Message Tag: Status Review

Have you ever sent an email to someone and wondered if your message was opened by the recipient?

Yesterday, Infopackets Reader Brian 'BigJohn2' asked if I knew of a program which could do just that. After some prodding and poking around Google, I came across a program called MsgTag [Message Tag].

In a nutshell, MsgTag works by injecting a traceable object into outgoing emails. When the message is opened by the recipient, MsgTag alerts the sender with an email receipt that the message has been read.

As I discussed briefly in yesterday's article, there are 3 different flavors of Message Tag. I was particularly intrigued by MsgTag Status because it provides a convenient interface which tracks the status of all outgoing email (as seen in the picture here).

Excited at the thought of trying out MsgTag Status on my own machine, I immediately contacted the software company and solicited a complimentary for today's software review.

My Experience with MsgTag Status

MsgTag Status was extremely simple to setup. During the installation, MsgTag prompted me for my email address, a password, and an unlock code to register the program.

MsgTag then proceeded to import my email addresses using the settings from my favorite email program. After I clicked the 'Next' button to proceed, the MsgTag dashboard main window appeared.

The first thing I did was flip through the Options menu. I then discovered that I needed to enable MsgTag Status before I could tag outgoing emails; I enabled it by clicking Options -> Tools -> On. I then proceeded to minimize MsgTag and then composed an email to myself using Outlook Express.

After waiting a few minutes, I clicked on the "Send and Receive" button and downloaded my test message using Outlook Express. I then clicked on MsgTag Status and watched feverishly as it marked my outgoing email as "received" (refer to this picture for an example).

I was impressed!

MsgTag Status: Features

• Works with most "POP3" compatible email programs, including: MS Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Eudora, Pegasus, and more. More info about POP3 is further down the page (underneath the Compatibility heading).
   
• Dashboard Interface: Keeps track of all your messages (when your message was sent, when it was received, and the time elapsed in between). This special feature not available with any other version of MsgTag.
   
• Email read notifications (optional): Receive an email when your message is read, detailing when the message was sent, when it was received, and the time elapsed in between. MsgTag Status also allows you to shut off email notifications, or group them according to certain messages.
   
• Standard message tag footer or Stealthy message tags: Standard message tags are placed at the end of all outgoing emails which indicate that your message is using the MsgTag system. Optionally, these tags can be modified to include your own footer message, or removed entirely so that your friends don't know that you are tagging messages.
   
• Supports multiple email accounts: Send emails from multiple email accounts on the same computer, and have MsgTag tag them all. Read notifications for all email accounts are sent to one email address.
   
• Unlimited email technical support: Registered users of MsgTag can enjoy prompt and courtesy support via email.

MsgTag Status: Full Screen Sample Screenshot

Click here for a sample screenshot of MsgTag Status (full screen view).

http://www.infopackets.com/graphics/msgtag+status+2.gif

MsgTag Status: Windows Compatibility

MsgTag Status is a lightweight at 1.3 megabytes in size and works with Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP.

Hot Question: will MsgTag Status work with AOL, Hotmail, or Yahoo?

MsgTag *only* works with POP3 compatible email. That means it won't work with any email services that require you to login via a web browser to read your email (such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc).

However --

There are utilities that can get around this issue by converting web-based emails into POP3. These programs basically log you in to the service and download your email to your favorite email program (such as Outlook Express, Netscape, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc). Only after your emails are converted into POP3 can you use MsgTag.

As for AOL users: AOL uses a non-standard email protocol, so you will need to convert your emails to POP3 before using MsgTag Status.

Here are a few conversion programs that I found quickly while using Google. You can use Google to find more:

• email2pop.com converts AOL and GMAIL to POP3 email, but is not freeware
• yahoopops.sourceforge.net: converts yahoo emails to POP3 (freeware).

Conclusion

One of the perks of having a job like mine is that I get to try out lots of new software. Once in a while I come by a program that takes me by complete surprise, and MsgTag Status is definitely one of those programs. If you use email as often as I do -- my livelihood depends on it! -- and if it's critically important to know whether your messages are getting through, MsgTag Status is utility you *cannot* afford to be without.

To download a copy of MsgTag Status, click the link below:

http://www.infopackets.com/articles/msgtag+status.htm