Standss

Standss makes EmailMerge, an add-in that turns Microsoft Outlook into a personalized bulk email sender: you pick recipients from Outlook contacts, an Excel file, an Access database or a Salesforce list, write one message with merge fields, and Outlook sends each person their own copy from your mailbox. It suits salespeople, small businesses and offices that already live in Outlook and want sales emails, event invitations or holiday greetings to arrive as individual messages rather than a newsletter. Standss says it has provided Outlook-based solutions to businesses since 2002, describes itself as a Microsoft Partner, and claims thousands of EmailMerge users in 50+ countries.

Two versions of the add-in

The product page asks you to choose between two builds. The EmailMerge COM Add-in is recommended if you only use Classic (desktop) Outlook for Windows; it installs directly on a computer or deploys through MSI, Intune, GPO and similar tools, with settings managed locally on each machine or through GPO. It comes with a 30-Day Free Trial and no credit card required. The page lists it for Office 365, Outlook 2021, 2019 and 2016.

The EmailMerge 365 Add-in, marked as the popular choice, works with New Outlook, Outlook for Mac, OWA and Classic Outlook for Windows. It installs directly or deploys through the Microsoft Admin Center, and because it does not depend on your desktop client, the computer does not need to stay on after a merge is scheduled. Its trial covers up to 10 mails per merge, and the page describes the EmailMerge365 free plan as merging to a maximum of 10 recipients at a time with a promotional footer added to each merge. The FAQ confirms EmailMerge works with new Outlook without restrictions.

How a merge works

After installation an EmailMerge button appears in the top-right corner of the Outlook toolbar. Clicking it starts a step-by-step wizard. You write a new message or pick a saved template, select recipients from your data source and decide what should happen when a merge field is missing, then preview the personalized results and either send immediately or schedule the merge for a later date. The FAQ also mentions CSV files as a source. Within a list you can select every address, choose addresses by hand, or filter them, without building a new spreadsheet each time, and after previewing you can add extra text to individual messages.

Personalization covers the subject line and the body, so a customer sees "Dear Mr. Mitchell..." or "Dear Sally..." rather than a generic greeting. Standss argues that a message addressed by name tells the recipient it is not spam and was meant for them. Because each email goes out from your own Outlook account, you can also choose which account sends it, which the page says helps recipients recognize the sender and keeps mail out of the spam folder.

List handling and sending controls

EmailMerge includes several tools that a plain Outlook or Word mail merge lacks:

• List Manager. Divides a mailing list into segments based on preferences, so each segment gets targeted mail. Outlook contacts and distribution lists can be organized into categories that act as mailing lists.
• Templates. A template manager stores reusable merge documents so standard messages keep the same wording and formatting.
• Do Not Send list. You can add unsubscribe links to emails; people who unsubscribe or whose addresses bounce as invalid are imported to the list automatically, so they are not mailed again.
• Attachments. Send the same attachment to everyone, or use field data to attach a different, personalized file to each recipient, such as images or PDFs.
• CC and BCC from field data. Copy an assistant on each message or BCC every email to the relevant sales manager, so colleagues can handle replies.
• Background sending. Messages are created and sent in the background while you keep reading and writing email.
• Scheduler. Pause, cancel or reschedule a merge without deleting emails or redoing it. Emails can go out in smaller batches, which the page says helps because some ISPs restrict how many messages are sent at once.
• Unattended merges. For a merge that runs late at night, EmailMerge can shut down the computer when it finishes.

On volume, the FAQ says there is no limit to how many emails you can send with EmailMerge, although your ISP may limit the number per batch; the scheduler lets you set how many go out at specific intervals. The product headline promises no monthly fees, unlimited emails and unlimited contacts.

Tracking and Salesforce

The product page lists tracking of opens, clicks and replies, with an email notification when someone opens or clicks a merge you sent, including when, where and on what device. It adds a condition worth knowing before you buy: tracking requires a monthly or yearly subscription to EmailCaddie, a separate service. The Pro + Salesforce Edition lets you merge directly to Salesforce Contacts, Leads and Custom Objects from within the wizard, without exporting from Salesforce and importing the data.

Pricing

EmailMerge is sold as a one-time purchase in three editions on the product page: Std Edition at $59.95, Pro Edition at $79.00, and Pro + Salesforce Edition at $97.00. The page states "No Monthly Fees", which is the main difference from subscription email platforms; the only recurring cost it mentions is the EmailCaddie subscription for tracking. Volume discounts are available for teams through the sales team. Both the COM trial and the 365 trial need no credit card, and support contact is offered if you are unsure which version to start with. The FAQ points to a documentation and knowledge base section, a video guide and a user guide with screenshots. Version 5 is announced as faster, more powerful and easier to use.

SendGuard, the compliance add-in

Standss also sells SendGuard, an Outlook add-on for outbound email compliance rather than a sending tool, which is useful context for firms that would run EmailMerge in a regulated setting. Its page says SendGuard lets you set rules that check for sensitive data such as credit card numbers, protected health information or particular file types, then warn the user or block the message. It shows confirmation prompts before sending and before Reply All, highlights external domains, can display company email policies, delays emails by a set time so users can retract or edit them, and logs each user confirmation as compliance evidence. The page says SendGuard runs entirely on the local device and never routes emails externally, and that it supports central deployment for enterprise organizations.

On compliance, the page says SendGuard is HIPAA compliant and helps companies comply with GDPR and CCPA as a Microsoft 365 Certified App, and names PCI DSS, FINRA and PIPEDA in its industry sections. The FAQ states it does not hold separate SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certificates but is certified under the Microsoft 365 App Compliance program, which is assessed against standards including SOC 2, PCI DSS and ISO 27001. SendGuard has its own "Start 30 Day Free Trial" offer and runs on Office 365, OWA, Outlook for Mac, New Outlook and Outlook 2021, 2019 and 2016. The site does not publish a SendGuard price.

Who EmailMerge suits

EmailMerge fits people who already send from Outlook and want personalized one-to-one style messages to a list they hold in Outlook, Excel, Access or Salesforce, without moving to a hosted email platform or paying a monthly fee. Customer quotes on the page include a business in Fiji that says its personalized emails are no longer treated as spam. The trade-off is that sending runs through your own mailbox, so batch sizes depend on your email provider's limits, and campaign features such as tracking need the extra EmailCaddie subscription. There is no drag-and-drop newsletter designer or automated sequence builder on the page; it is a mail merge tool first.