People Pane and Outlook Social Connector

This blog continues the series of new features of Outlook 2010 and looks at the People Pane and Outlook Social Connector. The People pane is available on many of the Outlook windows and consolidates all of the Outlook items associated with a contact. The Outlook Social Connector (OSC) allows users to integrate Outlook with Sharepoint, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social networks, enabling you to manage your professional network within Outlook.


People Pane

The People pane is extremely useful because it consolidates e-mail, calendar items, tasks, journals, and social network activity related to a specific contact and displays these items in one location. The displayed Outlook items can be opened by clicking on the item, which are displayed as a hyperlinks. The People pane is displayed below the Reading pane in the Inbox.

The People pane is also available at the on individual e-mails and contact records. Within the People pane, you can:

• choose which Outlook items to display
• open a related Outlook item
• reply to or forward an item
• apply an action (categorize or flag).

The People pane view can be used change to display the contacts associated with select e-mail message, and the Outlook information related to that contact is displayed when the contact is selected. The People pane can be collapsed or expanded by clicking on the small up or down arrow at the top right of the People pane.

The People pane can be turned off or displayed in normal or minimized view by using the People Pane button in People Pane group on the View ribbon.

Outlook Social Connector (OSC)
The OSC works in conjunction with the People pane to connect Outlook 2010 with your social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook. This allows you and other Outlook 2010 users to stay up to date with social network posts while in Outlook.

In order to connect Outlook to a social networking site, you will need to install a provider file for that site.

Follow the steps below to connect to one of your social networking sites.

1. Select or open an e-mail in your Inbox and open the People pane. Make sure your contact is selected in the People pane.
2. Click on the Add button below the picture in the People pane and choose Next or on another social network depending on the options.
3. Click on the View social network providers available online link. A web page will open with options for social networks.
4. Click on the social network of your choice and download the provider file needed to communicate with the OSC. You will need to download and install a provider file for each social network to which you want to connect.

After downloading and installing the provider file for the social network, you will be prompted to close and restart Outlook. After doing so, follow the steps below to connect to your social network.

1. Select or open an e-mail in your Inbox and open the People pane. Make sure your contact is selected in the People pane.
2. Click on the Add button below the picture in the People pane and choose Next or on another social network depending on the options.
3. Select the social network link and add your account information.
4. Click Connect and then Finish.

You will see the icon for the social networking sites displayed below your contact picture in the People pane. Your social networking posts and updates will be listed in the People pane, and you can go directly to the social networking site by clicking on one of these links or by clicking on the social networking icon.

Enjoy using the People pane and the OSC!