Explain that the system is designed to help users achieve as much as possible when off-line.


You may be teaching people over a screen sharing system and won't then be able to show how it works when off-line so here are some questions and answers that will help you to explain it without actively showing it.

Filing whilst off-line

  • Does the system change or look any different?
    • No, the interface will look the same and will offer suggested locations as normal. When you file a message it will disappear from you inbox too (if configured to move messages to deleted items)
  • So where do the messages go?
    • The messages are kept in your outbox by Outlook. When Outlook is able to send the messages PentagonMail Assistant will notice the event and will file them if the location where they need to go is also accessible. If not it will skip the message and will try again from time to time
  • Does this work with both incoming messages and ones that I send?
    • Yes, in both cases the experience remains the same as your 'connected' one


Searching whilst off-line

  • How is it possible to search when disconnected?
    • PentagonMail Assistant maintains an index on your machine. Behind the scenes it checks the locations you use and if new messages appear, it will add them to its index. This both ensures you receive a very fast search experience and that it continues to work when you are off-line. 
  • How does it know what to index?
    • This varies depending on your configuration. So it may index all the locations in the Groups that you use, or it may only index those locations that you have filed to.
  • Can I open messages and reply to them?
    • PentagonMail Assistant caches messages that you file (incoming and outgoing). If you are off-line and try to open one of these messages it will offer you the full message from this cache. As you are most likely to want to find messages that you have filed, there is a very good chance that what you seek will be in the cache and you will be presented with the original message complete with all formatting and attachments. If however you try to open a message that you never filed (perhaps it was to a colleague), you will only be able to preview the message.
  • Can I filter and preview messages when off-line?
    • Yes, all the viewing, searching and filtering tools will behave the same. You can also use CTRL+C to copy text from the preview window which can be useful if you can't open the full message at the time