Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is an email client included with the Microsoft Office suite. It is designed to operate as an independent personal information manager, as an internet mail client, or in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server in utilizing group scheduling, email and task management. Its purpose is to manage email, calendars, contacts, tasks, to-do lists and documents or files located on your hard drive. Outlook assists you to communicate through electronic mail, phone support and group scheduling capabilities. Outlook also helps you share information by means of public folders, forms and internet connectivity.

Outlook offers the capability of scheduling, groupware, personal information (contacts, tasks), email and documents all in one convenient place and not to mention the ability to create and view information using an efficient interface.

Microsoft Outlook allows for the use of shortcuts which allows you to easily access information and access any private, public or file system folders. The Outlook Journal feature helps you find a document based on creation date and name.

MS Outlook is an application that is used with large corporations in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server which easily collaborates with a Microsoft Environment. Although you can utilize Microsoft Outlook on client computer, here are some factors why this application is utilized throughout the corporate world.

1. Outlook and Microsoft Exchange were Made for Each Other

If your electronic mail server runs Microsoft Exchange, utilizing Outlook to handle your email is a no-brainer.

Users need not be tech savvy to connect, all it requires is to be fired up enter their e-mail address, and the application will communicate with Exchange effortlessly. Utilizing this method cuts down on the IT involvement in client configuration and allows users to switch computers easily.

2. Outlook and Active Directory

Active Directory’s authentication extends to Exchange. In plain English that means that a user can simply long on to a computer, start Outlook and the Active Directory credentials are passed to the Exchange server – no typing or separate logon required.

One of the benefits of incorporating Active Directory is that a user does not need to enter that information if authentication is done through AD. Outlook automatically figures out the right e-mail address, you also have the option to bypass this functionality if the need arises. Turn on your device log in and your good to go.

3. Incorporate Outlook with Devices and Applications

If getting through your busy work day involves the use of PDA (personal digital assistant) or smartphone, Outlook offers a sync feature. Some vendors don’t even provide a native personal information manager for their devices, but Outlook accommodates.

Third party add-on applications for devices like BlackBerry and other various Windows Mobile models offer the capability to communicate with Microsoft Outlook. Other popular products that communicate with Microsoft Outlook are Skype, ACT! And much more, in fact, it is difficult to find a desktop tool that doesn’t talk to Outlook.

4. Outlook simplifies Organizing your Assets

MS Outlook offers the functionality that allows you to sort messages into folders, or redirect them upon customized criteria. There is also the option to send automatic Out of Office (OOO) messages to ineranl and external recipients.

If you need to follow up on a message, Outlook offers flags of various colors that can be tied to reminders if you need friendly reminder. A shortcut folder known as a “Follow Up” accumulates the links of all flagged messages and displays them in a group. Beneficial if you want your boss’s messages to leap out and lap you. With a couple of clicks you can display them in a custom color of your choice in your in-box listing.

5. Incorporate Outlook with Sharepoint

Microsoft Sharepoint is an essential collaborative application platform that offers tools for building and managing websites, intranets and workspace. Although Microsoft realizes that many users have neither the time nor the mental bandwidth to log onto multiple servers in order to check forum discussions or to examine shared documents.

Outlook users can opt to receive notifications of new or changed content by e-mail, and then click through to the SharePoint site. They can also add content to shared workspace or participate in forum discussions by e-mail, thanks to integration with Outlook and Exchange.

6. Outlook Increases Workflow

Outlook’s messaging is not limited to electronic mail. Companies can set up workflows for functions such as voting online. As an example, consider a group that wants to decide on a location for a festive lunch, the coordinator can send a message offering several options. Recipients simply click a voting button within the e-mail message to send their response.

Using MS Outlook’s forms feature, things like requests for time off can be automatically routed to approvers, and the reply returned to the user.

7. MS Outlook User Interface

Ever since Microsoft Office has lead the market in productivity software, the interface has stayed consistent and limiting the learning curve. Of course there is still a large amount of functionality to discover, but the basics are relatively intuitive to someone who has used Microsoft Office prior. This saves money in training cost and loss time in readjusting to new interface and functionality. With this consistency in the overall design the development environment has remained relatively easy for developers using Microsoft Visual Studio to interact with Outlook, either by adding functionality or to incorporate it into corporate applications

8. MS Outlook Calendar and Tasks

As a standard Outlook includes address book, calendar, task list and virtual sticky notes for those important reminders. The application is integrated; dragging and dropping an e-mail message can create an appointment or task or a note. Tasks may be delegated with mere clicks. Not only does the responsible outlet get informed of newly assigned tasks, but the delegator can get regular status reports.

9. Secure your Inbox

Microsoft has a bad reputation when it incorporates security do to its user friendly nature. There are benefits of utilizing Outlook as your electronic Post Office, it has a good junk mail filtering, blocks external content such as web bugs and downloaded images and data from foreign sites. It also disallows executable attachments and prevents the execution of ActiveX applets, by default. It also offers the ability to bypass the security features for users who love living on the edge.

10. Outlook Electronic Mail Center

One advantage to using Outlook is that there is no limit to the number of email accounts. There are no restrictions regarding e-mail protocols and can feed into the same set of folders, and be managed with one set of rules. There is also the possibility of sorting emails into separate folders by account.

Course Objectives

Learn how to utilize the functions and features to professionally and effectively manage electronic mail, schedule appointments manage meetings, contact information, schedule tasks and create notes.

Course Benefits

Upon completion you will be able to utilize the full functionality that Outlook has to offer.