Putting Contacts into Action

The Contacts folder is a good place to start when you begin using Outlook. You should enter all your contacts' information first because so many other features interact with the Contacts database. If you want to send an email or fax, schedule a meeting, or send a task request to someone, it is easier if you have the right data in your Contacts database.

You can view your contacts in a number of different ways, but the most common view is the Address Card view, shown in Figure 16.1. If you use Outlook 2003 or later, you'll see a place to import a digital picture of your contact.

Figure 16.1. The Address Card view in the Contacts folder shows you partial information for several contacts at once.

Outlook offers the usual business card and Rolodex fields, such as addresses, phone numbers , and email addresses. It also offers some not-so-common fields, such as anniversary date, government ID number, and ISDN number.