Microsoft tested the email pause button

Microsoft Office lab has just launched a new product called E-mail Prioritize, which not only helps you rearrange mailboxes to find out which one is important, but also provides a 'pause' key in case You want to avoid a cascade of spam emails from an Exchange server.

Users must run the latest version of Outlook (2007), and currently this tool is only available on PC. After installation, you will get a new toolbar menu option that allows you to turn on 'no disturbing' mode for a certain period of time or during a meeting. When you come back or when the time runs out, it will work again and continue to receive new messages.

Photo: Officelabs

Unfortunately, this is just a replacement for workstations. Make sure your server admin can pause your account, but you don't. This option simply turns off the software-based email antenna of Outlook, so the message will still reach your phone if you set it up to receive urgent messages.

To turn on 'absence' mode you can use the scroll down menu. This menu allows you to rearrange all emails in order of preference.

The most interesting point of this tool is the ability to prioritize. It will put email in your inbox from 0 to 3 stars. This point is taken from a system used by many people, including several Microsoft employees I talked to last March.

For example, email sent only to you, or emails sent from your boss will get 3 stars, while messages are sent to many people, but you are only one of them will be marked much lower score.

In my case, my mailbox has about 450 messages, the evaluation will take place within 1 minute.