Email, calendars and tasks
Alcilla.Desk can connect email communication with knowledge search, calendars, and task management. The functions are modular and can be configured for each account or deployment scenario.
Connect email accounts
Alcilla.Desk supports connecting email accounts through IMAP and SMTP. Multiple accounts can be configured separately.
After synchronization, messages are available locally for search and processing. The mail server remains the authoritative source: moves, deletions, and folder changes are reconciled with the local data.
Search the mailbox
Three search methods are available:
Full-text search
Searches fields including subject, sender, recipient, message text, and—where processed—attachments. Using #Label, the search can be restricted to emails with a specific label. This search works without a language model.
AI-assisted question
Identifies emails that are relevant in terms of content and creates an answer based on the messages found. The associated emails remain accessible as sources.
Topic search
Analyzes emails from a selected period, groups similar content into topics, and names those topics automatically. The analysis can also be restricted to a project or keyword to reveal its subtopics specifically.
AI assistance for incoming messages
Depending on the configuration, Alcilla.Desk can:
- summarize messages,
- prepare a draft reply,
- suggest labels,
- assess potential unsolicited sales messages or spam,
- detect appointments,
- detect tasks,
- translate messages written in other languages.
The functions can be enabled individually.
The user remains in control
Content is analyzed, while tasks and appointments are prepared as suggestions and presented to the user for review. Results are transferred to the calendar, task list, or other connected systems only after confirmation.
This ensures that the user remains in control of both the processing and any actions derived from it.
Handling large mailboxes
During the initial synchronization, an existing mailbox can be imported in full for search. A resource-intensive AI analysis of all historical messages is not necessarily required.
Alcilla.Desk can distinguish between:
- full-text and index search across the complete archive,
- AI enrichment only for newly received messages,
- targeted retrospective processing of a defined period,
- separate processing of older attachments.
This makes it possible to control resource requirements.
Calendars and tasks through CalDAV
Alcilla.Desk can connect tasks and appointments to compatible CalDAV systems. Whether an existing system supports all required CalDAV functions must be verified before introduction.
Attachments and the knowledge index
Email attachments can be stored locally and, when their format is supported and document conversion is configured, prepared for search.
Credentials
Email and calendar credentials are not stored openly in the general configuration. They are saved in a separate secrets area.
The security of credentials also depends on how the computer or server is protected. For details, see Security and data protection.