Tips & Tricks Presented by: Tim Trice Madisonville Community College

Ever send back and forth among several people, creating a huge conversation? s can pile up quickly, and as you reply to a message in this virtual conversation, it can be hard to keep up with everything that was said. Though many people quote messages to help show the train of thought, some don't use this functionality, and some may delete quotes if the messages get too large. Thus, when replying to an , it may be beneficial to read the conversation that led up to the current point. Luckily, this is easy. From the folder view Right click an message, then click "Find All" - "Related Messages". Outlook 2007 will search your e- mail folders and return all that it deems are related to the current message, usually those sharing the current subject.

There may be situations when sending in Outlook 2007 where you need to attach copies of previous messages. Perhaps you need to write a report of a conversation between several colleagues, or you may need to provide a new employee information previously found in earlier s. To do this: 1. Start composing an message. 2. Choose "Insert" - "Item". 3. The "Insert Item" dialog box will appear. Choose the radio button to insert the items - such as attachments, journal entries, or meeting requests - as attachments or just to insert the text contained in the items ("Text Only"). 4. Browse through your folders and select the item(s) to insert. 5. Click "OK".

Normally, Outlook 2007 keeps copies of your sent mail in the "Sent Mail" folder. There may be times, however, where you want to file an message to a different folder, such as "Status Report", "Meeting Reminder", "Agenda", or whatever. To make this change: 1. While composing an message, click "Options". 2. Click “Save Sent Items…”, “Other Folder…” 3. Click the "Browse" button next to the aforementioned checkbox, and choose the folder where you want the message saved. 4. Click "Close" to close the dialog box. As soon as you send your message, it will be filed away to the folder of your choosing and not "Sent Items".

There may be times where you want to compose an message now, but send it at a later time. Perhaps you want the to be sent during a normally quiet period so it gets more attention, or you may want an sent after an event has taken place thanking the participants. 1. After composing an message, click "Options“ – “Delay Delivery” 2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, check "Do not deliver before". 3. To the right of the checkbox, in the first pull-down, select or enter the date when you want the sent. 4. In the second pull-down to the right of the checkbox, select or enter the time when you wish the sent. 5. Click "Close" to close the dialog box. 6. Click "Send" to save your message. When performing this operation for the first time, you should test it first by ing a quick message to yourself to ensure the is not sent until you tell Outlook 2003 to deliver the e- mail.

Need to ask a group of people where to eat for lunch, whether they approve or reject a proposed policy change, or anything else that requires a vote? When sending to other Outlook 2007 users, you can add voting options to your . To do so: 1. When composing an message, click the "Options" button. 2. When the "Message Options", click "Use voting buttons". 3. Click on the pull-down next to the button to choose the voting options such as "Yes;No", or enter your own, separated by a semicolon. 4. Click the "Close" dialog box. 5. Continue to compose and send your message. When your message is received, recipients will have the option to vote on the by clicking on voting buttons or a message Infobar. Responses will be sent to your Inbox as messages. To view the official tally: 1. Click on your "Sent Items" folder. 2. Open the original in a new window (double-click the ). 3. Select the "Tracking" tab. You will now see who received your message, the reply totals for each voting option, and how each person voted and when they voted. Note that people can change their vote at any time, and you will need to close and re-open the original mail to see the current tally.

To request a delivery and/or read receipt for a particular e- mail message without changing the defaults for all messages, do the following: 1. While composing an message, choose “Options”. 2. As desired, check "Read receipt requested" and/or "Delivery receipt requested". 3. Send the message. Note that not everyone honors return receipt requests. Of particular note: if a user is not running Outlook 2007, their software probably will not honor such requests.

Recalling is not just for politicians. There may be times where you send an message and quickly realize you didn't mean to send the message, or you noticed an error in the that needs to be fixed. Outlook 2003 has an option to recall messages, yet there are several caveats: 1. The recipient must also be using Outlook Recipients using other software may not recognize such messages. 2. If sending to other companies or organizations using Outlook 2007, a particular other server may not support or recognize recall messages. 3. Recall will not work if recipients have already read the message. 4. An server may accept message recall yet it may still store an old copy of the message for archiving. To attempt to recall a message: 1. From Outlook 2007, open the "Sent Items" folder. 2. Double-click the you wish to recall, opening it in a new window. 3. Select “Other Actions" - "Recall this message". 4. Choose to either delete unread copies of the or delete unread copies of the , replacing it with a new message. 5. Check or uncheck "Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient" as desired. 6. Click "OK". 7. If you chose to replace the , enter in your new message and send it.

Need to a group of people frequently? You can setup a distribution list to eliminate the need to type each address. 1. Click on “New”, “Distribution List” 2. Click “Select Members” and find the names of the people you wish to be members of the group. You can double click the name to add them to the group. Click “Ok” when everything looks good. 3. Type a name for your group and then click “Save & Close”.

You are now ready to send an to the group you have just created. Follow these steps to send to your distribution list: 1. Click “New Message” 2. Type the name of the group in the To: field. (Alternatively you can click “To:” select “Outlook Address Book Contacts” in the Address Book dropdown. You should now see your local Distribution Lists and Contacts, simply double click the name) 3. Type the as you normally would, and click “Send” when done.

Archiving messages allows you to free up space on your Exchange server account. These messages can still be accessed from your computer where they are now stored. To auto-archive messages older than a certain date follow these steps: 1. Click “File”, “Archive…” 2. Select “Archive this folder and all subfolders” and select “Mailbox - (Madisonville)”. 3. Select the date you wish to archive messages older than. 4. Click “OK”

Outlook’s calendar allows you to add appointments and set reminders for future appointments. To add a new appointment follow these steps: 1. Click on “Calendar” 2. Highlight the time and length of the appointment then Right-Click and “New Appointment” 3. Enter the subject and location and adjust reminder time. Click “Save & Close” when everything looks good.

Most of these tips can also be used with Exchange Webmail from your home computer or any other computer with Internet access. This allows you to check your on the go and also view your upcoming Calendar appointments or add new ones.

Microsoft hosts a variety of online instructional modules on their Office website. Most of these range in length from 30 to 50 minutes. ?AssetID=RC http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx ?AssetID=RC Get Up To Speed with Outlook us/training/CR aspxhttp://office.microsoft.com/en- us/training/CR aspx - Training Modules