AOL Redesigns Its E-Mail System With New Project Phoenix E-Mail

AOL Inc. is opening new doors as their new Web-based e-mail program, code-named Project Phoenix, gets launched as only a limited number of users get access to it. Perhaps, AOL is redesigning it from the core and ground level up to be the fastest service available. Whereas this service will be available for public sign up access, as the beta test site is released in the start of the next year.

The Project Phoenix inbox page was specifically designed for easy quick e-mail, text or instant message service only within just a few clicks on a "quick bar" at the top of the page. Whereas, further the design allows the user to short replies from within the inbox page itself as well, without being had to click to open the message first. Moreover, displaying thumbnails of recent photo attachments is another new feature of the design which lets people toggle between several open e-mails at a time just to give a glance.

Just like Yahoo and its other competitors, now AOL is also planning to keep the design in such a way that it becomes a one-stop shop for reading messages from other providers as well. Project Phoenix now enables every user to link up their e-mail accounts on services such as Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. In future versions, it is anticipated that AOL will plan to expand include Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn messages, too.

Fletcher Jones, the project lead for Phoenix promised that "We're a different company than we were a year ago," and further added that the "The prior administration had priorities on revenue versus audience growth. Our priorities are on audience growth."

In any case AOL is risking the need to attract new users, with the fact that most of its users have been using it since the days when only dial-up Internet access was available. In this new project the company also plans to give current customers the option to use the Project Phoenix system, and is providing live chat and other 24-hour customer service to support the implementation, as AOL doesn't have a firm plan, as yet, for switching everyone over to the new design.