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Microsoft Outlook is the number one email client for business users in the world. Ezidoesit adds killer task management features to Outlook and works just as if it is built into Outlook. Most Outlook users don't use the built in tasks option because it takes too long to enter a task and even in Outlook 2007 you cannot schedule tasks like you can in Ezidoesit.
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EziView
EziView is available in Outlook 2007 and is an Outlook Task Pane that can display the Elevator Bar, the Performance Gauge and the Ribbon View options.
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Elevator Bar
This is the power of Ezidoesit that enables email requests for action to be turned into Ezidoesit Tasks and scheduled into the Outlook Calendar in the minimum time. We think that with very little practice, Ezidoesit users can turn emails into tasks and schedule them in 15 seconds or less.
The colours on the elevator bar represent the priorities - critical, high, medium and low. The Elevator can be sized either vertically or horizontally and can be positioned on the Outlook menu. By dropping an email onto a colour on the Elevator bar the Ezidoesit tasks default settings are controlled by how you have set the settings for this priority task. This includes the priority, the task length in hours and what happens to the original email after the task is saved - delete it from your Outlook inbox, move it to another folder or leave it in the inbox. You can also set a default time in days for the deadline date. The rules in the Ezidoesit Settings option control how automated your Ezidoesit task process is.
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Ezidoesit Tasks
These are similar to Outlook tasks but much easier and quicker to add through Ezidoesit's visual interface. They can be created by dragging and dropping an email onto one of the colours on the Ezidoesit Elevators Bar or they can be created manually. The colour you select on the Elevator Bar sets many defaults for an email task (which you can change when adding the task), for a manual task you enter the details yourself. This is the power of email tasks and the Elevator Bar.
Ezidoesit tasks allow you to set or control the following items - Subject - when the task is created from an email the email subject is copied across automatically. With a manual email you type it in yourself. Priority - (Critical, High, Medium or Low), set by the Elevator Bar but can be changed in the task. Task Length - this is the length of the task in hours and is set automatically by the Elevator Bar priority to a starting default defined in settings for each priority colour. You can change or overtype this to any value. Project - type a project description or select a previously enter project from the dropdown. Schedule - You can choose whether to schedule the task into the Outlook calendar or not, if you do then you select a date and time to start the task. You can set a minimum time slot to control where tasks are worked on over multiple time slots. Deadline - this is a date and time when the task is due. Reminder - set a reminder time before either the start or the deadline. Attachments - you can add or change attachments copied across from the email and you can change the email text if you want to in the task. |
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Outlook Calendar
Scheduling Ezidoesit Tasks into the calendar is quick and simple if you use the Ezidoesit Elevator Bar. Rules that you have set in the Ezidoesit Settings, control how automated the process is from email to task to calendar.
Ezidoesit is constantly monitoring the Outlook Calendar so if you move tasks around in the calendar to different dates or times the Ezidoesit task details are automatically updated.
Delete a task in the Outlook Calendar and you are given the option to delete the calendar entry or delete the complete Ezidoesit Task.
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Performance Gauge
Displaying this option allows the Ezidoesit user to monitor how well they are doing in scheduling tasks. You can view how much of your time is spent on critical, high, medium or low priority work as well as displaying the percentage of time that is free or spent on appointments, meetings and lunch and other regular breaks.
When you click on a piece of the pie chart it displays how many hours, tasks and time slots make up that slice.
The Performance Gauge gives a user the information to increase their productivity performance by increasing time on tasks and reducing other time which is basically when you are doing nothing.
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Ribbon View
 This option available from the Ezidoesit menu enables you to view one week of scheduled Ezidoesit Tasks in a vertical ribbon format. Tasks are identified by their priority colour. The information for this view is gathered from the Outlook Calendar and only shows appointments and meetings and Ezidoesit Tasks. It does not display free time available in the calendar.
This option is very helpful for Outlook 2003 where Ezidoesit task are not displayed in priority colours due to limitations in Outlook 2003.
You can display the Ribbon View information for today, tomorrow, rest of the week, this week, next week and this month.
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Time Usage
This is a horizontal view which show Ezidoesit tasks in priority colours, free time, breaks such as lunchtime that have been setup in the Ezidoesit Settings options and any Outlook Calendar meetings or appointments.
You can select start and end dates for the Time Usage view from date drop down selections.
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Show Schedule
this option displays a 3 day calendar view to start with showing the time on the left and the days across the page. You can select the Start and End times to view and add other days onto to the schedule to display more information.
It shows Ezidoesit Tasks not completed before the deadline, tasks currently being scheduled and any tasks that have been moved by the Show Schedule option.
As in the Outlook Calendar you can move and change Ezidoesit scheduled tasks with this option.
The current time is display on the vertical time bar by a coloured line.
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Task List
This displays all Ezidoesit tasks that are Incomplete by default. This would be tasks added, added and scheduled and scheduled tasks not marked as completed (whether they are complete or not). The Task List can be displayed from the Ezidoesit menu; it can also be display by double clicking on an Elevator Bar colour (this will display only tasks for the colour selected) and then selecting All from the Priority dropdown.
The Status dropdown shows All, Complete or Incomplete tasks. The Scheduling dropdown shows All, Scheduled and Unscheduled tasks. Double clicking on a task will display the task details in a window and you can change this tasks details. Selecting the checkbox under the tick icon allows you to set the task as complete. There is also a % Comp field where you can set the percentage complete for this task.
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Ezidoesit Settings
This is where the rules that control Ezidoesit are set. These rules give the Elevator Bar the power to process emails into tasks and then schedule them into the Outlook Calendar with a minimum of user intervention.
In settings you set which days you work, when you start and finish work, and what regular breaks you may have - lunch, morning and afternoon tea etc.
On the New Tasks tab of Settings, you set default actions for the four priorities. What happens when you drop an email onto a colour - Open task window, Save without scheduling, Schedule with default time, the Default Task Length, deadline no of days before the deadline and what to do with the original email - leave it in the inbox, delete it or move it to a specific folder (you select the folder name).
You also set the minimum time for a time slot (for where you schedule tasks over multiple time slots), whether to include the body of the email in the Out Calendar item, whether to include attachments and whether to allow tasks to be scheduled over multiple time slots by default.
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Ezidoesit for Microsoft Office 2007 has now earned the Works with Windows Vista logo as displayed on the left.
Ezidoesit has been tested on both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.
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