You got that email again. You know the one. The one you've answered a million times. And even though you don't have anything more you can add to your response - time after time after time - you dutifully craft the same exact email, each and every time. If only Gmail had some way to save a standard response to that question.
Now, it does. Enter Gmail Canned Responses, a new release from Google Labs that lets you save that response as a template. With Canned Responses, you can answer that annoying question with a few clicks of your mouse. And you can do some other interesting things, too.
After installing Canned Response via Google Labs, building a response is as easy as composing a message and then saving it.
Sending a canned response is even easier. Just select it from the menu.
But what if you're even lazier than that? You're in luck.
Using Gmail's filters, you can create any number of filters and rules that fire off your carefully worded missives to the people who need them most.
With a thoughtfully constructed set of filters and responses, I can see you eliminating a great deal of repetitious work for yourself. In fact, I'd say it's safe to assume that your efficiency just quadrupled.
But I'll still be expecting a personalized response from you.
To try Gmail Canned Reponses for yourself, head over to Google Labs and enable the feature.
Comments
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Canned response has always been there as a key feature in many Help desk Softwares including Helpdesk Pilot.
The addition in Google Mail is a welcome change and will help many individual owners get past their regular emails in no time.
- Shalin Jain
http://www.helpdeskpilot.com
Posted by: Shalin Jain
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October 22, 2008 12:39 AM
This is an amazing addition to Gmail, and will help with the many routine responses, normally duplicated using the the search function to find a relevant old email to copy.
Sounds like a time saver!
Posted by: Bryan Marco | October 22, 2008 2:54 AM
This is great! Hopefully it works in Google Domain Apps.
Posted by: Scott | October 22, 2008 4:44 AM
LOL, its funny to see GMail doing this. We've been able to do it for years with offline email applications but I'm glad to see I can do it on my GMail account now. Thanks
Posted by: Christopher Ross | October 22, 2008 5:29 AM
This & the remind me about attachments feature are very useful. The first really useful things to come out of the gmail labs for me.
Now hopefully Google will get around to taking gmail out of beta sometime in the next 10 years
Posted by: David Miller | October 22, 2008 8:42 AM
A handy tool, particularly in combo with filters. Features such as these make me glad I host my business email with Google Apps, which is a great solution for a Web office.
Posted by: Mandy Singh | October 22, 2008 2:17 PM
This is actually a pretty handy tool. Very helpful when you want to send directions to your home, work or even (hate to say it) birthday, wedding wishes..
Posted by: Shailesh Ghimire | October 22, 2008 3:12 PM
Great - a chance to get to inbox zero.
Wonder if these can be turned into canned conversations, finally eliminating a bunch of waste from the system. I can see it now - my question spawns a trail of 20 back and forth messages which are processed in 0.1 second.
Posted by: Miki Szikszai | October 22, 2008 6:13 PM
Miki@8: Ha, good thought.
The creepy thing will be when you send email to someone and get an apparently personal response that was really canned. Then later you learn they died in the meantime.... Lousy short story idea for you aspiring writers, by the way :)
Posted by: Miramon | October 23, 2008 12:04 PM
Doesn't work on Google Domain Apps. Phooey.
Posted by: Jesse Gardner | October 23, 2008 2:49 PM
@8: That would be very interesting to try out. It can result in an infinite loop or something?
Posted by: free xbox 360 | October 27, 2008 9:33 PM