Appointments :: MS Outlook for Business

Archive for Appointments

Outlook Calendar Tip: Go Straight to a Future Date rather then Browsing to it

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Do you need to make an appointment entry for a future date e.g. 20 January 2013, how can you get there?

Most of us would say:

Go to the Calendar
Change to Week View or Month View and BROWSE to the future date

You are right, this is one way of doing this BUT there is a much easier and faster way to JUMP to the future date.

Here is how you can jump straight to a future date:

Open Outlook
Go to the Calendar
Press CTRL+G on your keyword. This brings up a screen as show below:

In the Date: field, enter the future date e.g. 20-1-12
From the Show in: drop-down list select the view you would prefer
Click OK

You will now jump straight to the date entered, all you have to do is enter your appointment in the required time slot, Faster right?

Hope you find this tip useful.

If you know of other ways to make the use of Calendar easier and faster, let us know by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip

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How to Set Reminders for Outlook Emails

Posted by: standss | Comments (1)

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

Often the emails that we receive require some future actions for example to setup a meeting with a client or making a phone call on a particular date/time. Ofcourse you can create a new Appointment or a Task to do the same but in this post, I will show you how easy it is to set reminders on the email itself.

In Outlook 2010 (When a message is closed)

In your Inbox, select a message
Under the Home tab > go to the Tags group
Click Follow Up > Add Reminder
On the Custom dialog box, tick the Reminder checkbox. This activates the Reminder date and time boxes beneath the checkbox.
Select a date and time for the reminder to appear. Additionally you have the option to select what sound to play when a reminder appears by click on the Sound button.
Click OK.

The message will now be automatically flagged for follow up and the reminder will appear at the date and time specified.

In Outlook 2010 (When a message is open)

Under the Message tab > go to the Tags group
Here on the steps will be the same (as above) as when the message is closed.

In Outlook 2007 (When a message is closed)

In your Inbox, right-click the message
Click Follow Up > Add Reminder
On the Custom dialog box, tick the Reminder checkbox. This activates the Reminder date and time boxes beneath the checkbox.
Select a date and time for the reminder to appear. Additionally you have the option to select what sound to play when a reminder appears by clicking on the Sound button.
Click OK.

The message will now be automatically flagged for follow up and the reminder will appear at the date and time specified.

In Outlook 2007 (When a message is open)

On the open message window, click Follow Up on the Ribbon > Add Reminder
Here on the steps will be the same (as above) as when the message is closed.

In Outlook 2003 (When a message is closed)

In your Inbox, right-click the message
Click Follow Up > Add Reminder…
On the Flag for Follow Up dailog box, select a Due by date (and optionally a time for the reminder to appear).
Click OK

The message will now be automatically flagged for follow up and the reminder will appear at the date and time specified.

In Outlook 2003 (When a message is open)

On the open message window, click Actions on the menu
Click Follow Up > Add Reminder…
Here on the steps will be the same (as above) as when the message is closed.

Do you think that this is much easier then setting up new Appointments and Tasks?

Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Start your day with Outlook the way YOU want

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Everytime you open Outlook in the morning, the first thing you see is a inbox full of emails that you will be working on. This is how the day starts for alot of us, but this can be changed.

We are all different and we always like things which can be personalized and configured to our likings.

Do you wish to view your Calender, Contacts, Task or anything other then your Inbox (emails) in the morning?

I personally have Outlook setup to open my Calendar so I know what I had actually planned for my day. (I don’t like starting with the Inbox because it is too easy to jump into emails and start working on things that are not real priorities)

You can follow the simple steps below to change to the folder of your choice:

In Outlook 2010:

Click the File menu > Options > click Advanced on the left column
Under Outlook Start and Exit, click Browse and then choose what folder you want Outlook to show you first: Calendar, Contacts, Tasks or any of your other folders

In Outlook 2007 & 2003:

Click the Tools menu > Options
Click the Other tab, and then click Advanced Options.
Under General Settings, next to the Startup in this folder box, click Browse and then choose what folder you want Outlook to show you first: Calendar, Contacts, Tasks or any of your other folders.

Now when you start Outlook, it will display the folder that you have selected above.

Categories : Outlook Installation/Setup, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Use Outlook to create and share standard processes with others

Posted by: standss | Comments (1)

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

You can easily create templates of appointments and tasks for standard work processes and project plans with Smart Schedules for Outlook. These templates can then be used to create an entire series of appointments and tasks for new projects in the future. Do you know that you can also easily share your process templates with other Outlook users?

You can export the templates you have created in Smart Schedules into a zip file. This zip file can be sent to your members who use Smart Schedules. The templates can be easily imported into Smart Schedules from this zip file by using the import function in Smart Schedules.

Below are instructions on how to can easily share Smart Schedules Templates with others.

1. Export the Smart Schedules templates from your computer
2. Send the Zip file to your members
3. Import the Smart Schedules templates

1. Export the Smart Schedules templates from your computer (Your End)

Start Outlook and go to your Inbox
Click the Project Centre button on the Smart Schedules toolbar/ribbon
On the Project Centre window, click Create/Edit Templates under the Project Commands section
Select the templates you would like to send to your members from the list of templates (multiple templates can be selected with the use of the Ctrl or Shift key on your keyboard)
Click Export button. If the Export button is not displayed on the screen, then click on the Show Import/Export Templates link

Enter a name for the zip file and save it to a preferred location on your computer.

A zip file will be created containing the templates you selected for Export.

2. Send the Zip file to your members

You can now attach the zip file to a email and send it to the member(s).

3. Import the Smart Schedules templates (Member’s End)

You can now advice your member(s) to follow the steps below to easily import the templates into their Smart Schedules program:

Start Outlook and go to your Inbox
Click the Project Centre button on the Smart Schedules toolbar/ribbon
On the Project Centre window, click Create/Edit Templates under the Project Commands section
Click Import button. If the Import button is not displayed on the screen, then click on the Show Import/Export Templates link

This should now import the templates into the Smart Schedules program.

I hope this tip helps you get more out of the time you put into creating process templates in Smart Schedules.

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Smart Schedules for Outlook

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Reminders Showing Twice in Outlook + Solutions

Posted by: standss | Comments (3)

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Yesterday a friend of mine called for assistance regarding an unusual problem he had with Outlook Reminders. For some reason Outlook (he was using Outlook 2010) showed each of outlook calendar reminders twice. He had put up with this for sometime until it got really frustrating. Here’s how I fixed the issue.

Research on the web showed two solutions. I tried both and the second one worked.

Option 1: Use the cleanreminders switch when starting Outlook

This one did not work for him but it may be the solution that works for you.

Quit Outlook
Click Start > Run
Type Outlook.exe /cleanreminders (don’t forget the space after the exe) and press Enter

Option 2: Check your Outlook data files to see if any file is listed twice

Here’s what did work for him (I recommend you do the cleanreminders first anyway)

I checked his Outlook data files and found that his main Outlook PST was listed twice. I removed one and everything was back to the way it should be.

To check your Outlook data files:

Quit Outlook
Go to your Control Panel and double click Mail.
Select the Data File tab
IF AND ONLY IF you see the same data file listed twice, select the second one and click Remove.
Restart Outlook.

Did any of these two methods work for you. Do you have a different solution.
Please leave a comment on the blog.

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Outlook Performance

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How to organize Appointments and Tasks in Outlook by Project

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Many of us use Outlook’s appointments and tasks to manage our daily lives and projects… and yet Outlook does not give us an easy way to manage projects inside Outlook. Outlook users frequently ask us how they can see all appointments and tasks that make up a project in one place.

Why is this important? As we finish a step, it is important to know what the next steps are to get the project completed. Things also don’t always go according to plan… and we need to see what else gets affected when things change.

Our research showed that there is no simple way to organize and view tasks and appointments under projects… so we added this functionality to our Outlook Project Management addin Smart Schedules for Outlook.

With Smart Schedules for Outlook you can:

Assign existing (or new) tasks and appointments to projects
Quickly see all tasks and appointments for a project at the click of a button.

Here are step by step instructions showing you just how easy this can be:

Assign existing (or new) tasks and appointments to projects

Open Outlook and go to the Calendar/Task folder that the existing appointment/task is located in
Select the appointment/task
Click on Assign Project button on the Smart Schedules toolbar/ribbon. This will display the following screen:

Select an existing project from the Project list.
Note: You can also type in a new project name if you would like to create a new project and add this selected appointment/task to that project.
Click OK.

Quickly see all tasks and appointments for a project at the click of a button.

Smart Schedules Project Centre makes it easy to see all appointments and tasks that you have associated with a project.

On the Smart Schedules toolbar, click Project Centre
From the Project drop-down, select the Project to which you assigned the appointment or task
You will now be able to view the appointment or task assigned to the project and all other related appointments and tasks for the project as shown below:

Next Steps…

Smart Schedules for Outlook was designed with the help of almost 20,000 Outlook users. Try it for yourself today and tell us what you think.

Download a fully functional version of Smart Schedules for Outlook.

Watch a short video of our Outlook based Project Manager (Smart Schedules)

Categories : Smart Schedules for Outlook

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Questions & Answers re Smart Schedules for Outlook

Posted by: standss | Comments (3)

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Things are really starting to happen fast. We are launching Smart Schedules for Outlook on 3rd June – less than 24 hours away.

If you haven’t seen the video of how easy, fast and error-free scheduling of appointments (and tasks) in Outlook can be, take a look at the video now.

We are busy putting the finishing touches to the website and related material in place.

Actually, the software itself is complete and ready to go, we are just getting everything in order so we can handle the huge rush once we launch… after all this is being launched to more than 20,000 Outlook users.

In any case, we have been getting a HUGE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS coming in which is truly appreciated.

It seems that the information I have sent out over the last few weeks has struck a chord with many people (I think that’s the right use of the phrase) and I want to answer all your questions before the actual launch.

I suspect that we will be under a lot of pressure once we launch so I may not be able to answer questions then.

I hope that the following answers help you make up your mind about the software and snap up the 200 copies of additional software that we will be giving away.

YOUR QUESTIONS…

I’ve had a few questions with regard to both Smart Schedules and the launch process. I’ve tried to answer them below:

Q: The video showed Smart Schedules in Outlook 2007. Does Smart Schedule work in other versions of Outlook too?

A. YES. Smart Schedules works with Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010.

Q: I seem to receive your emails in the middle of the night. I don’t want to miss out on the limited software that you are giving out for early movers.

A. I have absolutely no idea how long the first 200 sales will take BUT… the emails I have received seem to indicate that demand is high. If you don’t make the first 200 because of a time zone difference, please email me within 24 hours of the launch email.

Q. Are there sample templates for my industry to help me get started?

A. Definitely. We have included templates for many industries including legal and real estate. However please use these templates as a starting point only. You need to refine them to ensure that the appointments and tasks are scheduled correctly for the way your business works.

Q. Is there a way to share my templates with other people in my organization?

A. YES! Smart Schedules lets you export and import templates easily

Q. Can I have a template with appointments/tasks scheduled both before and after the trigger date?

A. Yes. We did not originally have this but feedback from readers made it clear that this was an essential feature that you wanted.

Q. What about existing appointments and tasks? Can they be added to Projects so that they show up in the Project Centre.

A. Yes. Again this was something that readers pointed out. We appreciate your great ideas and are happy to report that this has been implemented for you to use as well.

Q: How much will Smart Schedules cost?

A. Sorry but you have to wait till tomorrow (3rd June) to find out but we will be giving a SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT to anyone who purchases during the launch week.

GET READY…
We will be launching in less than 24 hours time. Once again I wish to thank you all for taking the time to read my report, watch our video and having faith in our solutions.

Oh… one last thing: we are going to have a rock-solid guarantee for Smart Schedules for Outlook – 60 days for anyone who purchases during the launch week. I truly believe that Smart Schedules will make a dramatic change in the productivity of many users and I want to make sure you have enough time to feel its benefits.

Till tomorrow…

Have a better Outlook.

Regards,
Sanjay Singh

PS: The launch takes place in less than 24 hours. See the video now to see if you want to claim the 200 copies of extra software that we are giving away.

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Outlook as a Business Tool, Smart Schedules for Outlook

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[Video] Outlook Appointments & Tasks… the Fast, Easy ERROR-FREE way

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Since our last report, we’ve been getting a lot of emails from readers… is the video ready… I want to see if this solution will work for MY BUSINESS. So…

The video is ready… take a look right now at:

The Fast, Easy, Error Free way to Schedule, Manage and Reschedule Appointments and Tasks for all your projects… inside Outlook.

My personal favourite part of the Smart Schedules for Outlook… how I can see ALL appointments and tasks for a project in one place… it makes it so much easier to see the impact of changes.

Beta Testers have been telling us that their favourites include how quick and easy it is to create ALL appointments and tasks for a process from a template…. and how easy it is to ACCURATELY reschedule multiple appointments when there is a change in a deadline.

We’d love to hear what you like so please let us know after you see the video.

Regards,
Sanjay Singh

PS: We are giving away a limited quantity of other software as part of the launch. Take a look at the video now to find out if this solution works for you.

PSS: Then, if you have the time, I would appreciate any feedback you can send me on the video… send us a email at news@standss.com. And…don’t forget to send us any questions you have on our new software.

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Outlook as a Business Tool, Smart Schedules for Outlook

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Are Outlook Appointments and Tasks too DUMB for use in real business?

Posted by: standss | Comments (1)

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

You may have noticed that I dedicate a lot of time to getting the most out of Outlook for my (and hopefully your) business – just look at the emails and blog articles I send you.

So I was abit surprised (confused?) during lunch when two of my friends (a lawyer and a real estate agent) commented that they do NOT think that Outlook’s Tasks and Appointments were SMART enough tools for their businesses.

They were both using Outlook but were frequently finding that when they relied on their Outlook calendar, they were RUSHING about in the last minute trying to meet DEADLINES due to INCORRECT entries…

These guys are both extremely competent highly professional people… if they were having problems then I was sure that many other people would be having similar problems.

So I decided to do some research… to try and understand what they actually meant… and hopefully find a solution.

Their problem was that they needed to enter a SERIES of related appointments and tasks into Outlook (sort of like a process)… based on the start date for the real estate agent and the end date (generally a court date) for the lawyer.

It was TIME-CONSUMING and ERROR-PRONE to do this by hand each time…
sometimes some steps were missed or entered on the wrong date.

The problem was made worse because invariably there was a change in a critical date which required RESCHDEULING of multiple items and… it wasn’t easy to find and change them all in Outlook.

It wasn’t uncommon to miss updating one or more appointments.. and unfortunately THE SIMPLEST STEP BECOMES THE MOST CRITICAL AS SOON
AS IT IS MISSED!

The good news is that we have been working on something that I hope to release in the next month or so.

But before we do that… we thought we better make sure that we were understanding the problem properly.

Could you give us a couple of minutes of your time to answer two simple questions:

1. Why does your industry need to enter a series of appointments (and
tasks) into Outlook?

2. What are some of the problems of doing this in Outlook at the
moment?

Please type in a quick response and send it to news@standss.com

With so many readers, I can’t guarantee a personal response… but
I can guarantee that I will personally read your email.

That’s all for now… Wishing you a better Outlook.

Regards,
Sanjay Singh

P.S. I really DO value your input in getting things right. Why
does your industry need to enter a series of appointments (and
tasks) into Outlook? and… What are some of the problems of doing
this in Outlook at the moment?

Please send your response Now to news@standss.com

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Coming Up… Smarter ways of Scheduling Outlook Appointments (and Tasks)

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

We’ve had a lot of requests from readers in the past for something to make appointments and tasks more effective… we realise that most of our past reports and addins have focussed on email productivity.

But… recent conversations with other Outlook users and reader emails are telling us that simple scheduling errors have been causing a lot of stress for many people.

So… we have been working on a system that helps you create not only individual appointments and tasks but ENTIRE SCHEDULES of them.

And then lets you monitor them… and RESCHEDULE them in case dates change (as they always do)… all INSIDE Outlook.

We’re aiming to ELIMINATE almost all HUMAN-ERROR from the process.

I’m not quite ready to show you the result yet… but keep your eyes on your Inbox.

More about the project later in the week…

Regards,
Sanjay Singh

Categories : Outlook Calendar Tip, Outlook as a Business Tool

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