Don't press send…

Google mail comes up with a way to make sure you don't offend your boss. Naomi Canton tells more.

We've all done it: sent an email or a text to someone, we didn't intend to. Or received an email or text clearly not meant for us.

Maybe we sent it to our boss, a client, a teacher or a friend. The problem is at times the person we are writing about dominates our mind so much that we accidentally send the email or text about them… To them.

Then we are left to stand in shock, wanting the earth to swallow us up, especially if that person happens to
be our teacher or boss.

Well, now Gmail has come up with a way to stop us from doing this. Gmail Labs is a testing ground for new features Gmail wants to try out with the public.

Its latest feature is called "Got the wrong Bob?"

This is how it works - if you normally email your friend Riddhi Gaya together with Vikas and Hitesh, but you suddenly add Riddhi Chowdhury instead, Gmail will warn you that it might be a mistake.

Because while Riddhi Gaya might be your school friend, Riddhi Chowdhury could be your boss.

So, based on the groups of people you email most often, Gmail tries to identify when you've accidentally included the wrong person, before it's too late.

One thing to bear in mind is that this only works if you're emailing more than two people at once.

"What we have noticed is that many people using Gmail nowadays are connecting with friends, colleagues and clients on it," a Google India spokesman says. "This kind of feature helps them to communicate better and not get embarrassed by sending an email to the wrong person in the auto address book."

The feature is currently in Gmail Labs, but if a lot of people like it, they will make it a standard feature, he adds. "It's simply another way of reducing potential embarrassment while communicating by email so that your emails always remain courteous and professional," he adds.