Melissa Bouchard is the CEO and co-founder of Fusion3 Consulting, a technology consulting firm based in Coventry, R.I., that helps businesses shed their reliance on email.
A graduate of Rhode Island College, Bouchard previously served as the senior director of operations for Carousel Industries in Exeter, R.I.
Q: Other than overwhelming inboxes, how can email cause disorganization in a business and for its customers?
Bouchard: Email can be a tool for communication, but it’s a horrible tool for managing requests of any kind in a business.
Think of a business across any sector. At the root of IT departments, customer service, and project management is that everyone is receiving a request from someone else — whether it’s for internal issues or external interactions with customers. These requests come in the form of questions, service inquiries, or some sort of support. Lots of businesses have disjointed systems that are completely run through the use of email where you can’t track where you left off, it’s difficult to track how long it took you to fulfill it, and you can’t really effectively collaborate with others.