Why This Company Got Rid Of Emails For Good (& Didn’t Look Back)

If you work for a modern corporation, chances are you lose yourself under a convoluted pile of emails each day. It can be hard to separate the facts from the GIFS, right? Not only do you have to contend with the breakneck pace of inbox influx, but there's also a steady stream of Gchats, texts, Skype calls — where does it end? For Tony Teunis, VP of operations at All Western Mortgage, it was time to put a stop to the madness. He took initiative (and a big gamble) by eliminating his company's email altogether and replacing it with a new aggregative communication platform called Unison. The results? Streamlined and efficient conversation and an overall boost in productivity.

Unison basically serves as a private social network for companies, utilizing the best mechanisms of other platforms to maximize communication and collaboration. It borrows the "room" concept from the iconic IRC era and the @ sign from Twitter to bring a post to an individual's attention. It's been called a direct threat to Yammer, Microsoft's industry-leading private-messaging service for corporate clients. Unison claims to reduce intra-office email by 80%, but Western Mortgage has taken it a step further: a 100% reduction. By moving everyone into one virtual space, Teunis' company has become a thoroughly postmodern (and well-oiled) machine, making decisions and implementing them far more seamlessly than its peers. Is it the accidental vanguard of a post-inbox revolution? Savor those dancing-cat signatures while you can! (Business Insider)