Microsoft has some interesting news out for Hotmail users. The company has partnered with some other companies to bring a new kind of email to the inbox – one that is as up to date as possible, and lets users interact with sites from within the email itself.
While email is widely considered to still be one of the best marketing tools, and is still a huge part of how people communicate every day, it does have its limitations. Microsoft is hoping to solve some of these limitations with its Active Views platform. Those taking advantage of the platform will be able to deliver users email that stays fresh.
Microsoft’s Dick Craddock explains, "One challenge is that the content [of general email] is static, so when you open the email, the content may already be out of date. Additionally, most of these messages require you to click out of them to the sender’s website in order to complete a key action or take the next step. In some cases, this works just fine, but it can become a hassle, especially if you’re trying to get through your inbox quickly. You might want to check out that online deal, update your account, respond to a friend request, or browse products, but simply don’t because of the extra time it requires. With the average person receiving more than 200 email messages per week (outside of work), the extra time adds up, and our research shows that about 70% of people who use email regularly think that getting through their inbox takes too long."
Enter Active Views’ features that let users interact from inside the email itself.
"These enhancements haven’t happened before today due to security concerns by email services," explains Craddock. "There has simply been no way to run JavaScript code within email messages in such a way that it’s isolated and not allowed to do malicious things on your computer. Hotmail is solving this problem with its new Active Views platform, technology that allows senders to run code securely in their email messages. It protects you AND gives you access to information on the sender’s website through forms and inline actions built directly into the email itself. This keeps the content up to date and provides a more engaging and time-saving experience."
Monster.com and Orbitz are the first to partner with Microsoft on the initiative. Users will be able to book travel arrangements and look for jobs from within the emails. Microsoft suggests things like managing your Netflix account or accepting LinkedIn invitations from within an email as future possibilities.