Business News
Enough with the Keyword Searches: New Outlook Plug-In Uses More “Human” Ways of Reeling In Information
Wednesday 29. September 2010 - Meshin first to apply semantic technology to search tool that scans email, RSS feeds, social networks
A new search tool, designed to act more like a human personal assistant than a plug-in, was introduced today by Meshin, a start-up funded by Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX). The new tool, also called Meshin, uses semantic technologies to reach beyond keywords and metadata and gather information via meaning and context. It is the first time semantic technology has been applied to a search tool that scans not only email messages, but also RSS feeds and social networks inside email.
As a result, when Meshin is downloaded onto a personal computer, it can help – for example – a vice president of sales prepare for a last minute customer meeting by pulling together relevant emails and document exchanges, Tweets, blog postings and the customers company news.
“Our challenge in the workplace is not only about having too much information. It’s also finding, linking, reconciling or organizing multiple pieces of information logically and rapidly so we can use this information to do our jobs effectively,” said Chris Holmes, CEO of Meshin. “Thats what Meshin does.”
Incubated at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), A Xerox company, Meshin is part of Xeroxs effort to develop technologies that help businesses gain back productivity that has been lost when trying to manage the overload of information bombarding todays knowledge worker.
“Meshin is a great example of the next wave of human-like search tools that are more in tune with the way people actually think, work and relate to others,” said Sophie Vandebroek, chief technology officer and president, Xerox Innovation Group. “We are developing tools like Meshin because they help typically overtaxed and overwhelmed professionals focus on the content and connections that really matter.”
Meshin is being launched as a Microsoft Outlook plug-in in a public beta release. “We have rolled out our semantic technologies with Microsoft Outlook because email is so core to how work gets done in offices of any size, anywhere,” Holmes said. “However, our technologies are platform-agnostic and can be applied beyond Outlook.”