Introduction to Outlook

MS Outlook has many applications for managing personal and business information. It is more than a desktop information manager. The Outlook application window has many elements that are familiar to windows users like the title bar, menu bars, maximise buttons etc. Every record in Outlook i.e. a Contact, a Task, an Appointment, an email message, a Journal entry or a Note is referred to as an item.

Elizabeth is a successful entrepreneur with a fast expanding business. One of the reasons why her business is doing so well is her ability to manage and organize information. She uses Microsoft Outlook to manage her personal as well as business information. What's more Microsoft Outlook also allows her to manage her business Contacts.

What is MS Outlook?

MS Outlook is a tool that can be used in any business environment and has many applications for managing information. It is more than a desktop information manager which can be used to:

• Record names, addresses, and other information related to personal and business contacts.
• Organize your to-do list as per priority, by due date and in many other ways.
• Manage appointments track birthdays, holidays etc.
• Send Email and Keep Notes about tele conversations, meetings and relate it to individual contacts.
• Schedule meetings and organize personal information.

Let us see have a look at the Outlook interface.

Toolbars: The toolbars menu options and buttons are dynamic, which means that they change depending upon which module is active at the current time, i.e. if you are in Calendar mode, the Actions menu has options related to creating a new Appointment, new events, etc.

Outlook Bar: The Outlook bar on the left side gives you access to the Outlook modules and other folders on your computer. To activate a module, click on that icon. Shortcuts on the Outlook bar are organized into groups.

Outlook Today: It provides you with the day-at-a glance view of your world by listing your Appointments, Mail and Tasks etc.