Boomerang is one of the most valuable tools in a business man’s arsenal. Getting email reminders when somebody hasn’t responded to you helps remember important email threads so you don’t have to. At the moment, Boomerang is a browser extension for Gmail only. What about users who don’t use Gmail, and use a desktop email app such as Mac Mail, Sparrow, or Thunderbird? What about users who have a Yahoo or Hotmail email address? Thankfully, a new app has just been released called Laytr.
Laytr – A Great Boomerang Alternative
Laytr (at the time of writing) is still in open beta, but from our tests, it seems to do exactly what we need. Laytr works a bit different than Boomerang; instead of installing a browser extension, Laytr works by emailing them directly by CCing a Laytr.com email address. Laytr sees your email, and depending on which email you send a message to, it logs the amount of time you’ve specified in your email and reminds you about your email thread at a later date.
Here’s an example scenario: you are emailing a client and want to be reminded about the conversation three days from now. Simply include 3days@laytr.com as a CC address, and three days from the current date, Laytr.com will email you reminding you of the conversation. This is perfect for checking in on leads that forgot your email, or pinging someone that read your email but may have forgotten to reply.
For those of you who are OS/X users, another great feature that Laytr provides is iCal integration. Laytr.com provides a subscription URL that you enter into iCal, and your email reminders are automatically entered into your iCal for your convenience.
If you’re interested in giving Laytr a try while it is in beta phase, head over to their website to sign up and start having email reminders sent to your inbox.
Thanks for this James. I have been looking for an OS X alternative such as this for quite some time. The iCal integration is also a great perk as well. I have no experience with Boomerang; but thank you for this anyway,
Very helpful; thanks. Seems everyone ’round here is called James!