Have you ever sent an email and wished you hadn’t? Ever tried to recall the mail without any luck and dreaded the moment the recipient opened it? Ever sent a “rage mail” only to regret it once you have calmed down? Well if you use Gmail, your wish is about to be granted.
Many smaller businesses use Gmail as their portable email of choice. It’s free, powerful and accessible anywhere. Millions of private users also have Gmail accounts, making it one of the largest “freemail” services out there.
Good news then that Google are introducing an unsend option for emails called Undo Send. If you send something and forget to attach a document, or say something you shouldn’t, you will soon have up to 30 seconds to recall that email before it gets sent.
Emails are a primary method of business communication but they are also becoming bland, sanitised and “by the book” so it’s a good idea to be able to refine or delete an email that doesn’t fit your company’s policy.
Modern work life doesn’t always mix well with the increased demand to always be professional. Longer hours, late night outages, overtime, more pressure, stretch goals and less time and resources to achieve them are only a few reasons why tempers get frayed and stress levels rise. Angry emails are only one of many ways we vent our frustration.
Undo Send
The facility to unsend an email isn’t exactly new. Outlook users were able to access the option for years but it never really worked properly. Google’s implementation doesn’t use any new technology, it just delays sending the mail for 10, 20 or 30 seconds and have renamed it Undo Send to make us feel better.
Regardless of the technology or the motivation behind it, it is a useful addition.
So how can you set it up for Gmail users?
In Gmail, navigate to Settings and there is an option called “Enable Undo Send.” There is a drop down box that allows you to configure it for 10, 20 or 30 seconds, although why anyone would use less than 30 seconds is anybody’s guess!
We expect many small businesses who use Gmail to implement this as soon as they see it. It’s too good a tool not to. Whether it’s a late typo or paragraphs of ranting dissatisfaction, being able to recall and rewrite a business or even personal email is too good an opportunity to miss.
Google’s Undo Send facility is being rolled out as we speak.
