For the past year, while working at a software products company, I have been tackling client/team communications, in the worst way possible.

Every piece of communication is on WhatsApp 😬. No schedule management.

I've been trying to get my colleagues to get to use emails for any requests/projects/etc, but there is some sweet poison with WhatsApp, that one can't just keep it down for a few lines of electronic mail.

I've been trying to crack down on PMs using WhatsApp, by explicitly specifying, that no email, means no confirmation of work order, but, what can I do, when I get a call from my CTO, to just, do it anyway...

Therefore, here comes my app idea. Before that, Imma leave WhatsApp for good.

Here's what my app idea entails, (If I don't decide to give up midway). The app will be an organization level communication tool, and would be connected to Microsoft Services (my organization uses office 365 services), for meetings, scheduling, calendars, etc.

That's easy, but what's different.

"The person you're trying to contact, is 'Busy with another project for the next 14 days'. Unless an emergency, you can email them, and await their reply. Press 'OK' to continue and email your message, directly. Or press 'Cancel' to go back to main menu".

Ok, So what does this message mean?

This is the what my app is going to do. It won't let anyone disturb you directly, unless in case of emergency. If it is not an emergency, the user may get the option to directly communicate, via the standard process, 'Email', directly from the alert dialog.

The thought process behind this is to make it easier for people to switch to emails, by not actually having them switch to emails.

What I mean by that, is, when I'd be extremely busy, the sender can opt to send me emails (or delayed messages if I decide to implement them), instead of instant messages. We'd not block their messages, in any way, only change the route and time of response. If the receiver's schedule is busy, you could just email them.

Emails, as part of the roadmap (that i haven't begun to create yet) could be a part of the app (like what Sparks are doing) and can be shown in conjunction with the usual messages.

Unless, it's really an emergency, I believe, it should be okay to respond to emails, as and when the receiver, gets around to them, later.

I'd also like the receiver, to set rules for who can averse these rules altogether (like my managers, etc.) and who HAVE to go through these rules (for annoying co-workers, who constantly ping me - I hate you ❤️)

Yeah, all the credit of this project goes to my annoying ping-workers. But, I'll be willing to hear from others who might have a similar experience, where having such easy communication to all team members, is often confused with things like DevOps/Agile. etc.

I'm interested to start using this platform to show my learnings along the way and share my experiences, in building such a platform.