Firstly, I am a big fan and also an eM Client user, partner, and recommend eM Client to many of the clients of my small IT support business (mostly home and small business users).
However, I am wondering if eM Client is going to eventually develop an API and/or allow 3rd party add-ons/extensions to be used?
I have clients that would love to migrate to eM Client, but are reluctant to lose the functionality offered to them by using MS Outlook with add-ons that provide integration with other products they use.
A recent example is a small accounting firm, that use SuiteFiles (suitefiles.com). There is an Outlook add-on provided by SuiteFiles that automatically allows them to save all email correspondence (including attachments) that they have with clients, and has it saved into a folder within SuiteFiles that is linked to that particular client. SuiteFiles appears to be based on MS SharePoint, but with a few extra ‘bells and whistles’ that makes it really useful for my client.
They can manually drag and drop emails and attachments into the same client folders within SuiteFiles, but this is a manual process, doesn’t always work, and relies on the staff remembering to do it, rather than it being automated.
I have contacted SuiteFiles and asked if they do, or will be supporting other email clients, other than Outlook. They replied that they are always open to feature requests like that, but it would likely rely on the other application(s) having an API.
My understanding is that, at present, eM Client doesn’t have an API? Which would likely limit the ability of SuiteFiles, or other application suppliers/developers, from providing add-ons or other types in integration with other applications/systems? BTW, I am not a software developer or coder/programmer, so not sure about any of this.
My client has already migrated their computers to eM Client, but do miss the automation provided by the SuiteFiles add-on for Outlook and asked me if it is possible to do the same with eM Client.
As mentioned, I have contacted SuiteFiles about this functionality, but ultimately, it seems it depends on eM Client as to whether this is a possibility or not.
I feel that if eM Client is to really be able to compete (at least in the small business market) with MS Outlook, then having the ability to integrate with other applications and/or ‘systems’ will probably help to make it a more attractive proposition to many potential new clients.