IBM unveils 'smart' e-mail search engine
IBM has created a free semantic e-mail search engine aimed at users of the
company's Lotus Notes software and Microsoft Outlook.
The engine, called IBM OmniFind Personal Email Search (IOPES), allows users
to search their mail based on concepts, such as dates and phone numbers, according
to IBM. It also allows searchers to define their own concepts.
Once the software is installed, it indexes and analyzes the user's e-mail store.
Searches are conducted through a browser interface that delivers results through
a stripped-down, Google-like interface.
Users can enter simple keyword-based queries or ones using basic natural language
constructions. For example, to find e-mails from a friend named Mark Smith,
you could simply enter "from Mark Smith."
But to find only the e-mails Smith sent in a certain month, a query might be
constructed as "Mark from January 2007." You could find his phone
number by typing "Smith's phone number."
The results don't show a list of e-mail headers or display the messages in
full. Instead, the software extracts the passage it believes contains the right
answer, and highlights what it deems to be the specific information requested,
such as a phone number.
Users can also search for attachments, with search results providing direct
links to the documents in question.
E-mail is a good target for developing a semantic search engine because users
frequently repeat certain phrasings and words and repeatedly exchange the same
type of information. "There is a fairly large number of things that are
so e-mail specific," said Shivakumar Vaithyanathan, the project's technical
lead.
Researchers in a number of IBM labs worked on the project for the past year
and a half, according to Vaithyanathan. The product has been quietly available
on the company's alphaWorks site for a couple of months, but only now is IBM
attempting to drive widespread adoption, according to a spokeswoman.
"To be able to solve all these problems in some meaningful way, we want
some feedback," Vaithyanathan said.
IBM also released the tool internally to its employees and said it has received
mostly positive responses.
IDG News Service
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.
Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.
Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.
