These tricks will increase the possibility of people seeing your important email messages and tasks you need accomplished being handled by other individuals. Don’t go overboard with these tricks, however. Some people may not like this feature. Be sure to check with them before using these to great lengths.