What is Spike?
[Narrator] Email really hasn't changed that much over the last 25 years.
Yeah, there's been some minor improvements, but for the most part, email looks very similar to what it did in the mid-'90s until now.
In today's video, I want to introduce you to Spike.
Spike is doing email completely differently, and the great thing is, you don't need a new address.
More than that, it allows you to communicate in a much more natural way—in a way that you're probably already used to using through things like instant messaging and Slack.
But it also brings everything else together, including notes, tasks, and calendar.
So in today's video, I want to give you a full tour of Spike.
What email looks like in Spike
And at first glance, you probably think that I am dealing with an instant messaging app here on the right-hand side of my screen.
But here's the surprise: this is actually an email thread.
I am going back and forth with someone via email, both using my Gmail address, and they, in this case, are using their Hotmail or Outlook address.
I haven't invited anyone to use Spike with me.
I don't have to make sure that they have an account or anything of the sort, but I have a much cleaner view of what's going on—a much more concise view of what's going on.
So I want to give you a full tour of what Spike is doing.
Spike inbox and email view
Right here on the left-hand side, it may look like this is just my inbox, but it's actually so much more.
It's got a combination of my emails—here's an email, for example, something that someone sent me here, and I've just replied here on the right-hand side.
But as you can see, it's gotten rid of all the fluff; it's gotten rid of all the extra stuff that we're used to seeing when it comes to email.
Let's just get to the messaging and get on with the rest of our day.
But more than that, if I scroll up, take a look at what else it has included here.
It's got everything else I've communicated with this individual.
I don't have to do a search, I don't have to do a filter, I don't have to come over here and type in a search for their email address—it automatically brings all of those conversations together.
And again, this person here is not a Spike user.
In fact, they don't even know that I'm using Spike on my end; it's coming from my Gmail address.
In fact, whether you use Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or almost any other email service, you can use Spike, and you don't need to sign up for anything new, such as a new email address.
If I want to reply and just say, "I'd like an update soon, please," I can do so very much like a text message.
I can send it off, and then on the other end, it's just going to look like it's coming from my email, but it keeps everything here nice and tight together.
Spike calendar view and sync
Now, Spike is so much more than just email communication—it also syncs with your calendar.
So here, you can see I've got an agenda view of what's going on for my day.
I can see upcoming meetings that I have to attend to here, and I can create new meetings right here from within Spike as well.
I don't need to open up a new window, and I don't need to go back and forth between a variety of different areas—I can do so right here.
And don't be fooled—these are not Spike events; these are actual Google events because I'm using my Gmail account in this case.
So whether I want to use my traditional Google Calendar interface or if I want to manage my meetings in here...
Spike groups and team chat
I can do so as well.
The next thing I wanna show you here is fantastic for keeping your group or your team all on the same page.
Now you're probably familiar with instant messaging tools like Slack or perhaps WhatsApp where you need to create a channel or a thread and invite your team members to join as well.
But of course they have to have a Slack account or they have to download a certain app in order to be involved in that group discussion.
Well in this case you don't have to invite anyone to anything.
You add the members, just add their email addresses here and you have them all here within your group.
So although this looks a lot more text based or maybe Slack based, everyone here just using their email addresses.
In fact they have no idea that they're a part of a Spike group so to speak here as we're conversing back and forth.
Let me show you how this looks like on the end user who's conversing with me in this case.
So I'm gonna switch over to this Outlook account and in this second one here you can see this Re-Design Project Team.
So if I open this up, it just looks like a pretty traditional email, right?
This is just an email thread we're having our conversations as you can see on the previous screen but it's just an email to the person who is receiving this.
Remember that reply that I sent to that other email December Online Conference.
If I open this up, it just looks like a regular email.
Yes, there's a little addition here just letting them know that I happen to have written it within Spike but for them, they don't have to sign up for anything, they don't have to do anything special they're just receiving those messages.
Let's go look at some of the other benefits.
Read receipts and visibility in Spike
Of the tools here within Spike.
You'll notice here on the right hand side I've got this little green eyeball content.
That means that I know that this individual has seen these messages.
So for example, if I wanna add something to this message, do you have a minute to talk about this project?
So here you can see I've got a different icon I've got this little check mark it has been sent, but I know that they have not read it yet they haven't laid eyes on it in this case.
So this can be really helpful right?
We're used to this when it comes to our text-based messaging especially on our phones to see when someone has read it.
Well, this is built in even within an email interface.
If we go back to Outlook here, here is that project discussion, it's a new message here.
I'm gonna open it up remember I'm the other person or acting as the other person.
Now I have read it let's go back to Spike and see what happens.
Yeah, Spike knows they've laid eyes on it, they have read it, so now I can follow up with another question if I want to there.
Spike contacts and message history
The other great thing here is if we manage our messages within Spike and let me open up this email again, is at the very top, not only can I scroll through all of our messages, all of our conversations over history but I can also click here on contact info and on the right-hand side I've got a summary of all of the files and attachments
which we shared with one another. I've also seen all of the threads here down below
so I can quickly and easily click on one of those messages and go directly to them.
And again, I'm just replying or forwarding these messages as I would a regular email.
Spike notes and task manager
Now beyond scheduling group messaging and managing our emails, you can also manage your notes and tasks.
If I click on my profile picture here you can see there is a notes section.
So if I wanna go through here and record some HTML notes and do some proper editing down here below I can do so and well.
And yes, I can share this with other people as well so I don't have to go to another application to manage all of my notes.
Spike also includes a relatively simple task manager as well.
So if I wanna keep track of my tasks and add additional information I can do so here as well.
Spike priority inbox
But in order to be a true all in one solution you wanna be able to see everything on the same screen and that's exactly why here are my priority inbox you can see I've got a combination of things.
At the top we have this group message that I've been managing here with myself and two members, I've got this individual email that I'm going back and forth with this person here and then I've got a couple of tasks listed here and including some meeting notes.
Why? Because I created these today, these were the last things that I interacted with or where I updated something so why not have it at my fingertips rather than going back and forth always having to come back up here.
No Spike makes it nice and easy so we can come here and review our most important work.
So if you are looking for an easier way to manage all of your communication and do so in a much more versatile and easy to use interface I would encourage you to check out Spike.
Thank you so much for watching today's video and remember to subscribe for more tips and tricks to help you with your day.
Remember being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.
