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The Microsoft Exchange User's Handbook
Last Updated 2/3/2009 3:42:58 PM
Abstract
Outlook is an ambitious program that ties together messaging, scheduling, and overall organization. This chapter looks at just the messaging aspects of Outlook, including the many address book enhancements, to try to give you a leg up if you’re migrating to Outlook from one of the Exchange clients.
FOCUS ON THE BASICS
As noted in the previous chapter on Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0, Microsoft Outlook is a totally new, enhanced Exchange client, included both with Exchange Server 5.0 and with Microsoft Office 97. Outlook works with your existing Exchange profiles and can replace either the operating system Exchange client or the Exchange Server client.
Outlook is an extremely ambitious program that ties together messaging, scheduling, and overall organization. In this chapter, we’ll look just at the messaging aspects of Outlook, including the many address book enhancements, to try to give you a leg up if you’re migrating to Outlook from one of the Exchange clients.
WHAT IS MICROSOFT OUTLOOK?
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Microsoft Outlook is a desktop information manager combining messaging, scheduling, contact management, groupware, and task management. |
Microsoft positions Outlook as a new type of application, a desktop information manager combining messaging, scheduling, groupware, task management, and contact management. Outlook certainly moves to the head of the class as Microsoft’s premier messaging client, both for Exchange Server users and for people who connect to other types of mail systems.
Many of the features from the Exchange Server clients — such as AutoSignature, filters, views, and Internet hot links — are now available to everyone via Outlook. Even if you don’t connect to Exchange Server, you can download a Rules Wizard from Microsoft to add automatic processing of incoming and outgoing messages.
Another aspect to examine as we explore Outlook is the way it is totally integrated with the Internet. Contact records can include Web and FTP addresses, while incoming messages format any valid Internet URL as a hot link.
Finally, as part of Microsoft Office 97, Outlook is tightly bound to the other Office applications and includes a new, streamlined version of WordMail.
GETTING STARTED WITH OUTLOOK
Before we get into the new features of Outlook, let’s run through the steps you need to take to install it on your computer and set it up with the information you’re going to want to work with.
Installing Outlook
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If you want to import contacts from a database, make sure you install the Database Drivers during setup. |
Before you install Outlook, make sure that your hard drive has 26 – 46 MB of free space for all the necessary files and that you disable any antivirus protection. If you have Windows NT Workstation 4.0, you must install Service Pack 2 or a later service pack. If you have Windows 95 and plan to send faxes with Outlook, make sure that Microsoft Fax (see Chapter 7, “Setting Up Microsoft Fax”) is installed before you begin the Outlook setup procedure.
Also consider what kind of data you have that will need to be imported into Outlook; this will affect your setup choices. For example, if you have contacts in a Microsoft Access database, you’ll want to install the database driver that lets you connect to an Access database. Drivers are also available for dBase, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft FoxPro.
You don’t need to remove Microsoft Exchange (or Windows Messaging) before installing Outlook. In fact, you can continue to use Exchange while you get acquainted with Outlook.
To install Outlook, run the Setup.exe program that you’ll find on the CD for Microsoft Office 97, Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 (clients), or Microsoft Outlook. You’ll be asked to choose either a Typical, Custom, or Run from CD-ROM installation. I’d recommend that you choose Custom, so you can select the exact components you need. Figure 26.1 shows the default components installed for Outlook.
Here are some considerations to keep in mind as you select Outlook components:
- If you connect to Exchange Server, then you also must check Microsoft Exchange Server Support.
- If you have been using Lotus Organizer 1.1 or 2.1 and want to convert your data to Outlook, then check Lotus Organizer Converters (see the section “Importing Data” for details about how to convert Organizer data and data from other sources).
- If you don’t need to import data from Schedule+ or view free/busy information for Schedule+ users, then you can clear the checkbox for Schedule+ Support Files.
- If you plan to design forms or continue to use Exchange along with Outlook, then check Visuals for Forms Design.
- Database drivers, such as those needed to import contacts from a Microsoft Access database, are found not under Outlook components, but under Data Access.
Note that, if you’re installing Office 97, the Microsoft Office Upgrade Wizard will search your system for older versions of Office programs and offer to remove them.
Running Outlook for the First Time
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Outlook uses the same mail profiles as Exchange. |
The first time you run Outlook, you may be asked what profile to use. Outlook uses the same mail profiles as Exchange. The program will take quite a while to start because it makes a number of changes to your system. Here’s what’s going on:
- Five new folders are added to your Exchange Server mailbox or your Personal Folders file (whichever is the default information store) for Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Notes, and Tasks.
- The Outlook Bar is built with shortcuts to the new folders, as well as to your Inbox and other mail folders.
- Sample items are added to each of the new folders, welcoming you to each of these aspects of Outlook.
Once this process is complete, Outlook displays a Welcome to Microsoft Outlook! dialog box (Figure 26.2) to help you get started.
The two tasks you’ll probably want to do right away are Add Holidays to Your Calendar (picking one or more countries — the United States is already checked by default) and Import Information from Schedule+ and Other Applications, which we’ll examine in detail in the next section, “Importing Data.” The following section, “Using the Add-In Manager,” contains details about another task you may need to perform before you start using Outlook.
Importing Data
One of the first things you’ll want to do with Outlook is import your contacts and other information from other sources, including an Exchange Personal Address Book, Microsoft Schedule+, databases, or personal information managers. If you want to do this right away, then click Import Information from Schedule+ and Other Applications when you see the Welcome to Microsoft Outlook! dialog box. You also can import these items at another other time by choosing File, Import and Export. Table 26.1 lists the different import sources you can use with Outlook and where to get the conversion components.
To install the additional Outlook converters from the Office 97 Valupack, look in the Valupack\Convert\Outlook folder on the Office 97 CD and run the Outcvt.exe file if you have either Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0. You also can download the converter from the Microsoft Web site (see Appendix B, “Exchange Resources”).
Because we’re concerned in this chapter mainly with messaging and the Contacts folder that can become your new address book, we’ll look at the specifics of importing from the Personal Address Book (PAB) and Schedule+, then we’ll spend a little time with more general import techniques.
Importing a Personal Address Book
To import addresses from a PAB to the Contacts folder in Outlook,
- Make sure that the PAB you want to import is in the current profile. To switch PABs, choose Tools, Services, then select the Personal Address Book service and click Properties. Enter the file name of another PAB, then click OK twice to complete the change.
- Choose File, Import and Export.
- In the Import and Export Wizard (Figure 26.3), select “Import from Schedule+ or another program or file,” then click the Next button.
- In the first Import a File dialog box (Figure 26.4), select Personal Address Book, then click the Next button.
- In the next Import a File dialog box (Figure 26.5), choose the folder where you want to store the addresses, usually Contacts. Click the Next button to continue.
- In the last Import a File dialog box (Figure 26.6), you have a final opportunity to Change Destination, and you can change the mapping of fields from the PAB to the Contacts folder (see the sidebar “Mapping Import Fields”). Click Finish to complete the import process.
| Mapping Import Fields |
One of the features that makes the file-import function of Outlook so flexible is the capability to map fields from the source file to the destination folder. The mapping function is provided in the last Import a File dialog box (Figure 26.6). Click the Map Custom Fields button to display the Map Custom Fields dialog box shown in Figure 26.A.
The fields on the left side are from the source file, whether a PAB or a database, while the fields on the right represent the folder to which the data is being imported. Notice the Value column on the left side. Here you’ll find sample values for the source data. Use the Previous and Next buttons to browse the source records and see more values. This should help you decide which field on the right is the best destination for you.
To change the mapping for a field, simply drag the field from the left side and drop it on the desired destination field on the right side. To remove a field from the mapping list, drag the field from the right back to the left.
Default mappings are created for any import, based on the similarity of field names. But you may have been using a field for a different purpose. For example, because you don’t know anyone with two home phone numbers, you may have used the Home Phone 2 field in the PAB to keep a record of each person’s Web site. To map the Home Phone 2 field to Outlook’s Web Page field, drag Home Phone 2 from the left and drop it on Web Page on the right. This is the operation depicted in Figure 26.A. |
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