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Outlook 2010 All-in-OneFor Dummies

Chapter 2When You Have to Know Now:

Instant MessagingISBN: 978-0-470-48773-0

Copyright of Wiley Publishing, Inc.Indianapolis, Indiana

Posted with Permission



Chapter 2: When You Have to Know Now: Instant Messaging

In This Chapter✓ IMing or texting someone when Outlook e-mail isn’t fast enough

✓ Finding an IM or SMS text service that Outlook likes

✓ Sending instant messages or text messages through Outlook

✓ Keeping up with everybody’s online status

Sometimes, e-mail feels so old-school. When you want to carry on a real back-and-forth conversation with someone, you can feel like you

have to wait forever for your e-mail to upload to the server, and then for your recipient to download it so that he or she can finally read it. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a way to communicate instantly — judge a person’s mood, share information, debate, confer, argue, and deliberate in real time? Besides using the telephone, I mean. (Talk about old-school!)

Understanding the MagicBy using instant messaging, you can communicate instantly — assuming the person you want to communicate with is also online and receiving visitors.” After someone “picks up” your call, you can exchange instant text messages and, depending on the instant messaging service that you use (such as Google Talk or Windows Live Messenger), utilize real-time audio and video, file sharing, and remote help (a help desk situation in which you can take over someone else’s computer and guide him or her through a solution or simply fix a problem).

SMS (Short Message Service) text messages are another form of instant communication. SMS text messages can contain only 160 characters. Instant messages, by contrast, are not typically limited in length, and they can con-tain more than text, unlike SMS text messages which are text only. SMS is designed to be sent between cell phones, or from a PC to a cell phone.

Outlook is basically about sending e-mail, but it can help you communicate more instantaneously in one of two ways:

✦ Outlook can “initiate” instant messages. Outlook basically wakes up your instant message program so that you can IM someone in your

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228 Using Instant Messaging

Contacts list. When you receive an e-mail from someone, Outlook alerts you that the person is also online (receiving visitors), so you can stop the e-mailing madness and talk live via a compatible instant messaging program.

✦ Outlook can send a text message to someone’s cell. If you want to be able to track your text conversations within Outlook, sign up for an Outlook Mobile Service provider. For a fee (of course), the provider not only allows you to send and receive SMS text messages through Outlook and your cell phone provider, but to send the same message to both cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses at the same time. You can also for-ward meeting reminders or e-mail messages to your cell phone by using rules. (See Book IX, Chapter 2 for the rules about rules). In addition, you can send copies of appointments, contacts, tasks, and even your daily calendar to your cell phone.

Instant messaging is by no means secure, despite the attempts by many ser-vices to make it so. In theory, using Windows Live Messenger, you should receive messages only from people you’ve added to your Allow list, but a determined hacker can bypass that list and send you messages anyway. Sending unsolicited SMS text messages to someone’s phone is even easier, since all someone needs is a phone number. To protect your privacy, don’t view or respond to instant messages or SMS text messages from people who you don’t know, because it might be someone phishing for a valid IM address or cell phone number so they can flood you with spam or to phish for additional information from you.

Using Instant MessagingOutlook cannot send instant messages, but it can make it easier for you to do so by enabling you to view someone’s online status and to initiate an instant messaging conversation if that person is online. So when you need to discuss something with someone, rather than send lots of back and forth e-mails, you can use Outlook and your IM service to get the answers you need quickly. Start by choosing an IM service that’s compatible with Outlook.

Compatible IM ServicesA lot of instant messaging services out there offer pretty much the same things, but only a few are compatible with Outlook. So, if you want to be able to initiate an IM from within Outlook, as well as check whether someone’s logged into his or her IM program, then choose one of these compatible services:

✦ Microsoft Windows Live Messenger: Allows you to chat via text and also talk and use live video. It also supports help-desk tasks such as taking over a computer. It supports communication with Yahoo! Messenger, as well.

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229Using Instant Messaging

✦ Microsoft Office Communicator: Some offices install Communicator in order to connect Microsoft Windows Live Messenger with the com-pany’s phone service so that you can send IMs, have video confer-ences, share documents, and manage your online status easily. For example, with Communicator, if you pick up your office phone, your status changes to Busy automatically. Now, if only Communicator could answer the phone, take a message, and call the person later !

For best results, sign up for the same instant messaging service used by the people you want to contact. How you sign up varies (obviously), but no money changes hands. If you want to sign up for Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, go to http://download.live.com. After downloading the instant messaging software, you install it and then create an IM address for yourself. To install Windows Live Messenger, supply an e-mail address and sign up for a Windows Live ID. A wizard leads you through all the steps, I promise. The address you supply to Windows Live Messenger for login doesn’t have to be a Microsoft e-mail address (Hotmail, MSN, Live Mail, or any others Microsoft may invent) — you can use any e-mail address you want, and it becomes your IM address channeled through Windows Live Messenger. After you install the IM program, just log onto it, then switch to Outlook to use your Contacts to send instant messages through your IM program.

You can install Windows Live Messenger on your cell phone, too, and never be out of touch. Windows Live for Mobile Phones is available for iPhones, BlackBerrys, Nokias, and Windows phones.

Adding IM contactsAfter installing a compatible instant messaging program, you are almost ready to have Outlook initiate IMs using information in your Contacts list. But first you need to add some IM contacts by following these steps:

1. Add some contacts to the IM program.

How you add contacts varies by instant messenger, but look for a button somewhere in the IM program called Add a Contact (or something simi-lar). Adding contacts in your IM program allows you to send instant messages using that program and also to initiate instant messages within Outlook.

2. Add IM addresses to Outlook by first locating a person in your Contacts list that you want to exchange instant messages with, and opening the contact by double-clicking it.

3. In the Contacts form that appears, type the person’s IM address in the IM address field, as shown in Figure 2-1.

4. Click Save & Close to save the change.

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Figure 2-1: Add IM addresses to Outlook.

IM address field

Initiating an IM through OutlookNow that you have somebody to IM, you’re ready to send your first message. Follow these steps:

1. Check the online status of the person you want to IM.

When you get an e-mail message from someone you have set up in your IM program as a contact, Outlook automatically checks the sender’s online status. You can view it yourself in the message header, along with the online status of others who also received the message. Simply hover the mouse pointer over the sender’s name in the message header to bring up the person’s Contact Card, as shown in Figure 2-2, which lists his or her online status. If someone is online (if the Contact Card features a green dot icon), then you can reply to his or her e-mail by sending an instant message.

2. Click the Send an Instant Message To XXX button (it looks like a car-toon text bubble) on the Contact Card.

Your instant messaging program opens, and a conversation window appears, as shown in Figure 2-3. The window that appears varies, depending on the IM program you use; the one shown in Figure 2-3 is for Windows Live Messenger.

You can send an instant message to someone even if they are offline. However, they will not get the message until they log on to their instant messaging program. You might do this if you have reason to believe that the person will get your IM before he/she might get your e-mail.

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Figure 2-2: To IM or not to IM.

Contact Card

Send an Instant Message To button

3. Type your message and press Enter.

Type what you want to say in the box at the bottom of the conversation window and press Enter. What you type appears in the upper window; when the user replies, you see the reply just below your text in the upper window.

Figure 2-3: Outlook IMing gives you yet another way to bother people instantly.

Your conversation appears here

Type your message here

Click here to add an animated wink

Click here to add emoticons

Click here to send a nudge to everyone in the conversation

Record a voice clip

Change font

Change the background

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You can’t guarantee a secure conversation over the Internet, including while instant messaging. Don’t share confidential information through instant messaging, just in case someone is hacking into your online connection.

4. Repeat Step 3 as many times as necessary to have your online conversation,

Eventually, your conversation may scroll off the screen, but you can use the scroll bars to revisit anything you said earlier.

5. When you finish your IM discussion, click the Close button.

Clicking Close (unsurprisingly) closes the conversation window, which ends that conversation. If you keep the conversation window open, you can scroll back through the conversation if you like.

Windows Live Messenger provides emoticons (small icons that you can use to express your feelings throughout a message), winks (animated greetings), and nudges (which shakes the conversation window of everyone participat-ing in the conversation), along with buttons for recording and sending a voice clip, changing your text font, and selecting a background for the conversation window. For example, to add a surprise face to your text, click the Select an Emoticon button and select the Surprised Smile emoticon from the palette that appears. Still, Live Messenger is always changing, and who knows what other buttons Microsoft might add? Be sure to check the bottom of your con-versation window for buttons you can use to spice up your conversation.

Viewing someone’s online statusSMS text messages are sent to a person’s cell phone, and they are received whether or not that cell phone is currently on. There is no way for you to know for sure that someone has read your SMS text message until that person responds. Such is the world of text messaging.

Instant messages, however, are sent between IM clients, such as Google Talk or Windows Live Messenger. When you log into you instant message program, the program automatically broadcast’s your presence online to everyone in your friends list. If you use a compatible IM client, then Outlook receives this information and lets you know that a specific message sender is online by putting a green square icon in front of his or her name in the message header, as shown in Figure 2-4. In addition, if you hover the mouse pointer over the sender’s name in an e-mail message, you’ll see that person’s availability listed on his or her Contact Card. Depending on the IM service you use, you might see additional status icons, such as a red dash (for Busy) and a pinkish circle (for Offline).

For Outlook to be able to show someone’s online IM status, you must first use a compatible messaging service (see the following section for informa-tion on compatible services) and, second, add the person to your instant

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messaging program’s Contacts list before you can view his or her online status in Outlook. You can find out how to add people to your IM list in the section “Using Instant Messaging”, earlier in this chapter.

Figure 2-4: Is anybody there?

Status icon Status icon Status text

Controlling your online statusWhen you are logged into your instant messaging program, your status typi-cally says something like “Online” or “Available.” If you aren’t actively using your computer, then your instant messaging program senses that and auto-matically changes your status to something like “Offline” or “Away.” You can change your online status from Online to Offline immediately by simply log-ging out of your instant messaging program; Live Messenger also allows you to fake being offline by changing your status to appear as if you are.

In addition, if you don’t want to be shown as offline (you’re still working and may even want to send an instant message or two), you can change your status to Busy, instead. Busy means just that; you’re online, but you don’t want to be bothered right now with instant messages (although that may not stop some people).

You change your online status in your instant messaging program, not within Outlook. To give you some idea how this process works, follow these steps to change your online status within Windows Live Messenger (if that’s the program you use):

1. Click the arrow next to your name at the top of the Windows Live Messenger window.

A list of status options appears.

2. Select the status you want to display.

Windows Live Messenger gives you only limited options here, such as Available, Busy, Away, or Appear Offline.

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3. (Optional) Leave a personal message.

You can add a personal message that all your contacts can see. For example, if you’re on the phone, why not tell everyone so that they stop trying to get you involved in two conversations at the same time? Follow these steps to add a personal message:

a. Click on your personal message, which appears just below your name in the Windows Live Messenger window. (See Figure 2-5.)

Figure 2-5: Explain your absence.

Update your status

Leave a personal message

The text of your current personal message becomes selected.

b. Type your message. For example, you could type Be back at 2 P.M.

c. Press Enter.

The new message appears below your Name in the Windows Live Messenger window.

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235Using SMS Text Messages

Using SMS Text MessagesYou’ll probably find that not everyone you want to communicate instantly with will also happen to use the same instant messaging program as you do. I use Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk just to be able to IM most of my friends. For the rest, I use SMS text messaging when I need to “chat” because most everyone else has a cell phone. If you want to send SMS text messages using Outlook however, you need to use an Outlook Mobile Service provider. Your Outlook Mobile Service provider (for a fee) enables you to not only send SMS text messages to cell phone numbers in your Contacts list, but to forward meeting reminders, e-mails, and other info to your cell phone as well.

Choosing an Outlook Mobile Service providerIf you, like me, Google everything in order to research it before you buy, you may be surprised to know that you don’t have to go shopping for an Outlook Mobile Service provider. At least, you don’t go shopping the Google way. Instead, you start by setting up the text messaging account in Outlook (much the same way that you set up an e-mail account), and then Outlook hooks you up with providers that are compatible with your cell phone ser-vice. It couldn’t be simpler. Just follow these steps:

1. Click the File tab to display Backstage, and select Info from the list on the left.

The Account Information options appear on the right.

2. Click the Account Settings button, then select Account Settings from the pop-up menu that appears.

The Account Settings dialog box appears.

3. Click the New button.

The Add New Account dialog box appears.

4. Select the Text Messaging radio button and click Next.

The Add New Outlook Mobile Service Account wizard appears. (See Figure 2-6.)

5. Select a provider.

If you’ve somehow already chosen an Outlook Mobile Service provider, well, then good for you — you can skip this step.

Otherwise, click the Find a Text Messaging Service for Your Mobile Operator link. A Web site opens in a browser window. Select your coun-try and mobile carrier. At that point, a list of compatible Outlook Mobile Service providers appears. Shop to your heart’s desire. After you select a service and sign up for it, that provider gives you the info you need to continue onto Step 6.

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236 Using SMS Text Messaging

Figure 2-6: Select a provider.

6. Enter your account info at the bottom of the wizard.

After selecting an Outlook Mobile Service provider and signing up for their service, switch back to the wizard window. The sign up process may have caused the following information to be automatically com-pleted for you, or you may need to type it in manually yourself. You need to provide Outlook with three tidbits of information about the Outlook Mobile Service provider you’ve selected:

• Service Provider URL: The service provider’s Web site address.

• User ID: Your mobile phone number.

• Password: Your service provider gives you this information when you sign up for the service. Select the Remember Password option, unless you want to be bothered with entering it every time Outlook sends an IM or checks for new ones being sent to you.

7. Click OK.

You’re returned to the Add New Account Wizard.

8. Click Finish to add the account, then click Close to close the Account Settings dialog box.

You’re set up and ready to send text messages using Outlook to the mobile phone numbers stored in your Contacts list and to your cell phone (stuff like appointment reminders and forwarded e-mails).

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Controlling your online statusUnlike an IM program such as Windows Live Messenger in which you can change your online status from Available to Busy when needed, if you use an Outlook Mobile Service provider to send text messages, then your status is pretty much always Online because, as long as Outlook is running, it can forward messages to your cell phone. Whether you choose to view them is up to you. If you close Outlook, then messages will not be forwarded to your cell phone, so be sure to leave it running when you leave the office.

Adding mobile phone numbersNow that you’ve signed up with an Outlook Mobile Service provider, you are ready to send text messages. The only thing that might be missing is the addition of mobile phone numbers for the people you want to send text mes-sages to. Follow these steps to add a mobile phone number for a contact:

1. Change to the Contacts module, locate a person you want to exchange instant messages with, and open the contact by double-clicking it.

The Contact form for the selected contact appears.

2. In the Contacts form, type the person’s phone number in the Mobile Phone Number field. (Refer to Figure 2-7.)

3. Click Save & Close to save the change.

Figure 2-7: Enter a mobile phone number for contacts you want to text.

Mobile phone field

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Sending a text message through an Outlook Mobile Service providerOkay, now that you have someone to text message, you can get to bothering them. Follow these steps:

1. In the Mail module, click the New Items button on the Home tab and select Text Message (SMS) from the pop-up menu that appears.

The Text Message form appears. (See Figure 2-8.) If you aren’t in the Mail module, then click the New Items button on the Home tab, select More Items, and then select Text Message (SMS) to display the Text Message form.

Figure 2-8: Send an SMS message by using Outlook.

2. Click the To button and select an address from the Select Names: Contacts (Mobile) dialog box that appears.

The contacts that appear include only those for whom you’ve entered a mobile phone number.

You can type the person’s last name or cell phone number to address a text message to him or her. In addition, you can type e-mail addresses and send a text message and an e-mail message that contain the same content to various recipients. Also, you can schedule the delivery of your text message for a later time, if you want. (Kind of takes the “instant” out of instant communicating though, doesn’t it?)

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3. Type your message in the big text box.

You can actually send only 160 characters in a single message, so Outlook breaks up long messages into what it considers logical units. These separate messages appear in the preview boxes on the left, where you can edit them into something that makes more sense.

You can insert common emoticons by going to the Insert group of the Text Message tab and clicking the one you want to place.

4. (Optional) To limit the number of text messages into which Outlook breaks up your text, type a value in the Maximum Messages box on the Text Message tab.

5. Click Send.

Outlook treats text messages that you send and receive through an Outlook Mobile Service provider just like regular e-mail. For example, text messages that you send appear in your Sent folder so that you can review what you said later on, if you want. In addition, Outlook saves text messages for-warded to your cell phone in the Inbox, where both you and your boss can clearly see the content, in case your boss forgot that bonus he promised in that text he sent.

Other cool things to do with an Outlook Mobile Service providerYour Outlook Mobile Service provider allows you to automatically forward contacts, tasks, appointments, and meetings to your cell phone when you’re out of the office. You can even send these special texts to multiple cell phones, if you want. Follow these steps:

1. Click the File tab to display Backstage, and select Options from the list on the left.

The Outlook Options dialog box pops up, as shown in Figure 2-9.

2. Select Mobile from the list on the left.

The Mobile options appear on the right.

3. Set your options, and then click OK.

Your choices in this dialog box include the following:

• Send Calendar Summary to Mobile Phone. Select this option if you want to send a summary of your appointments, meetings, and events for the next 12, 24, 36, or 48 hours to your cell phone. If you’re rou-tinely in and out of the office, you can use this option to ensure you don’t miss that big meeting with your best client. Click the Calendar Summary Settings button to display the Calendar Summary dialog box, where you can select exactly what you want sent and how often.

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Figure 2-9: Stay in touch, even when you’re out of touch.

• Send Reminders to Mobile Phone. Select this option if you want to send Outlook reminders to your cell phone so that you don’t miss out on an important appointment or meeting. Click the Mobile Reminder Settings button to display the Reminder dialog box, where you can set options that identify which reminders you want Outlook to bug you with.

• Forward Outlook Options. Select this option if you want to forward messages to your cell phone. Click the Configure Forwarding button to display the Mobile Notification dialog box, where you can set options to have Outlook forward only messages you’re likely to care about, such as those from a particular person or group that you iden-tify as highly important or those giving you meeting updates.

• Mobile Options. Click this button to display the Mobile Options dialog box, where you can set the format for all these Outlook items that you keep having sent your way. For example, you might want to limit the number of texts that Outlook breaks a long message into.

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outlook 2010 all-in-one for dummies sample chapter

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