Submitted by

1. Md. Rahat
2. Abid Hossain Khan
3. Sraboni Debnath
4. Farjana Yeasmin
5. Niaz Mahmud

06-02
06-45
06-56
06-64
06-65

Submitted To
AN OVERVIEW ON MICROSOFT
OUTLOOK AND ITS FEATURES

Md. Ariful Islam

Assistant Professor
Department of Management
Information Systems
University of Dhaka

Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Outlook Features ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.

Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Play Well Together................................................................................ 2

2.

Emailing ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3

3.

Outlook and Skype .................................................................................................................................................... 3

4.

Calendar ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3

5.

Flag .................................................................................................................................................................................. 4

6.

Integrate with other device .................................................................................................................................. 4

7.

Outlook plays nicely with SharePoint............................................................................................................... 5

8.

Security & Spam......................................................................................................................................................... 5

9.

One-Stop Email (POP3 and IMAP) ..................................................................................................................... 5

10.

Sorting and organizing message .................................................................................................................... 6

11.

Outlook integrating with PayPal, Evernote and Uber ........................................................................... 6

12.

Mail merging .......................................................................................................................................................... 6

13.

Easy file Sharing OneDrive & Outlook Web App (OWA) ...................................................................... 7

14.

Recall or replace an email message .............................................................................................................. 7

15.

Schedule a meeting .............................................................................................................................................. 7

16.

Archive older item ............................................................................................................................................... 8

17.

Work with group .................................................................................................................................................. 8

18.

Automatic reply .................................................................................................................................................... 8

19.

Search ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8

20.

Webinar on using Microsoft Outlook ........................................................................................................... 9

21.

Voting buttons ....................................................................................................................................................... 9

22.

Signature .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

23.

VCard ......................................................................................................................................................................... 9

How Outlook provides security to the users information ................................................................................... 10

Outlook vs Gmail .................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Benefits of Using Outlook ................................................................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 20
References ................................................................................................................................................................................ 21

Introduction
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available as a part of the
Microsoft Office suite. Although often used mainly as an email application, it also includes a
calendar, task manager, contact manager, note taking, journal, and web browsing. It can be used
as a stand-alone application, or can work with Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft
SharePoint Server for multiple users in an organization, such as shared mailboxes and calendars,
Exchange public folders, SharePoint lists, and meeting schedules. Outlook can be also accessed
from any browser at outlook.com.
Companies can also integrate Outlook with Microsofts SharePoint platform to share documents,
project notes, collaborate with colleagues, and send reminders and much more. Developers can
also create their own custom software that works with Outlook and Office components using
Microsoft Visual Studio. In addition, mobile devices can synchronize almost all Outlook data to
Outlook Mobile.

Outlook Features
1. Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Play Well Together
Microsoft Outlook supports multiple account types such as Microsoft Exchange Server, POP3,
IMAP, and Outlook.com. Outlook & Exchange go together like bacon and eggs, toast and coffee,
peaches and cream. Users need to know absolutely nothing to connect. They just fire up Outlook,
enter their e-mail address, and it and Exchange commune. Transparently, that cuts down on IT
involvement in client configuration and allows users to switch computers easily.
Microsoft Exchange Server is a calendaring and mail server developed by Microsoft that runs
exclusively on the Microsoft Windows Server product line. Exchange is a collaborative
communications server that is used by many organizations.
Exchange Server was initially Microsoft's internal mail server. Exchange initially used the X.400
directory service but switched to Active Directory later. Some features in Outlook 2010 require a
Microsoft Exchange Server account.

2. Emailing
Microsoft Outlook has plenty of advanced tools to help to integrate email into users workflow. It
is the preferred email client used to access Microsoft Exchange Server email. Outlook.com serves
free email with practically unlimited storage accessible on the web with a rich and helpful interface
or using IMAP, POP and Exchange ActiveSync in email programs on desktop and mobile device.

3. Outlook and Skype

Skype and Outlook.com, an intelligent email service from Microsoft, have come together so one
can instant message and make free Skype voice and video calls with his Outlook.com contacts.
Users of Outlook.com around the world can now tap into Skype without having to leave their
inbox. Skype integration with Outlook.com is now available worldwide. To enable Skype
integration with users Outlook.com account, first need to download and install the necessary
plugin.

4. Calendar
The Calendar is one of the most useful areas within Outlook. One can use it to keep track of both
work and personal appointments, one-off or recurring appointments, give reminders to user of
important events or dates, and setup meetings with others. Outlooks calendar functions are
second-to-none when it comes to creating, modifying, and sharing events. By using the Calendar
one can:

Create appointments and events: Just as one write in a notebook, one can click any time
slot in the Outlook Calendar and start to type. One can opt to have a sound or message
remind one of appointments, meetings, and events, and one can color items for quick
identification.

Organize meetings: A meeting is an appointment to which one invite people or reserve

resources for. One can create and send meeting requests and reserve resources for face-toface meetings or for online meetings. When one creates a meeting, he identifies the people
to invite and the resources to reserve, and he picks a meeting time. Responses to his meeting
request appear in his Inbox. User can also add people to an existing meeting or reschedule
a meeting.

View group schedules: One can create calendars that show the schedules of a group of
people or resources. For example, one can view the schedules of all the people in his
department or all the resources, such as conference rooms. This helps to schedule meetings
quickly.

Send calendars to anyone through email: One can send his calendar to a mail recipient as
an Internet Calendar, but keep control over how much information is shared. His calendar
information appears in the body of the email message as an Internet Calendar attachment
that the recipient can open in Outlook.

There are other useful usages of calendar such as using as the Scheduling Assistant, linking
calendars on Microsoft SharePoint sites, manage another user's calendar and etc.

5. Flag
Flagged email messages help to better manage mail. Flagged messages create to-do items either
for the user alone or for user and the recipients of the email message. Applying a flag to a message
or a contact in Microsoft Outlook gives a visual reminder to follow up on it in some way. One can
use flags with default dates, such as Today, Tomorrow, and Next Week, or customize his flags with
specific dates. Flags for messages appear in users e-mail views, and flags for contacts appear in
Contact table views. By flagging e-mail messages, user can track responses to messages that user
send. User can also make sure that he follows up on messages that he receives. Flagged message
will appear in the To-Do Bar, in Tasks, and in the Daily Task List in Calendar.

6. Integrate with other device

Smartphones and tabs can be synced with Outlook. From Android phone, Android tablet, iPhone,
iPad can use the new Outlook for iOS and Android app, which brings together the tools one need
to manage his email, calendar, contacts and files. This means one can have the same email accounts
on several computers and sync Outlook across all of them automatically. On any of users devices
with Office 365 one will find everything looking exactly the same as left it last time worked on
something, even if users PCs are running on different versions of Windows. Not just email is
synchronized but all other folders, such as Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks. Read/Unread status,
flags, categories, rules, groups and all other selections are synchronized as well, no matter on
which device one have made changes. Access to all email messages, calendars and contacts via

users computer, smartphone, or tablet: no matter if one is at his workplace or away in a meeting.
Outlook also connects to OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud & Google Drive.

7. Outlook plays nicely with SharePoint

User can synchronize a SharePoint library, contact list, task list, Project task list and a certain type
of SharePoint external list with Microsoft Outlook. The ability to synchronize libraries and lists
can help to become more efficient, especially if user work offline or dont have convenient access
to his SharePoint sites all the time.
Microsoft's SharePoint is a collaborative platform offering tools for building and managing
websites, intranets and workspaces. But Microsoft realizes that many users have neither the time
nor the mental bandwidth to log on to yet another server to check forum discussions or to examine
shared documents.
Simple-Outlook users can opt to receive notifications of new or changed content by e-mail, then
click through to the SharePoint site. They can also add content to a shared workspace or participate
in forum discussions by e-mail, thanks to integration with Outlook and Exchange.

8. Security & Spam

Microsoft Outlook is one of the mostly secured mailing system for exchanging information.
Outlook has good junk mail filtering, blocks external content such as web bugs and downloaded
images and data from foreign sites, disallows executable attachments and prevents unnecessary
requests by default. User can bypass the security if he like, but it has to be a conscious decision.
Outlook uses Microsoft Smart Screenthe same technology that businesses and governments use
to help protect their employee email. Smart Screen works mostly behind the scenes to separate
legitimate messages from spam and help keep inbox free of scams.
In Outlook Junk Email Filter helps reduce unwanted email messages in Inbox. Junk email, also
known as spam, is moved by the filter away to the Junk E-mail folder. The Junk Email Filter is
designed to keep junk email messages, also known as spam, from cluttering users Inbox.

9. One-Stop Email (POP3 and IMAP)

User is not limited to a single account in Outlook. Several accounts using different protocols
(including POP3 and IMAP) can feed into the same set of folders, and be managed with one set of

rules. Or they can be sorted into separate folders by account. Other e-mail clients can integrate
multiple accounts, but Outlook's advantage lies in its native support for Exchange.

10. Sorting and organizing message

Most e-mail clients offer some sort of rules for sorting and managing e-mail, but Outlook really
raises the bar. User can sort messages into folders, or forward or redirect them according to selected
criteria. User can arrange, group, and sort messages in Outlook to help quickly determine which
are the most important, decide which can be deleted, and locate any that need an immediate
response. User can also view a message list in Compact view, Single view, or Preview view.
Regardless of the view displaying in outlook, user can arrange messages and conversations within
the message list. By default, Outlook displays messages arranged by date, from newest to oldest.
Alternatively, one can arrange items by any of the other attributes.

11. Outlook integrating with PayPal, Evernote and Uber

Outlook.com users can integrate Uber, PayPal and Evernote add-ins into their email and calendar.
This means users can connect their account to these and receive useful notifications, such as to
order an Uber ride prior to a meeting, or the ability to send a friend some money through PayPal
via email.
The Outlook payment request lets user send a PayPal request to a customer through e-mail. With
Evernote for Outlook, add the power of Evernote right into his email composer. Save emails from
Outlook to Evernote and organize them with the rest of the project, or quickly add notes from
Evernote to any Outlook email to share them with others.

12. Mail merging

A mail merge allows to send personalized messages to a large group of people at once without
them knowing who else user have sent it to. This is a great way to have bulk messages look more
personal, send everybody their own information.
When one wants to send personalized e-mail to recipients in his address list, he can use mail merge
to create the e-mail messages. Each message has the same kind of information, yet the content of
each message is unique. For example, in e-mail to users customers, each message can be
personalized to address each customer by name. The unique information in each message comes

from entries in a data file. Furthermore, with mail merge, each e-mail message is a separate mailing
where each recipient is the sole recipient of each message.

13. Easy file Sharing OneDrive & Outlook Web App (OWA)
Outlook.com inbox comes with 15 GB of free online storage on OneDrive for files and photos.
Microsoft account one use to sign in to Outlook.com automatically signs user in to OneDrive as
well.
Now when someone sends files to others, instead of having to open the attachment, make edits and
then send the document back to him, everyone can simply open the document directly from the
link and make edits in a single draft. This means all the people working in it will always see the
latest changes, and can avoid confusion over multiple versions.

14. Recall or replace an email message

The recall feature in Microsoft Outlook tries to stop delivery and, optionally, replace an email
message that user has already sent to another within organization. User sends an email message,
and then he starts to have second thoughts. In Outlook, user can recall or replace email that he has
sent. Or he can resend an email to try to repair the damage. With message recall, a message that
user sent is retrieved from the mailboxes of the recipients who havent yet opened it. User can also
substitute a replacement message. For example, if anyone forgot to include an attachment, he can
try to retract the message, and then send a replacement message that has the attachment. One
cannot recall messages sent to email addresses outside his organization.

15. Schedule a meeting

Outlook is also popular for scheduling meeting request to set up a time to meet with others and to
track who accepts the request. It allows user to schedule meetings with others in his team or group.
This is a very efficient tool to use because he can see at a glance whether people are available.
User won't need to send multiple emails to find a date to meet.
Appointments are activities that user schedule in his calendar that do not involve inviting other
people or reserving resources. By designating each appointment as busy, free, tentative, or out of
office, other Outlook users know his availability. He can specify the date, time, duration, and the
agenda for the meeting. Outlook helps to organize meeting requests.

16. Archive older item

The act of archiving an email is taking it and placing it in a folder where it will continue to exist
but will no longer be cluttering the inbox. The best part about this is that it will still be accessible
in the future if needed. It also makes searchable all email from preferred individuals.
Email can fill Outlook Inbox new messages, replies, and forwards. And sometimes there are too
much message to search from. To keep it from filling up, user can move old items he wants to
keep to an archive, a separate Outlook Data File (.pst) that he can open from Outlook any time he
needs. Keeping Outlook inbox and its folders under control by moving older items user want to
keep to an archive. Auto archive system is also available in outlook.

17. Work with group

In Outlook, groups are the evolution of distribution lists and provide a way to communicate and
collaborate with team members. A group is a shared workspace for email, conversations, files, and
calendar events where group members can collaborate and quickly get stuff done.
Group conversations are stored in the group's mailbox, separated from individual members'
mailboxes. The majority of shared files for groups are stored in a dedicated document library on
OneDrive for Business, but user can also access additional shared and followed documents that he
may need to further collaborate with his group.

18. Automatic reply

User can set up Outlook to send an automatic response to some or all of the people who send him
an email message. Set up automatic replies, set a time range, use rules to manage inbox while user
is out, and create different messages for different groups. This saves so much time to assure the
sender about getting the message. For example, set up an out-of-office vacation response and
Outlook will respond to new messages while user is away. Outlook will respond to all incoming
messages automatically.

19. Search
Instant Search helps to quickly find items in Microsoft Outlook. The Instant Search pane is always
available in all of users Outlook views, such as Mail, Calendar, and Contacts.

User can use the same search techniques to find any Outlook item. Instant Search helps to find
email fast. And Outlook immediately starts searching, even before user finishes typing, and comes
back with a list of all the email containing search words. Outlook searches all parts of an email
message: the subject, message body, To and From lines; it even searches text inside attachments.
Outlook also searches items form calendar. User may have thousands of old meetings and
appointments stored in Calendar. The Instant Search box and the Search Tools on the ribbon can
help user narrow his search. Outlook searches every part of a contact to find personal contacts.

20. Webinar on using Microsoft Outlook

A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements: the ability to give, receive and discuss
information in real-time. Short for Web based seminar, a webinar is a presentation, lecture,
workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web using video conferencing software
This practical webinar showcases many of Microsoft Outlook's features and exclusive systems that
can help to save tons of time, improve productivity and peace of mind by being able to better
process and manage email, tasks, contacts, calendar and follow-ups.

21. Voting buttons

Voting buttons are a great way to poll people, especially large groups. A Microsoft Exchange
Server account is required to send and respond to voting buttons. It is easy to create a poll in
Microsoft Outlook by including voting buttons in an e-mail message. When recipients respond to
the poll, user can either automatically tabulate the results of the vote in Outlook or export the
responses to a Microsoft Office Excel worksheet.

22. Signature
User can create personalized signatures for his email messages that include text, images, electronic
business card, a logo, or even an image of users handwritten signature. User can set it up so that
signatures can be added automatically to all outgoing messages, or he can choose which messages
include a signature.

23. VCard
A vCard (virtual business cards that most email programs recognize) enables one to send contact
information in a format that can be easily read in other e-mail programs. A vCard is saved as a .vcf

file, which is the Internet standard for sharing contact information. When someone send a vCard,
its .vcf file is sent with the message as an attachment.
VCards are virtual business cards that anyone can share with others by importing or exporting
them in Outlook. And the most common way to do that is in email. If anyone wants to keep the
contact information, add it to his Outlook contacts.

How Outlook provides security to the users information

Email Encryption
Outlook gives additional protection for users e-mail communication to keep it from unwanted eyes.
Encrypting an e-mail message in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 protects the privacy of the
message by converting it from (readable) plaintext into (scrambled) cipher text. Only the recipient
who has the private key that matches the public key used to encrypt the message can decipher the
message for reading. Any recipient without the corresponding private key would see only garbled
text.
Setting password to help protect information
Many people, especially those who share a computer with other people, want to protect their
Microsoft Outlook information and e-mail from intrusion. User can protect his personal Outlook
data, such as messages, calendar items, etc., with a password to help prevent accidental viewing
by other people.
Protection from spam
Anyone who has been using e-mail for some time is familiar with the flood of bulk e-mail that can
come to users Inbox, most of it being junk. Outlook helps to mitigate the problem of spam with
the Junk E-mail Filter, which automatically evaluates incoming messages and sends those
considered to be spam to the Junk E-mail folder.
Outlook also has an additional anti-spam feature. Messages in HTML format often include pictures
or sounds from an external source on the Internet. This is typically done by legitimate senders to
avoid embedding large graphics in the message itself. However, junk e-mail senders use this

capability as a "Web beacon" that collects e-mail address. By default, Outlook blocks automatic
picture downloads. If user think that the message is from a trustworthy source, it can be unblocked.
Protection from phishing attacks
Phishing is the malicious practice of luring user into disclosing personal information, such as bank
account number and password. Often phishing messages have deceptive links that actually take
user to spoofed Web sites that urge user to enter and submit personal information. Users personal
information is used by criminals to steal his identity, money, or both. Because it can be hard to
distinguish a phishing e-mail message from a legitimate e-mail message from, say, bank, the Junk
E-mail Filter evaluates each incoming message to see if it is suspicious and contains suspicious
links or was sent by using a spoofed e-mail address. If the filter determines that a message is
suspicious, the message is sent to the Junk E-mail folder, and the links in the message are disabled.
To prevent user from unwittingly replying to a message with a spoofed e-mail address, the Reply
and Reply All functionality is disabled for that message. In addition, any attachments in the
suspicious message are blocked. For details, see Enable or disable links and functionality in
phishing e-mail.
Previewing and opening messages safely
Microsoft Outlook 2010 uses only one editor, based on Microsoft Word 2010, for user to compose
and read e-mail messages. Scripts, macros, and ActiveX controls cannot run in any message
format, whether he use plain text, HTML, or Rich Text Format (RTF). However, SmartTags are
allowed to run, as are custom forms.
If user prefer, he always have the option of Read e-mail messages in plain text, even though that
does not provide full protection against all e-mail hazards.
Previewing and opening attachments safely
To help protect user from potentially malicious code, Outlook disables embedded content in
attachments, such as scripts, macros, and ActiveX controls, while previewing. User should preview
or open attachments only from trustworthy sources. For more information about attachment
previewing, see Open and save attachments.

When a message has an attachment, Inbox displays the paperclip icon in the Attachment column
of the message list. Outlook automatically blocks attachments that contain file types that can run
programs. This is to help prevent the spread of viruses from program files, a situation that is
considered a Level 1 threat. Examples of the blocked file types include .exe, .bat, .com, .vbs, and
.js. A list of the attachment files in a message that are blocked appears in the InfoBar at the top of
the message.
If user try to send an attachment that has a file type extension that is on the blocked list, user
receive a message that other Outlook users may not be able to access this type of attachment.
Only an e-mail server administrator can change this default setting and unblock certain file types.
This setting is often used in an organization's intranet, not on the Internet.
File types such as .doc, .xls, .ppt, and .txt are not blocked. However, an Opening Mail Attachment
dialog box appears when user try to open an attachment. This dialog box gives user the opportunity
to consider the safety of the file that user are opening, and to save the file and scan it for viruses
before he open it. To be able to send any file type by using e-mail, user can zip the file and attach
the .zip package to his message. For a full list of attachment file types that are blocked and more
tips on safe file-sharing alternatives, see Blocked attachments in Outlook.
Protection from macro viruses
The purpose of a macro is to automate frequently used tasks. Although some macros are simply a
recording of users keystrokes or mouse clicks, more powerful VBA macros are authored by
developers who use code that can run many commands on computer. For this reason, VBA macros
pose a potential security risk because a hacker can introduce a malicious macro through a
document that, if opened, allows the macro to run and potentially spread a virus on computer.
In Microsoft Office 2010, the Trust Centre helps to provide protection against potentially unsafe
macros. In addition, Outlook blocks many potentially harmful attachments.

Outlook vs Gmail
Gmail and Outlook both are mailing service that have many similarities. Outlook is specially
focused on using it in work where Gmails service is combination of both personal and work
usually less powerful than Outlook at work. Here are a few reasons that come up consistently with
users who prefer using Outlook over Gmail.
1. Integration across email, calendar and contacts Email is the primary mode of
communication at work today. Outlook is one place to effectively communicate at work to get
things done. Whether it is to setup meetings, find more information about a contact, dial into
conference calls or jump onto online meetings. Gmail on the other hand frequently tries a new
experience e.g. new compose or new inbox.
2. Offline access to email Outlook enables users to work on email without worrying whether
they are connected to Internet. They can work when traveling on an airplane, their favorite workrelated activity is to clear up their email backlog. They can read and respond to email just like they
would when they are at their desk connected to the Internet. As the Internet connection is reestablished, the email is automatically sent. With Gmail offline, users have access to only past
months email when theres no Internet connection. Also, users can access their email offline on
Chrome and Safari browsers only. By contrast, Outlook does not have these restrictions.
3. Organize email not all users work the same way. Some sort their folders alphabetically; others
dont. Some like to simply search for their email while others need the ability to look for their
email in specific bins. As a result, they relate to folders in Outlook better. Users have limited
ways to organize their email in Gmail. They are limited to only use labels to organize their email.
4. Categorize email items to stay organized With Outlook, users have the ability to assign
categories to various items (e.g. message, calendar appointment, task etc.) An item can be assigned
multiple categories to classify it in more than one way. And those who need visual cues have the
ability to color-code the categories. At a glance, users can see how they spend their time across
different areas by looking at the color coding of the events on the calendar. Those who use
categories and color coding to keep their work organized cannot imagine doing without it. These
customers had to restrict themselves as they tried to use the colors to differentiate items in their

inbox, tasks etc. in Google. The inability to associate colors with different items in email rendered
color coding meaningless for these customers.
5. Multiple ways to find email Users need multiple ways to find their email. Using search to
find email works mostly when users know what theyre looking for. But users insist sometimes
user just dont know what to look for and they have to rely on where they filed an email to go
find it. The ability to sort email by date and size, to specify the timeframe, and to scope the places
to look are all various ways to find the email when user dont know how to describe search.
Outlook provides multiple ways to track down what users are looking for, whether its search,
folders, categories, sort emails in inbox, search folders, etc. With Gmail, users do not have a way
to sort email by size, date or sender and are stuck with just one thing search!
6. Flags, changing importance of email Outlook makes it easy to flag email to grab quick
attention. The lack of the red exclamation mark in Gmail leaves users confused as to what email
is more important than others. Because they cannot set the red exclamation mark while
composing email, they are unable to get the right priority of attention to their email from their
recipients. By contrast, Outlook makes it easy to not only include a red exclamation mark but
also flag email for rapid follow-up or change the importance of an email to low to indicate lack
of urgency. Little capabilities make users far more productive on daily basis than using Gmail
without these.
7. Rules to minimize email clutter . Some users use rules to move items to various folders and
assign categories to stay organized. This helps them remove unwanted email and minimize the
clutter in their inboxes. Gmail has filter capability, but the actions user can take after filter these
emails is limited in nature. Customers tell us it is easier to setup rules in Outlook to flag important
email based on the sender.
8. Rich contact information Contact card in Outlook provides rich information about the user.
The photo in the contact card enables users to associate faces with names. Presence information
shows the status of the user, for example, whether theyre busy, offline, etc. Users can quickly and
easily start a chat conversation with the contact, schedule an appointment, make a quick phone
call, or start an online conference. And unlike Gmail, the contact card in Outlook also includes
each persons job title, department and location information.

9. Scheduling meeting rooms Outlook lets users schedule resources like meeting rooms,
projectors, etc. simply by adding them as a resource to any meeting. The resource then functions
just like any attendee, including the ability to auto-respond to the meeting invite as well as the
ability to see the free/busy schedule. Users who want to do this easily with Gmail end up frustrated
as the experience of scheduling meeting resources with Gmail is a cumbersome, multiple-step
process involving primary and secondary calendars.
10. Mail tips Mail tips in Outlook is a saviour. As users begin composing email, a message pops
up to indicate that user might be sending mail to a large distribution list. Its a good warning sign
if it wasnt the intention of his email. This is a great example of enabling user to make the right
decisions, while continuing to help user be productive. This capability pops even more when the
recipient of email is on vacation or has their automatic responses turned on. As user begin
composing the email, the automatic response message for the recipient shows up within the
message, thus saving user the headache of waiting for the vacation response to plan the appropriate
next follow-up action. Customers who have switched from Gmail love it when the mail tip pops
up in Outlook telling them the urgent message might be headed for someone who is unavailable
for a few days.
11. Ignore conversations some conversations are worth ignoring. Often such conversations are
an outcome of someones oversight or who has the last say attitude. Outlook has a very simple
way to ignore such conversations. With a simple click, all existing and new emails in this
conversation are moved to deleted Items folder, thus removing clutter from inbox to help user
focus on more important tasks at hand. Users also like the clean-up option, where only the latest
email thread with all comments is kept intact, while the rest of the emails are moved to the deleted
items folder. All unique forked conversations are also kept intact to ensure all comments are still
available in one place. With Gmail, users have a way to mute the conversation, but this capability
is not easily discoverable and it does not work if the recipient gets added back on line of the email.
12. Sharing and delegating calendars Administrative assistants who are responsible for
managing multiple calendars tell us that working with Google Calendar was one of the most
painful experiences for them. With Google, they claim that they had a calendar mess to deal
with, leading some to use paper-based calendars to keep things in check! With Google Calendar,
user get the option to either share all details on the calendar or just the free/busy schedule. It does

not have the ability to share the free/busy with just the subject of the events. It lacks the level of
control as to what details to share. After switching back from Gmail to Outlook, customers have
much better control over managing calendars.
Outlook gives users the ability to use it in a way that makes them more productive in their job,
whether it is an administrative assistant helping the leader to be more successful or an executive
sending a high importance email to the team. The choice and flexibility is what they missed the
most about Outlook.

Benefits of Using Outlook

Outlook offers several services such as email management, an address book, notebook, a web
browser and a calendar where user organize future meetings and plan schedule. It's included in the
Microsoft Office suite of programs along with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Search
Microsoft Outlook comes with an integrated search function that allows user to quickly find
whatever he is looking for. Search using keywords to find e-mails, contacts and dates. This feature
can be used in any of the Outlook programs, including Calendar, Task Manager and Contact
Manager.
Security Features
Microsoft Outlook has a few enhanced security features to protect our email account from
predators. This also includes protection from junk and phishing website email. Its built-in email
scanner alerts user when he is sent something from an untrustworthy sender. User can disable live
links and block senders through the security features. I know Microsoft has a bad reputation on
the security front. But Outlook 2007, in particular, has good junk mail filtering (as long as user
keep it up to date), blocks external content such as web bugs and downloaded images and data
from foreign sites, disallows executable attachments and prevents the execution of ActiveX
applets, by default. User can bypass the security if he like, but it has to be a conscious decision.

Easy Organization
Because Outlook is an email management program, it doesn't just allow to send and receive emails; it allows to sync email directly into ones calendar our contact list. One can make plans by
adding dates directly from his/her emails. Or can send someone an email.
Connect with Others Easily
Microsoft Outlook Calendar allows one to share his calendar with anyone that he choose. User can
create, edit and manage an online Calendar for any of his important clients to access at their
convenience. User can also share subscriptions and contact information. With the click of just one
button, user can send anyone in his contact list a text message directly to their phone. Or send them
a customized business card.
Enhanced Connectivity
Microsoft Outlook is more than just a program for users personal computer. Take it mobile by
connecting it to phone. User can read and send out emails, edit calendar and take notes without
being near computer. Sync Outlook account to user phone, and turn the calendar on phone into a
portable planner. Get alerts while user are out of the office on upcoming appointments.
Integration with Office Programs
Another benefit of using Microsoft Word is that it easily integrates with other Microsoft Office
programs. For example, if user have a spreadsheet that user created on Microsoft Excel, he can
easily paste it into a Word document. User can work with programs such as PowerPoint as well.
This makes it possible to complete a wide array of computing tasks without having to spend time
converting documents or files so that they are usable on other programs.
Outlook and Microsoft Exchange
When e-mail server runs Microsoft Exchange, Outlook is a no-brainer. They go together like bacon
and eggs, toast and coffee, peaches and cream. Users need to know absolutely nothing to connect.
They just fire up Outlook, enter their e-mail address and it and Exchange commune transparently.
That cuts down on IT involvement in client configuration and allows users to switch computers
easily.

Works with Active Directory

Active Directory's authentication extends to Exchange. That means that a user can simply log on
to a computer, start Outlook, and her Active Directory credentials are passed to the Exchange
server-no typing or separate logon required. In fact, since the e-mail address is stored in Active
Directory, a user need not even enter that information if authenticating through AD. Outlook
automatically figures out the right e-mail address
Outlook Integrates with Many Devices and Applications

Outlook integrates with Smartphones, laptops. Some vendors don't even provide a native
personal information manager for their devices, but rely on the fact that most customers have
a copy of Outlook that does the trick very nicely. Even third party add-on applications for
devices like BlackBerry or various Windows Mobile models manage to talk to Outlook. Skype
talks to Outlook. ACT! Talks to Outlook. In fact, it's hard to find a desktop tool that doesn't
talk to Outlook. And user can find dozens of little add-ins that extend Outlook even farthercheck out Office Addins.com for example.

Genius Connect: Syncs Outlook folders with SQL databases. A great tool for technical users.

Code Two Outlook Sync: Similar to add-in, user can sync all Outlook data between two
computers. When collaboration and sharing with a colleague is essential, using this tool to
speed up the process and keep everyone on the same page

Advanced Security: Everyone wants email accounts to be safe and secure, but a common
complaint among Outlook users is that alerts can be incessant and annoying. Advanced
Security gets rid of these pesky alerts by putting user in charge of how to handle security
threats. It does this all while maintaining the safety of email account.

Outlook Stat View: It's what drives our behavior and helps us adjust in ways that make our
work more efficient. This add-in shows how much user communicate with different contacts.
The emails are separated by date, bcc or cc, and include the volume of emails by user and them.

Outlook on the Desktop: Having access to certain features in Outlook email while offline is
incredibly useful, specifically calendar. Stay on top of appointments and tasks with Outlook
on the Desktop, and worry less about where user going to find internet while he is on the go.

Mail Washer: Fighting SPAM shouldn't cost the user a thing. This tool allows user to preview
an email before it's downloaded to inbox, giving user a safe look at the contents before it can
do any damage. Scripts or viruses that could wreak havoc on computer are kept at bay with
this free Outlook add-in.

Outlook makes it Easy to Organize Assets

Most e-mail clients offer some sort of rules for sorting and managing e-mail, but Outlook 2007 (in
conjunction with Exchange 2007) really raises the bar. Sure, we can sort messages into folders, or
forward or redirect them according to our selected criteria. However, we also have the option to
send different automatic Out of Office (OOO) messages to internal and external addresses. For
example, users who subscribe to mailing lists may not want to send messages to addresses outside
their company at all (mailing list admins frown on OOO messages, which act like spam to the list),
but need to give internal senders information on who's covering for them. If we need to follow up
on a message, Outlook offers flags of various colors that can be tied to reminders if we need a
friendly nag.
Outlook Plays Nicely With SharePoint
Microsoft's SharePoint is a collaborative platform offering tools for building and managing
websites, intranets and workspaces. But Microsoft realizes that many users have neither the time
nor the mental bandwidth to log on to yet another server to check forum discussions or to examine
shared documents. What to do? Simple-Outlook users can opt to receive notifications of new or
changed content by e-mail, then click through to the SharePoint site. They can also add content to
a shared workspace or participate in forum discussions by e-mail, thanks to integration with
Outlook and Exchange.
Outlook's User Interface is Familiar
Since Microsoft Office is the market leader in productivity software, the Outlook user interface is
familiar to users, cutting down on the learning curve. Sure, there's a ton of functionality to discover,
but the basics are relatively intuitive to someone who's used to Microsoft Office. That can save a
bundle in training costs. And since the familiarity extends to the development environment, it's

also relatively easy for developers using Microsoft Visual Studio to interface with Outlook, either
to add functionality or to tie it to other corporate applications.
Outlook Offers Integrated Calendar, Tasks, etc
Outlook includes an address book, calendar, task list and virtual sticky notes. All pieces are
integrated; dragging and dropping an e-mail message can create an appointment or a task or a note.
Tasks may be delegated with a click or two. Not only does the responsible victim get informed of
the job he's inherited, but the delegator can get regular status reports. And with the purchase of the
version containing Microsoft Business Contact Manager, Outlook becomes a business in a box for
a small enterprise.
Outlook Offers One-Stop E-mail
User is not limited to a single account in Outlook. Several accounts using different protocols
(including POP3 and IMAP) can feed into the same set of folders, and are managed with one set
of rules. Or, if user prefer, they can be sorted into separate folders by account..

Conclusion
E-mail is one of the most important service that u use frequently in our tech life. E-mail client
software like outlook make the emailing service easier for the users. Whether we use a desktop email client or access our messages via a Web-based interface, these are necessary tools that, at
their best, can ease the burden of the e-mail onslaught. This provides variety of features that allow
user to manage his pool of emails easier way. That is why in corporate circles desktop e-mail client
is often Microsoft Outlook ease the way of group work and mails within the company.

References

Ablebits.com. (2016). Email encryption in Outlook how to encrypt messages with Digital ID.
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Alphr. (2016). Outlook tips for increasing productivity. [online] Available at:
http://www.alphr.com/software/6990/the-18-best-outlook-tips-for-increasing-productivitybecome-an-outlook-jedi-with-our [Accessed 11 Apr. 2016].

Buffalo.edu. (2016). Basic Features of Microsoft Outlook - UBIT. [online] Available at:
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Apr. 2016].

Cirrus Insight. (2015). Gmail and Outlook: A Comparison of the Email Titans. [online]
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[Accessed 11 Apr. 2016].

Millman, R. (2016). Gmail vs Outlook.com: Which one is better?. [online] IT PRO. Available
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[Accessed 11 Apr. 2016].

Support.office.com. (2016). Outlook 2013 videos and tutorials - Outlook. [online] Available
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https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Outlook-2013-videos-and-tutorials-f83e8e60-

0bab-47eb-8f6e-c2ecb73124d8 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2016].

Support.office.com. (2016). Outlook help and training - Office Support. [online] Available at:
https://support.office.com/en-us/outlook [Accessed 11 Apr. 2016].

Support.office.com. (2016). Set a password to help protect your Outlook information Outlook. [online] Available at: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Set-a-password-tohelp-protect-your-Outlook-information-f60fb0e7-f0ad-4d7c-858b-9619d1b9f0b6 [Accessed
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