After you receive a message (or after Outlook validates a
recipient's name in a message that you're sending), you can easily
display contact information and a history of your communications with that person.
If presence information is available, a square presence icon
appears to the left of each message participant's name. The presence
icon (more casually referred to as a jelly
bean) is color-coded to indicate the availability or
online status of the message participant, as
follows:
-
Green indicates that the message recipient is
available.
-
Red indicates that the message recipient is busy.
-
Orange indicates that the message recipient is
away.
-
White indicates that the message recipient is
offline.
Tip
This set of presence icons is used in Outlook, Windows Live
Messenger, and Microsoft Office Communicator to provide a
consistent user experience.
Depending on the environment, Outlook uses presence
information from Office Communications Server or from Windows Live
Messenger.
Pointing to a presence icon displays an interactive contact
card of information that includes options for contacting the person
by e-mail, instant message, or telephone; for scheduling a meeting;
and for working with the person's contact record.
Clicking the Expand Contact Card button displays a more extensive
range of information and interaction options.
Tip
A distribution list is a membership group created through
Exchange and available from an organization's Global Address List.
You can't create distribution lists, but you can create contact
groups, which are membership groups saved in the Outlook Contacts
module.
Clicking any of the blue links initiates contact with the
person through the stored telephone number or e-mail address,
initiates a meeting request, or, if the person is in your address
book, opens his or her contact record.
When available, the Organization tab displays information
about the contact's manager and direct reports. The Member Of tab
displays information about distribution lists the contact is a
member of. This information is available only for Exchange
accounts.
The People Pane at the bottom of the message window displays
extensive information about your previous communications with each
message participant.
In its collapsed state, the People Pane displays small
thumbnails representing each message participant. If a
person's contact record includes a photograph, the photo appears in
the People Pane. If no photograph is available, a silhouette of one
person represents an individual message participant, and a
silhouette of three people represents a distribution list.
You can expand the People Pane either by clicking the Expand
button at the right end of the pane or by dragging the horizontal
bar that appears at the top of the pane. The People Pane can occupy
only a certain percentage of the message window, so the amount you
can manually adjust the height of the People Pane is dependent on
the height of the message window.
In its expanded state, the People Pane displays either large
thumbnails or a tabbed breakdown of communications for each message
participant.
You can switch between the simple view and the detailed view by
clicking the Toggle button located near the right end of the
expanded People Pane header.
The All Items tab of the detailed view displays all your
recent communications with the selected person. If you're looking
for a specific item, such as a meeting request or a document
attached to a message, you can filter the item list by clicking any of the tabs to the left of
the list.
Tip
The detailed People Pane is available for all types of
e-mail accounts. The images in this book depict the People Pane
for an Exchange account. The People Pane for a POP3 account is
identical except that the tabs are labeled with icons only rather
than icons and words.
