Chapter at a Glance
In today’s workplace, communication, efficiency, and mobility are crucial. Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 can help you improve your performance in all of these areas by providing a means of connecting to your information quickly and securely.
If you have an Internet connection and your organization provides remote connection to its Microsoft Exchange server or is running Microsoft Outlook Web Access (a feature of Exchange), you can access your Exchange account from home, from a client site, from a hotel room, from a tradeshow booth, or even from your local Starbucks. For example, you might need to access your e-mail while working from home, or you might need to set up a meeting with staff at the office while visiting out-of-state clients.
Note
See Also For information about ways to share folders and work with other people, see Chapter 10.
Whether or not you have an Internet connection, you will want to use the Out Of Office Assistant to let people know that you are away from your desk and that your ability to respond promptly to messages and requests might be impacted until you return.
In this chapter, you will explore the tools Outlook provides for working remotely. You will examine the ways you can access an Exchange Server account when your computer is not connected directly to your organization’s network, and how to ensure that you have up-to-date information when you are working offline. Then you will work with the Out Of Office Assistant, including the new functionality available when your organization is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
Note
See Also Do you need only a quick refresher on the topics in this chapter? See the Quick Reference section at the beginning of this book.
Warning
Important No practice files are required to complete the exercises in this chapter. For more information about practice files, see Using the Companion CD at the beginning of this book.
Note
Troubleshooting Graphics and operating system–related instructions in this book reflect the Windows Vista user interface. If your computer is running Windows XP and you experience trouble following the instructions as written, please refer to the Information for Readers Running Windows XP section at the beginning of this book.
Wherever you are in the world, if you can connect to the Internet, you can probably work in Outlook from a remote location without much extra effort. In this context, remote doesn’t mean far away; it means not directly connected.
Tip
The process of connecting your computer to your local area network (LAN) or to the Internet is beyond the scope of this book, but you can read all about it in the Step by Step book for the version of Windows running on your computer.
After establishing your connection to the Internet, if you use Outlook to connect to a POP3, IMAP, or HTTP account, you will immediately have access to those resources from wherever you are. If you use Outlook to connect to an Exchange Server account, your options vary depending on the version of Exchange Server your organization is running, and the types of connections allowed. In this topic, we discuss the three most convenient methods.
Within a network domain, Outlook communicates with your organization’s Exchange server by using remote procedure calls (RPC). If your organization is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or later on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, your Exchange administrator can configure the server to permit connections by using the RPC communication path. You can then connect from Outlook to your Exchange account over the Internet by using the Outlook Anywhere feature (formerly called simply RPC over HTTP). No special connection is required. This is by far the simplest method of remotely accessing Exchange resources.
In this exercise, you will configure Outlook to connect to an Exchange account by using Outlook Anywhere. There are no practice files for this exercise.
Note
BE SURE TO start Outlook and connect your computer to the Internet, but not to your organization’s network, before beginning this exercise.
On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
The Account Settings dialog box opens, showing the configured e-mail accounts.
On the E-mail tab of the Account Settings dialog box, in the Name list, click your Microsoft Exchange account, and then click Change.
The Change E-Mail Account dialog box opens, showing the account settings for the Exchange account.
In the Change E-mail Account dialog box, click More Settings.
In the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, click the Connection tab.
In the Outlook Anywhere area, select the Connect to Microsoft Exchange using HTTP check box.
Click the Exchange Proxy Settings button that becomes active.
The Microsoft Exchange Proxy Settings dialog box opens, with options for connecting to Exchange over the Internet.
In the Connection settings area, type your organization’s secure Exchange proxy address in the https:// box.
You can choose to have Outlook connect first through Outlook Anywhere and then once established, transfer the connection to TCP/IP, by selecting either or both of the check boxes at the bottom of the Connection Settings area. Your specific organization might require an authentication method other than the default; check with your network administrator.
In the Microsoft Exchange Proxy Settings dialog box, click OK.
In the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, click OK. Then in the message box that appears, click OK to acknowledge that the change will not take effect until you restart Outlook.
In the Change E-mail Account dialog box, click Next, and then click Finish.
Close the Account Settings dialog box, and then exit and restart Outlook.
Outlook attempts to connect to your Exchange server, and when it doesn’t find a domain connection, switches to Outlook Anywhere. When Outlook Anywhere makes contact with the proxy server, Outlook prompts you to supply your credentials.
In the Connect to dialog box, enter your user name and password, and then click OK.
Outlook connects to your Exchange account.
A virtual private network (VPN) is, as the name implies, an extension of a network domain through which authorized users can connect securely to network resources. After connecting through a VPN to your network, you have access to all network resources, including servers and printers, and can connect directly to Outlook exactly as you would when sitting in the office with your computer connected to the LAN. Your organization might require that you use a special authentication method, such as a smart card or token, to prove your identity in order to maintain network security.
To support VPN connections to your network, the network administrator must set up a VPN server. Information traveling between your remote computer and the network over the Internet passes through the VPN server.
The process of setting up a VPN connection is relatively simple, but varies depending on the operating system your computer is running.
To set up a VPN connection from a computer running Windows Vista:
Click the Start button. Then in the right pane of the Start menu, click Connect To.
Click Set up a connection or network.
Scroll the Choose a connection option list, click Connect to a workplace, and then click Next.
Under Do you want to use a connection that you already have?, select No, create a new connection, and then click Next.
Under How do you want to connect?, click Use my Internet connection (VPN) option.
Under Type the Internet address to connect to, type the Internet address you want to connect to in the Internet address box. In the Destination name box, type a name for the VPN connection, select any options that you want, and then click Next.
Under Type your user name and password, type your user name and password (the domain name is optional), and then click Connect.
To disconnect from a VPN connection on a computer running Windows Vista:
Right-click the connection icon, point to Disconnect from, and then click the VPN connection name.
To set up a VPN connection from a computer running Windows XP:
Display the Start menu.
If the Connect To menu appears on the right side, click Connect To, and then click Show all connections. Otherwise, open Control Panel, switch to Classic view if necessary, and then open Network and Internet Connections.
In the Network Connections window, on the Network Tasks menu, click Create a new connection.
On the first page of the New Connection wizard, click Next.
On the Network Connection Type page, click Connect to the network at my workplace, and then click Next.
On the Network Connection page, click Virtual Private Network connection, and then click Next.
In the Company Name box, type a name by which you will identify the connection (for example, Wingtip Toys). Then click Next.
If the wizard displays the Public Network page, click Do not dial the initial connection to indicate that you will always connect to the Internet before starting the VPN connection. Then click Next.
On the VPN Server Selection page, type the URL of your organization’s VPN server (for example, mail.wingtiptoys.com) in the Host name box, and then click Next.
If the wizard displays the Smart Cards page, click Do not use my smart card, and then click Next.
On the Connection Availability page, select My use only, and then click Next.
On the Completing page, click Finish.
In the User name box, type your domainusername (for example, WINGTIPchris).
In the Password box, type your domain password.
Select the Save this user name check box and the Me only option. Then click Connect.
After your computer connects to the network domain, a connection icon (depicting two computers) appears in the notification area at the right end of the status bar. You can now operate as though you are using the computer at the office.
To disconnect from a VPN connection on a computer running Windows XP:
Right-click the connection icon, and then click Disconnect.
If you use a laptop, you probably do many types of computing without being connected to the Internet. Not having a connection to your mail server doesn’t prevent you from using Outlook. You can read and write messages and other items by using the local copy of your mailbox that is stored, by using Cached Exchange Mode, on your computer. This makes switching between working online and offline easy.
Cached Exchange Mode was introduced as an option with Outlook 2003 and is turned on by default in Outlook 2007. This feature creates a local copy (a copy that resides on your computer) of the contents of your Exchange mailbox. When you are working online (connected to Exchange) messages, appointments, meetings, tasks, and other Outlook items are kept synchronized between the server and the cache. As a result, when you go offline (disconnect from Exchange, either voluntarily or involuntarily) you can still open and work with all your Outlook items—including attachments—as usual. You can’t receive messages while you’re offline, but you can send them—at least as far as your Outbox, where they are held until the next time Outlook connects to Exchange. Cached Exchange Mode has greatly streamlined the offline working process, making it simple, for example, to catch up on e-mail on your laptop when you’re in an airplane—of the old-fashioned sort, without onboard Internet.
Using Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2007, you can have available to you while working offline not only the contents of your Exchange account, but also the contents of shared folders and public folders (but only those you add to your Public Folder Favorites list).
Tip
If your organization is running Exchange Server 2007, you can take advantage of the Unified Messaging functionality of Exchange Server. For example, rather than checking for voice messages through your telephone system, Exchange Server can send your voice messages to you as audio files attached to e-mail messages. You can also receive faxes by e-mail. This functionality, which is similar to that offered by many Voice over IP (VoIP) companies, enables you to manage all your communications from your Windows desktop, regardless of your location.
Outlook offers these three Cached Exchange Mode download options:
Download Full Items. This option downloads all your messages and their attachments one at a time. If you keep Outlook open and your computer connected to a network, this is the best option because it uses the least bandwidth to download all your messages. If you have a slow connection or receive messages with large attachments, messages might be slow to appear in your Inbox when you reconnect to your server.
Download Headers and then Full Items. This option downloads all the message headers quickly, so that you can be evaluating them while the message bodies and attachments are downloaded.
Download Headers. This option downloads only the message header, and does not download the body of a message or its attachments until you preview or open the message. This is the best option if your connection is very slow or if you are charged for the amount of bandwidth you actually use. You can evaluate messages based on their header information (sender, subject, message size, and so on) and then choose whether to download the message and any attachments.
The above options are available from the File menu. When you’re working over a LAN, broadband, or other fast connection, you probably won’t notice much difference between the first two options. You will notice obvious differences with the third option, and if you’re not accustomed to mentally processing a message based on only a few words, it can be a bit frustrating.
You also have the option to download only message headers when Outlook detects that its connection to Exchange is slow. To view or change the download options, point to Cached Exchange Mode on the File menu.
If you for some reason choose to disable Cached Exchange Mode, you can still make the contents of selected folders (even your entire Inbox) available when you’re working offline. For example, you might create an Action Items folder to which you drag the messages you want to follow up on while traveling. Note that offline folders contain only messages that you received before you started working offline.
To make the contents of a folder available for offline use:
In the Navigation Pane, select the folder you want to make available offline.
On the Tools menu, point to Send/Receive, point to Send/Receive Settings, and then click Make This Folder Available Offline.
A check mark to the left of the menu item indicates that a local copy of the selected folder will be synchronized with each Send/Receive operation.
If your organization is running Exchange, you can use the Out Of Office Assistant to inform people who send you e-mail messages of your availability. Turning on the Out Of Office Assistant causes replies to be automatically sent in response to messages received from other people (but only to the first message from each person). You can provide whatever (textual) information you want within the body of the auto-reply message.
Outlook 2007 acts as a front end to the out of office (OOO) functionality provided by Exchange Server, so the interface and experience are different depending on what version of Exchange Server your organization is running. When interfacing with Exchange Server 2007, you have more control over the content and distribution of auto-replies than when interfacing with Exchange Server 2003. Regardless of which Exchange Server environment you’re working in, this is a very useful feature.
The purpose of the OOO function is to help you set expectations for response time or give people other information you want them to have. You don’t have to be physically out of the office to use this feature; some people use it to let other people know when responses will be delayed for other reasons, such as when they are working on a project that will prevent them from responding promptly to messages, or to let customers who might be in different time zones know when they have left the office for the evening.
In addition to sending auto-replies, you can have Outlook process messages that arrive while you are OOO by using rules that are in effect only when the OOO function is on.
Note
See Also For information about using rules to automatically forward, reply to, delete, alert you to, or otherwise process incoming messages, see Creating Rules to Process Messages in Chapter 12.
Until you tell it otherwise, the Out Of Office Assistant assumes you are in the office. It does not coordinate with the availability you display when setting up meetings and appointments.
Features of the Out Of Office Assistant that are specific to an Exchange Server 2003 environment include:
You create one auto-reply message, which Outlook sends in response to the first message received from each person who sends you mail.
You cannot format the text of the autoreply message.
The Out Of Office Assistant is active from the time you turn it on until the time you turn it off.
In this exercise, you will configure Outlook to automatically reply to all incoming messages, and then you will create a rule to forward urgent messages to a co-worker. There are no practice files for this exercise.
On the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant.
The Out Of Office Assistant dialog box opens.
In an Exchange Server 2003 environment, this is a one-screen dialog box.
Click I am currently Out of the Office.
In the AutoReply only once to each sender with the following text box, type
I am out of the office today, with limited access to e-mail and voicemail. I will respond to your message within one business day.
Please direct urgent issues to [email protected].
If you’re concerned that the message will be sent to people while you’re testing this function, you can substitute other text, such as I am testing my OOO function, for the above.
In the Out of Office Assistant dialog box, click OK.
The Out Of Office menu and a corresponding notification appear at the right end of the status bar.
Click the notification to close it, or wait until it closes itself. Then on the status bar, click Out of Office.
From the Out Of Office menu that opens, you can open the Out Of Office Assistant dialog box or turn off the AutoReply function.
On the Out of Office menu, click Out of Office Assistant.
In the Out of Office Assistant dialog box, click Add Rule.
The Edit Rule dialog box opens. Its interface for creating rules is simpler than the Rules And Alerts interface you work in when creating rules for all of Outlook, but the Edit Rule dialog box still provides a lot of choices.
In the Edit Rule dialog box, click Advanced.
The Advanced dialog box opens.
In the Received area, select the From and To check boxes.
This sets the forwarding rule to occur on the current day only. You can specify only a start date or end date, or any date range you want. For example, if you will be out of the office for one week, but be completely without e-mail access for only two days of that time, you might forward urgent messages only on those days. To specify a non-consecutive date span, create a rule for each consecutive date span.
Select the Importance check box. Then with High selected in the Importance list, click OK.
In the Edit Rule dialog box, under Perform these actions, select the Forward check box. Then in the To box, type [email protected].
Click the Method arrow to display the forwarding options:
Standard forwards the message content as an inclusion in a message from you, and retains the Importance indicator.
Leave message intact delivers the original message, so that it appears to have been sent directly from the original sender to your designated backup.
Insert message as an attachment forwards the message item as an attachment to a message from you, and does not retain the Importance indicator.
In all cases, the message header includes the information This message was AutoForwarded.
In the Method list, click Standard. Then click OK.
In the Out of Office Assistant dialog box, click OK.
If you inserted an actual e-mail address as the forwarding recipient, send two messages to yourself: the first a standard or Low Importance message, and the second a High Importance message.
You will receive an Out of Office AutoReply message in response to your first message, but none to your second message. The other e-mail account will receive a High Importance message forwarded from you.
On the Out of Office menu, click Turn off Out of Office auto-replies.
If you open the Out Of Office Assistant dialog box, you will see that your message and rule are intact, but the I Am In The Office option is selected, so no auto-replies will be sent.
Features of the Out Of Office Assistant that are specific to an Exchange Server 2007 environment include:
You can create two auto-reply messages—one that Outlook sends only to people in your organization (on the same domain) and another sent either to everyone else, or to only the people in your primary address book.
This allows you to separately control the information made available to co-workers, to friends and business contacts, and to the general public (including senders of spam). For example, you might include your itinerary and mobile phone number in only an internal OOO reply, include your return date in a reply to your contacts, and not send any reply to other people.
You can specify the font, size, and color of OOO message text and apply bold, italic, or underline formatting.
You can format paragraphs as bulleted or numbered lists and control the indent level.
You can specify start and end dates and times for your OOO message so that you don’t have to remember to turn off the Out Of Office Assistant.
Refer to the previous exercise for information about features and processes that are not dependent on the Exchange Server version, including creating rules and using the Out Of Office menu that appears on the status bar.
In this exercise, you will configure Outlook to automatically reply to messages during a future time period, and to send different auto-replies to co-workers than to the general public. There are no practice files for this exercise.
On the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant.
The Out Of Office Assistant dialog box opens.
In an Exchange 2007 environment, this dialog box includes two tabs: Inside My Organization and Outside My Organization. The Outside My Organization tab includes the notation (On).
Click Send Out of Office auto-replies to activate the dialog box contents.
Select the Only send during this time range check box. Then set the Start time to 5:00 P.M. on the next Friday, and the End time to 5:00 P.M. on the following Friday.
By using this schedule, anyone sending mail to you from the time you leave the office on Friday until the end of the day the following Friday will receive an automatic reply to the first message he or she sends. (You could also set this up for Monday through Friday, but the people sending messages on Friday evening or the weekend wouldn’t receive an auto-reply.)
On the Inside My Organization tab, in the message box, type
I’m on vacation! Call my mobile at (858) 555-0123 if anything urgent comes up.
If you’re concerned that the message will be sent to people while you’re testing this function, you can substitute other text, such as I am testing my internal OOO function, for the above.
Select the sentence I’m on vacation! On the toolbar at the top of the tab, click the Font Color button, and then in the gallery, click the Purple square.
The buttons representing text and paragraph formatting commands are the same in the Out Of Office Assistant as they are in an e-mail message, or in any 2007 Microsoft Office system product.
Click the Outside My Organization tab.
Notice that if you simply turn on the Out Of Office Assistant, auto-replies are sent only to people in your primary Outlook address book. You can prevent auto-replies from going to anyone other than a person within your own e-mail domain by clearing the Auto-reply To People Outside My Organization check box.
Click Anyone outside my organization. Then in the message box, type
I am out of the office this week and will respond to your message as soon as possible. For more information about Contoso products and services, please visit our Web site at www.contoso.com.
When you type the final period, the URL becomes a hyperlink.
In the Out of Office Assistant dialog box, click OK.
The Out Of Office menu does not appear on the status bar, because you specified that your Out Of Office period does not begin until 5:00 P.M. next Friday. There isn’t any indicator that you’ve set the Out Of Office Assistant to start at a future time. (This feature might be included in future versions of Outlook.) At the specified start time, the Out Of Office menu will appear at the right end of the status bar to indicate that Out Of Office auto-replies are turned on. At the specified end time, the Out Of Office Assistant will turn itself off, and the menu will disappear.
On the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant. Click Do not send Out of Office auto-replies, and then click OK.
Working away from your network or without an Internet connection doesn’t mean that you can’t use Outlook. If your organization uses Exchange, you have many options for accessing your e-mail messages and other information you manage within Outlook.
Cached Exchange Mode keeps a copy of your mailbox on your computer so you can keep working even when you are away from your network.
Cached Exchange Mode handles connecting and synchronizing your local mailbox for you. You can set it to cache all messages or just headers, to save bandwidth.
When you will be away from your computer for a while, Outlook can send an auto-reply message once to each person from whom you receive a message. This is a convenient way of letting people know when to expect a response from you.