Chapter 13: Collaboration and Integration within Outlook

Microsoft Outlook brings together the best tools for allowing us to collaborate with others. It is now easier and faster to connect with others anywhere in the world. Outlook has several applications integrated within its platform to make it more efficient when working with others and is very easy and intuitive to learn. You can now not only work with the best tools but also work and collaborate with others in real time.

By using Outlook, you can collaborate with anyone who has a computer, and I’m going to show you some of the apps that Outlook utilizes within the application for collaboration. In this chapter, we will be discussing the following topics:

  • Cloud computing
  • Outlook groups
  • Mobile phones
  • Add-ins
  • RSS feed

Microsoft 365 subscriptions now have so many applications available to us that it can be hard to know which apps to use when. Let’s dive into this chapter and learn which of these apps have direct collaboration and integration features within Outlook.

Cloud computing

Instead of storing all your data on your own physical computers, we have the option to use the cloud. What does this mean? The cloud is a means for us to store our data on off-site computers located in various locations around the world, known as data centers. This storage could consist of anything from software programs, data storage, or virtual machines to email servers, as with Outlook. The “cloud” is another word for “internet” as the data is transmitted through the internet through secure networks. In Chapter 3, Managing Email Accounts, we discussed the Microsoft Exchange protocol.

Exchange runs on the cloud in Microsoft’s data centers and is what allows us to access our data anytime, anywhere, and on any device with internet availability.

Let’s be honest, no one wants to work 365 days a year. However, we do want to have our data, and especially our email, available to us around the clock, 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week! That is what we will get by using Outlook.

To use the cloud within Outlook, you first will want to activate the cloud storage options to store your desired settings in the cloud.

Click File | Options | General. Click the box next to Store my Outlook settings in the cloud, then click OK.

Figure 13.1 – Cloud storage options

Figure 13.1 – Cloud storage options

Now, any activity that happens in Outlook will be available to you from the Outlook web application as well. Outlook will now start synchronizing any activity in Outlook to the web. This is the advantage of using cloud functions; you can get your Outlook emails and other items through the web on all your devices, such as other computers, tablets, and mobile phones, using your Microsoft 365 subscription. Once this synchronization is complete, you will receive a message stating Outlook has synced your settings from the cloud.

Let’s discuss the different ways that you can collaborate, through the cloud, using OneDrive and Outlook.

OneDrive

OneDrive (formally called SkyDrive) is Microsoft’s cloud storage. iCloud and Google Drive are similar offerings by Apple and Google. Saving your data to a OneDrive account allows you to access your files while away from your computer and collaborate with others by sharing these files with them.

OneDrive is preinstalled if you are using Windows 10 or newer. If you don’t have Windows 10, you can download and install OneDrive. More information on this can be found in the Further reading section of this chapter. Once OneDrive is installed, you will be able to save and use files on any device from your OneDrive account, using an internet connection.

When you attach a document to an Outlook email message, that file is copied to the email to be sent to a recipient that you provide, as was described in Chapter 2, Sending and Receiving Emails. Once the document is attached, you can identify whether it is being shared in the cloud by the cloud icon that will appear in the icon for the attachment. If you select this document from your computer, a copy will be attached.

To collaborate with another user on the attached file, take the following steps:

  1. Click on the drop-down arrow to the right of the attachment, then select Upload | OneDrive.
Figure 13.2 – Uploading an attachment to OneDrive

Figure 13.2 – Uploading an attachment to OneDrive

  1. The icon will now have a cloud appearing at the bottom, indicating that the file is in the OneDrive folder on the cloud.
Figure 13.3 – Attached cloud file

Figure 13.3 – Attached cloud file

  1. Click the drop-down arrow again to set the permissions for the recipient of the attachment, indicating how they will be able to collaborate on the attached file.
Figure 13.4 – Change Permissions

Figure 13.4 – Change Permissions

The default for uploading an attachment is the recipient that you are sending the email to will have permission to edit the document. Outlook will assume that you want to be able to collaborate and work on the document together with the recipient once the document has been sent.

The possible permissions to select are as follows:

  • Anyone Can Edit
  • Anyone Can View

The default selection is Anyone Can Edit. If you do not want the recipient to be able to make changes to the document, be sure to change this to Anyone Can View.

Note

If you are attaching files from a SharePoint site, you will have additional permissions of Organization Can Edit, Organization Can View, Recipients Can Edit, and Recipients Can View in addition to the Anyone Can Edit and Anyone Can View permissions.

  1. The selected permission will appear in the attachment box so the recipient will be able to identify the permission granted to them. After entering the recipients for the new email, click Send.
Figure 13.5 – Permission selected

Figure 13.5 – Permission selected

  1. The email will be sent to the recipient, informing them that you have shared a document with them. The recipient can view the file and permissions and click Open from within the email to view or work on the document.
Figure 13.6 – Email – sharing a file

Figure 13.6 – Email – sharing a file

If permission was given for the document to be edited by the recipient, then the document will be updated in real time and the shared document will reside on the OneDrive of the person that shared the file.

Note

Sharing a file and setting permissions can also be done from the OneDrive folder in File Explorer. Right-click on the file and select Share. In the send link dialog box, enter the email ID of the user that you would like to share, enter a message, and select permissions. Click Send and the message will be sent to recipients.

We too are utilizing the sharing feature of OneDrive storage for the collaboration on this book. Together with the amazing team at Packt and the technical reviewers, we are all collaborating from different locations around the world and working on our files from within OneDrive in real time together.

Viewing and changing permissions in OneDrive

After you have shared files with others within or outside of your business, it’s expected that people’s jobs and roles performed within or even outside the company will change. You may find that sharing a document is no longer necessary or you may just want to change the permission options that were granted, as shown in Figure 13.4, originally.

To view or change these permissions, take the following steps:

  1. Open OneDrive from within your Microsoft 365 account online. (login.microsoft.com)
Figure 13.7 – Opening OneDrive from within Microsoft 365

Figure 13.7 – Opening OneDrive from within Microsoft 365

  1. Click on the Shared link located in the Sharing status column for the desired file, as shown:
Figure 13.8 – Shared icon for file

Figure 13.8 – Shared icon for file

  1. A Manage Access pane will open on the side of the screen. You will see the people that have shared access or any access to the file located in the Direct access section. Click the drop-down arrow next to the person that you would like to change permissions for and select the desired permission, as shown:
Figure 13.9 – Opening OneDrive

Figure 13.9 – Opening OneDrive

This pane can also be used to add or manage the files or folder permissions through the OneDrive desktop app for Windows 10. For other Window versions, this screen could look slightly different. Let’s now look at another useful app used within Outlook to help you collaborate with others, which is one of my favorite applications that I have been using for over 10 years and is now integrated within Outlook.

OneNote

Great applications don’t always work well together, but with Outlook and OneNote, it can’t get a great deal better than this. I use OneNote as a place to write my notes and create content when I start a new project or create a new course. OneNote was released back in 2003 and is an application that allows you to capture information in one location and organize that information in an electronic version of a notepad. If you want to save paper and help the environment, I suggest you take a serious look into using this application. Although it has been around for almost two decades, many people have never used it.

Once you start a new project, I would suggest that you first open OneNote and create a new notebook for that project. There are several ways that you can organize notebooks to your liking and your imagination is the limit.

To create a new workbook in OneNote, take the following steps:

  1. Open OneNote by clicking Start | Programs | OneNote.
  2. To create a new notebook and save it in the cloud, click File | New | OneDrive.
Figure 13.10 – Creating a new OneNote notebook in the cloud

Figure 13.10 – Creating a new OneNote notebook in the cloud

  1. Enter a name for the notebook and click Create.
Figure 13.11 – Naming the notebook

Figure 13.11 – Naming the notebook

  1. If prompted, you can share the notebook by entering the email IDs of the individuals you wish to share the notebook with. Click Not now.
Figure 13.12 – Notebook created

Figure 13.12 – Notebook created

  1. You have now created a notebook and can start writing notes and adding sections at the top of the page (like adding chapters to a book). You can also add pages over at the right of the notebook. You can click anywhere on the page and start typing and you can copy and paste information from the internet or other locations and start building your notebook.

Let’s now go to Outlook and see how it can be integrated with OneNote.

Activating Send to OneNote in Outlook

You will need to turn on the feature for Outlook to send information to OneNote.

To do this, click File | Options | Advanced. Scroll down to the Other heading and ensure the Use Send to OneNote with OneNote for Windows 10, if available text box is selected, then click OK.

Figure 13.13 – Using Send to OneNote

Figure 13.13 – Using Send to OneNote

If you are using an operating system prior to Windows 10, you will need to install the COM add-in for versions prior to Outlook 2016. I like to think that by activating this feature, you are turning Outlook into a project management application with OneNote integration.

Now, we will not only be able to share emails between the two applications, but we will also be able to integrate with Outlook’s to-do list and calendar features as well.

Sending Outlook items to a OneDrive notebook

Let’s now copy our email messages and meeting invitations to OneNote by using the Send to OneNote button:

  1. Select the item or items that you want to copy into OneNote.
  2. Click Send to OneNote.
Figure 13.14 – Send to OneNote

Figure 13.14 – Send to OneNote

  1. From Pick a section or a page in which to put the e-mail, select the OneDrive location to save the information to and click OK.
Figure 13.15 – Selected notebook

Figure 13.15 – Selected notebook

  1. Each of the email messages that were selected will appear as a separate page inside of the workbook. The first page is untitled but can be renamed as preferred. The other pages have for their titles whatever the subject of the email that was selected is. In this example, I selected email messages but had I selected a calendar item or task, they also would have been copied over.
Figure 13.16 – Email copied to OneNote pages

Figure 13.16 – Email copied to OneNote pages

If there had been any attachments in the selected messages, links would be available to open the attachment from this page.

Not only can we easily send information to OneNote, but OneNote also has the integration built into its interface to work with Outlook.

Let’s demonstrate this by creating items within OneNote to integrate with Outlook.

Emailing notes to OneNote

Another great feature of OneNote is the ability to take meeting notes (or record meetings) and send that information through Outlook to your recipients. Usually, you would have to do this with copy and paste but this feature is also built into OneDrive:

  1. Enter the meeting notes or information into OneNote on a page. When it’s ready to send, click Email Page.
Figure 13.17 – Emailing a page from OneNote

Figure 13.17 – Emailing a page from OneNote

  1. Next, Outlook will open with the OneNote page showing in the email. If any email IDs are identified in the message, they will appear in the To section; otherwise, you will be able to enter the email IDs, as shown:
Figure 13.18 – New email page

Figure 13.18 – New email page

No more copy and pasting and rearranging the email. This will automatically be laid out for you. I am always amazed at the new features that come out of Outlook and although this feature has been here for some time, it is really underused. Give it a try, I’m sure you will agree! Now, there is more; let’s learn how to create a task out of a OneNote item.

Creating Outlook tasks from OneNote

There are several templates within OneNote to help you set up a quick page or, as in my case, use a template for your budget meeting. Once the page is ready, we can send this item to an Outlook task right from within OneNote:

  1. Click Insert | Page Templates. Select the desired template from the right pane and fill in any data as needed.
Figure 13.19 – Page Templates

Figure 13.19 – Page Templates

I especially like using this for meeting notes. You should take some time to look through the Insert ribbon as there are some features I really like, such as the record feature, which not only records but also syncs the time with the recording. It’s truly amazing.

  1. Once the page is completed, you can send the page to an Outlook task by clicking Home | Outlook Tasks and then selecting the flag icon.
Figure 13.20 – Creating an Outlook task

Figure 13.20 – Creating an Outlook task

  1. Open the Outlook tasks pane and the task will now be in your task list.
Figure 13.21 – OneNote created a task

Figure 13.21 – OneNote created a task

  1. Click on the task link to open the OneNote page with the details of the task in one place.

Outlook is a wonderful application but when you collaborate with OneNote within your Office suite, it can be powerful and such a great productivity tool that can save you hours and hours within your day.

Now, let’s discuss the power of Teams and how it can enhance your collaborative experience even more.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of applications and has been allowing teams to work together since 2017. It is a collaboration tool that is used online and is gaining in popularity among businesses. To use Teams, you need a Microsoft 365 license. There is a free version but it is very limited.

Outlook has built-in features to allow collaboration with Teams, and these Outlook features are what I will be describing.

Some of the advantages of using Teams are the following:

  • Provides a platform and a central location for groups of people to collaborate on a subject.
  • Using chat within teams instead of emails
  • Working with others in real time on a document
  • Instantly viewing likes, @mentions, or replies
  • Adding files, notes, websites, and apps that are needed by the team

Let’s now discuss integrating with Teams from within Outlook.

Sending an email message to Teams

Outlook’s team integration has improved over the past years. It is now easier than ever to send an email message from within Outlook to Teams by using the built-in Share to Teams button:

  1. Select the message or messages that you want to send to Teams. Currently, you can only send one message at a time. Click Home | Share to Teams.
Figure 13.22 – Share to Teams

Figure 13.22 – Share to Teams

  1. Enter a name for the email you are sharing and a message to be included, as shown, and then click Share.
Figure 13.23 – Share to Teams

Figure 13.23 – Share to Teams

  1. A message will appear indicating that your email is on its way to Teams! You can click either Go to Teams or Close.
Figure 13.24 – Email on its way

Figure 13.24 – Email on its way

  1. To view the email within Teams, click on Chat and the email will appear at the bottom of the Chat pane. Your team will be able to continue the conversation about this email using the controls at the bottom of the window.
Figure 13.25 – Teams

Figure 13.25 – Teams

Moving an email to Teams is a great way to start a conversation. Try this instead of writing an email. What I like is you don’t need to wait for everyone to receive your email. The entire team will be able to see your message and collaborate. Once you use this feature, you will probably agree with me that it really can help you and your team save time.

Let’s now show how you can create a Teams meeting through Outlook.

Creating a Teams meeting within Outlook

Keeping everyone informed is quite a difficult task, especially if your team is scattered around the world, working remotely. Video conferencing has become the norm for most corporations and that is here to stay. Outlook now integrates with Teams by creating meetings that you can hold within Teams and since Outlook’s 2019 version and later, creating those meetings is made easier:

  1. To create a Teams meeting, click Home | New Items | Meeting. The shortcut key for this is Ctrl + Shift + Q.
Figure 13.26 – New meeting

Figure 13.26 – New meeting

There are several alternative ways to create a Teams meeting from any window inside of Outlook. At the bottom of the preceding Teams meeting menu is an option that will give you the same results as selecting Meeting; however, this will not be available in every view for New Items, such as from the People icon.

  1. Fill in the desired information for the attendee information, such as who is invited, the time, the location, and the message body. For additional details, click Meeting | Meeting Options and select the desired options from the Meeting Options dialog box that pertain to running the meeting.
Figure 13.27 – Meeting Options

Figure 13.27 – Meeting Options

  1. Click Save in the Meeting Options dialog box and the Save button will change to a Close button. Click Close. I would recommend taking a second look at the message of the meeting and ensuring that the details are accurate before clicking Send.
Figure 13.28 – Sending a meeting invite

Figure 13.28 – Sending a meeting invite

  1. The meeting will be sent to the recipient’s email. The recipients should use the respond buttons in the email to let the sender know whether they will be attending or not.
Figure 13.29 – Teams meeting request email

Figure 13.29 – Teams meeting request email

  1. Accepting the meeting will automatically create a calendar item for you and on the day of the meeting, you can open the calendar event and click Join or you can also click on Click here to join the meeting in the email sent to you.

I find it very convenient to have Teams meetings showing on my calendar. This of course works best if everyone is on Exchange Microsoft 365 and, if not, you may have some problems with people being able to interact with your email.

The Teams meeting add-in is automatically installed if you have Teams and Office 2013 or later installed on your system and the button will be found on the calendar ribbon. However, I like to start a Teams meeting with the New Items button on the Home ribbon. Either way is fine; just choose the best method for you.

This will lead us to our next item to discuss, which is the Outlook group tool. This tool is another option for you to consider using to collaborate with your teams.

Outlook groups

An Outlook group is a group that can be created in Microsoft 365 that brings together a group of people into a central group inbox for collaborating, such as sending and receiving emails. When you create the group, a shared workspace with SharePoint and other Microsoft 365 apps will also be created. Do not confuse an Outlook group, also referred to as a Microsoft 365 group, with a contact group or distribution list, which was explained in Chapter 7, Contacts in Outlook.

Creating an Outlook group

If you do not see the New Group button on the Home tab ribbon on the Peoples pane, then you will need to talk with your IT department and have them enable the group feature for your organization. Then, take the following steps:

  1. Open the contacts or select the People button on the navigation pane.
  2. Click Home | New Group, fill in the desired fields in the Create Group window, then click Create.
Figure 13.30 – Creating a group

Figure 13.30 – Creating a group

A green checkmark will appear next to the name and email address if they are available. You must choose another name if the green checkmark does not appear and a message will appear letting you know that it is not available. The following lists each field in the Create Group dialog box:

  • Group name: Create a memorable name for the group. This name can only be changed or edited by the group owner.
  • Description: Enter a description that will help others to identify what the group’s purpose is; keep in mind that this text will be included in a welcome email for the group participants.
  • Sensitivity: These items will be set up by your administrator. An example would be confidential or public.
  • Privacy: Select whether this should be a public or private group.
  • Send all group email and events to members’ inboxes: Select this box to enable members to see all of the group’s conversations. Members can deselect this setting if they would like for their own mailboxes.

Now, let’s add members to the group.

  1. Add the members that you want to be included in this group by entering the email IDs and clicking Enter. Enter as many names as necessary and they will populate the members-to-be-added group.
  2. Click Add Members once all the names are added. You may also enter the email IDs of people outside of the Exchange network.
Figure 13.31 – Adding members to a group

Figure 13.31 – Adding members to a group

  1. The navigation pane for email will show the name of the new group in the Groups section. As mail is delivered into this group, you can view it here in the Groups section or in your email account. A welcome email will also be sent to the members of the group as they are added. (If you are not seeing any emails in the group after running a test email, you will need to close Outlook and open the application again for the mail to populate in the Groups section.)
Figure 13.32 – Groups in the navigation pane

Figure 13.32 – Groups in the navigation pane

  1. To make any changes to the group members or other settings, click on the group name in the navigation pane, then click Home | Group Settings. Make the desired changes.
Figure 13.33 – Group Settings

Figure 13.33 – Group Settings

You can still choose which method you want to use to collaborate with others on emails and other items. I like to use this Groups feature to be able to find my groups from one quick location when I want to collaborate with a group of people via email. I especially enjoy being able to devote 100% of my attention to the group when needed without having my other emails scattered throughout the list.

Mobile phones

Synchronizing your contacts with your smartphone will allow you to be connected on the go and is a great way to always have your data available as long as you have access to an internet connection. Mobile phones today use satellite communication to make calls and this technology can be converted into internet data signals, which allows us to check our email without a Wi-Fi connection. By installing the Outlook mobile app add-in on your mobile devices, you can sync your Outlook emails, contacts, calendars, and task items between your Outlook Microsoft 365 account and your mobile device.

To install the Outlook mobile app on your mobile phone, take the following steps:

  1. From your phone’s app store, install the Outlook app on your mobile device. Your phone should come with a preinstalled icon for the app store. For Apple, go to apps.apple.com and for Android go to play.google.com.
  2. After installing the app, find the Outlook app on your mobile phone screen and open it. When the Outlook window opens, click Get Started.
  3. When prompted by the app, enter the email ID associated with your Microsoft 365 account and click on Add Account.
  4. When prompted, enter your Microsoft 365 password, then click Sign In.
  5. You may be prompted to verify that it is you. This could be through a test message, a phone call, or an authenticator app, depending on your level of security. After entering the provided code, click on Verify. Once you enter the verify prompts, you will be able to click Sign In.
  6. You will now be successfully signed in. Your emails will start to automatically sync to your mobile phone from your desktop Microsoft 365 account.

A tutorial should also be sent to you to learn how to use the Outlook app on your mobile device. The store will have several apps that you may want to consider using. I especially enjoy the OneNote app for my phone, which allows me to sync my OneNote with my Microsoft 365 account.

Note 

You can only sync the calendar and contacts with accounts that use the Exchange network. 

Add-ins

Add-ins are programs that help automate Outlook with more functionality. Microsoft has partnered with companies to build apps that function with Outlook and help you to be more productive. Some of these add-ins are built within Outlook and others can be downloaded for free or for a fee from the Office store:

  1. To get add-ins in Outlook, click Home | Get Add-ins. This button will only be present in an Exchange account. If you have Exchange and this option is not available, you can activate it by clicking File | Options | Customize Ribbon. Select All Commands from the Choose commands from drop-down list. Scroll down through the list, select Get Add-ins [Browse Add-ins], and add it to the ribbon menu on the right (click the Add button), as shown:
Figure 13.34 – Getting add-ins

Figure 13.34 – Getting add-ins

  1. Select the add-in that you would like to install and follow the prompts to download it.

Now, let’s explore the problems with add-ins.

Problems with add-ins

Sometimes, add-ins become unstable and do not run properly. If you notice this happening, you can click on the File | Info | Manage COM Add-ins button.

Figure 13.35 – Manage COM Add-ins

Figure 13.35 – Manage COM Add-ins

This will show you any add-ins that could be causing you problems and give possible solutions for the problem. If Outlook has identified decreased performance or has crashed, you would see a list of those problems in the Slow and Disabled Add-ins dialog box.

Managing add-ins

In this section, let’s understand how to manage add-ins:

  1. To manage and acquire web add-ins for Outlook, click on File | Info | Manage Add-ins.
Figure 13.36 – Manage Add-ins

Figure 13.36 – Manage Add-ins

This will open your outlook.office.com online account with the store opened to Add-Ins for Outlook. You can search for specific items you may want to find in this window.

Figure 13.37 – All add-ins

Figure 13.37 – All add-ins

  1. On the left side of this Add-Ins for Outlook page, you can click My add-ins to view any add-ins for Outlook.
Figure 13.38 – My add-ins

Figure 13.38 – My add-ins

  1. Click on the Admin-managed tab to view any add-ins that are controlled by your administrators for your account.
Figure 13.39 – Admin-managed add-ins

Figure 13.39 – Admin-managed add-ins

New add-ins are being added to Outlook quite often and others are being rebranded with another name, as we have seen with Insights being rebranded as Viva Insights, which now shows on the ribbon next to the Get Add-ins button.

Figure 13.40 – Viva Insights add-in

Figure 13.40 – Viva Insights add-in

Once you open Viva Insights, you can easily set an out-of-office message and receive emails to inform you how you are doing with responding to people’s emails, as well as several other insights.

This is like your personal built-in assistant.

Figure 13.41 – Viva Insights pane

Figure 13.41 – Viva Insights pane

Add-ins are very easy to manage and use. They are intuitive and with artificial intelligence now being used in Outlook, these add-ins seem to know exactly what you need when you need it. I often find myself wondering how I ever got along without all these tools that are now available.

Let’s now talk about an old technology that still exists today, called the RSS feed. However, I think this technology is slowly becoming extinct due to the increased use of mobile devices and having data from the internet and updates available to us in real time.

RSS feed

You can use Outlook as an RSS reader to read real-time updates from websites that publish updates in a program called an RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a program that is provided to show updates to a website instantly. It is not as popular as it was in the past, which is due to the advancement of the web in the ability to report updates in real time instantly now through other means, such as social media, and our ability to always be online with our phones, tablets, and other media devices.

RSS feeds are created and maintained by a website publisher and include a list of articles or other types of data that are maintained within the feed, with the newest items appearing at the top of the list.

This has been a benefit for many news sites or podcast providers that are constantly updating their sites with new content. The advantage to linking Outlook to this is the distribution of new content will automatically feed into the RSS feed folder and you can view the new content of blogs, websites, social media, and podcasts within Outlook instantly.

Creating an RSS feed

To create an RSS feed within Outlook, take the following steps:

  1. Select how you want to synchronize RSS feeds to the Common Feed List (CFL) in Windows. Click File | Options | Advanced. Click on the box to select Synchronize RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List (CFL) in Windows.
Figure 13.42 – Advanced options | Synchronize RSS Feeds

Figure 13.42 – Advanced options | Synchronize RSS Feeds

Once you make this selection, you can change it at any time later.

  1. Access the web page desired and choose the RSS icon or button for the content you desire to receive. The RSS icon usually looks like a radio transmitter or a button with RSS or XML. Click on the RSS icon to access the page that has the code for the RSS feed.
  2. Copy the address for the feed from step 2 and subscribe to an RSS feed from within Outlook’s navigation pane by right-clicking on RSS Feeds and selecting Add a New RSS Feed….
Figure 13.43 – RSS Feeds

Figure 13.43 – RSS Feeds

  1. Paste the copied address into the Enter the location of the RSS Feed you want to add to Outlook field. You will need to use the shortcut key to paste in the box, which is Ctrl + V.
  2. Click Add.
Figure 13.44 – New RSS feed

Figure 13.44 – New RSS feed

  1. Next, a dialog box will ask you to confirm that you want to add the RSS feed subscriptions and warn you that you should ensure you trust the source as viruses can be transmitted this way. Click Advanced….
Figure 13.45 – Confirmation for RSS feed addition

Figure 13.45 – Confirmation for RSS feed addition

  1. Enter a name in the Feed Name box. This is the name that will appear in the navigation pane when you select the RSS feed subscription. Click OK to return to the Add this RSS Feed to Outlook? confirmation and then click Yes.
Figure 13.46 – Advanced RSS Feed Options dialog box

Figure 13.46 – Advanced RSS Feed Options dialog box

The Advanced RSS Feeds dialog box has additional options you may want to explore.

Viewing an RSS feed

Let’s see how to view an RSS feed:

  1. Select the folder under RSS Feeds that you want to view.
  2. The RSS feed downloaded messages will appear in the working window. An additional feature when this is selected is that the Home tab will have an RSS button, which will let you select additional buttons to download, share, or view the downloaded feed or articles on the web.
Figure 13.47 – Viewing the RSS feed folder

Figure 13.47 – Viewing the RSS feed folder

Feeds to the folder will be updated automatically as new content is created on the website. Any new feeds will appear at the top of the list automatically.

Deleting an RSS feed

When you no longer want to see an RSS feed, you can delete it from the navigation pane by right-clicking on the name of the RSS feed and selecting Delete Folder.

Figure 13.48 – Deleting an RSS feed

Figure 13.48 – Deleting an RSS feed

The RSS feed name and all the emails in the folder will be deleted. You also will not receive any messages to this feed any longer.

Summary

The cloud is here to stay, and in this chapter, we discussed several of the possibilities you have to collaborate with others by using cloud technology. By saving items to the cloud, it makes it convenient and easy to share files, pictures, OneNote workbooks, and groups and even integrate with Microsoft Teams. Teams has proven to be one of the finest ways to get your members together, either within your place of business or remotely. These tools can be used together or separately, with others or by you alone; the possibilities are endless, and you can decide which tools will or will not work for you.

In the next chapter, we will discuss several rules that you can create to enhance your Outlook environment. Although we already discussed creating rules in Chapter 4, Organizing your Outlook Environment, you will not want to skip over this next chapter if you truly want to work smartly with Outlook as you will learn how to create several rules that can save time within your workday. Or, after you apply these rules, you can grab a cup of coffee and sit back and feel confident that Outlook is at work, allowing you a few extra minutes or even hours.

Questions

  1. Where can I find Translator for Outlook?
  2. Why is the Teams add-in not in my Outlook?
  3. I have a button on the Home ribbon called Viva Insights, what is this?
  4. Where can I get more information about add-ins?
  5. With groups, what collaboration tools are included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions?

Answers

  1. Translator for Outlook is an app that you can purchase in the Microsoft Store and is used to translate documents. The translation will appear on the right of the reading pane when selected and will display the translated text in the language you have requested. The link for downloading the translator can be found in the Further reading section.
  2. One possible answer is that the Teams add-in was disabled. To check this, click File | Options | Add-ins. Confirm that the Microsoft Teams meeting add-in for Microsoft Office is on the list. Select Com Add-ins | Go and then select Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office.
  3. Insights and My Analytics are add-ins that you may have seen on the ribbon in previous versions of Outlook. These two applications have now been rolled into one and rebranded as Viva Insights. Once you select Viva Insights, you will be able to control your time, meetings, and events and you will also start receiving emails on a regular basis from Viva Insights with analytic data, suggestions.
  4. You can access the Office store to get more information about add-ins and purchase and download them. You can get information about add-ins there, such as ratings, prices, and reviews. To access the Office store, go to appsource.microsoft.com.
  5. Upon creating a group inside of your Microsoft 365 account, you can begin collaborating with others with a set of tools that includes a shared Outlook inbox to share between group members and a SharePoint document library for sharing files. Groups will also have a shared calendar, OneNote notebook, and Planner. This is the best tool for those that prefer to collaborate through email.

Further readings

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