I was recently introduced to a productivity tool that is among the most useful that I have ever experienced. It is called XOBNI and it solves problems that are very common to Outlook users, especially those that get hundreds of E-Mails a day.

Many Outlook problems stem from the sheer volume of E-Mail. Personally, I receive well over 500 E-Mails per day, ¼ of which I must actually deal with or at least keep in case I need them later. Many come as a result of my rather robust LinkedIn Profile.

Enter XOBNI (Inbox spelled backwards), a FREE Outlook plug-in. After just a short while, I cannot see how I ever got by without it. It reminds me of another Outlook plug-in tool called Lookout (Outlook ~ Lookout, see the similarities) that Microsoft bought and put to sleep several years ago.

These problems might sound familiar:

1. On the E-Mail Front - You get an E-Mail that you must retain for whatever reason, so you move it to a folder. The day comes when you need it and you either spend a huge amount of time finding it or you can’t find it at all.

2. On the Attachment Front - You need that file you were sent, maybe you were even sent multiple versions of the file. Like the E-Mails, you hunt for it and may or may not find it.

3. On the Topic Front - Someone sends you an E-Mail about a topic (e.g. a SocialNet event or a LinkedIn Live event) and you can’t recall who it was, much less where you put it. Heck, it may have even come from an address like FRL2007@gmail.com.

4. On the Calendar Front – You need to schedule a meeting and must match up schedules with another.  You go back and forth with them to find a mutual time that works, wasting time that is better spent on something more important than scheduling.

XOBNI solves all of these issues and a lot more.

1. On the E-Mail Front – XOBNI displays ALL of your E-Mail’s to/from an individual, no matter where you tuck them away. Just start typing their name and matches appear dynamically. Click on the name and see all the E-Mails to/from them.

2. On the Attachment Front – Every attachment sent or received from that individual (e.g. that LinkedIn Managed Services document) is displayed and you can simply click on it to open it. It is like an index for attachments.

3. On the Topic Front – Just type any word contained in the E-Mail (e.g. expansion to the Charlotte market), even a part of a word (Char), and all matching E-Mails are listed. Refine the list by adding other words, separated by the word “AND”, just like the “AND” in LinkedIn’s Keyword Search.

4. On the Calendar Front – Click on any E-Mail from the individual you want to schedule with, then click on the “Schedule a time with _______” button and a pre-addressed E-Mail appears that lists your open times in the coming week.

I save 2-3 hours a week, sometimes more, with XOBNI. Frustration level goes down, available business time goes up, customer service levels improve and everyone is happier and more effective. See more and download this FREE product at www.XOBNI.com.

Interested in how this is technically possible?  XOBNI uses a special technology called an API (Application Programming Interface) to talk directly to the core of Outlook just as if it were PART of Outlook. LinkedIn has a similar capability and that is PART 2 of this series on XOBNI.