By Jane Wakefield,Technology reporter, BBC News
With inboxes bulging with messages and many workers dreading the daily deluge of e-mail, some companies are taking drastic action.
Intel has become the latest in an increasingly long line of companies to launch a so-called 'no e-mail day'.
On Fridays, 150 of its engineers revert to more old-fashioned means of communication.
In actual fact e-mail isn't strictly forbidden but engineers are encouraged to talk to each other face to face or pick up the phone rather than rely on e-mail.
In Intel's case the push to look again at the culture of e-mail followed a comment from chief executive Paul Otellini criticising engineers "who sit two cubicles apart sending an e-mail rather than get up and talk".
US experiments
The idea of a no e-mail day is not a new one in the US, where companies have been reaping the benefits of shutting down their inboxes for one day of the week.
Firms such as US Cellular and Deloitte and Touche have been experimenting with e-mail for some time.
Last year, fulfilment firm PBD launched a no e-mail Friday, when chief executive Scott Dockter suspected that over-dependence on e-mail was damaging productivity.
Four months later the company felt the trial had been a resounding success, with better teamwork, happier customers and quicker problem solving.
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