Dialing Contacts directly from Outlook

[a062916]

I would love to be able to have Outlook automatically dial my contacts
(rather than looking up someon's phone #) and then manually dialing it. It
appears that the software is able to do this. My laptop is equipped with a
modem. My question is: how do I set this up? Simply stated, what gets
plugged in where? I have a high speed cable internet connection and digital
land line telephone service from the same provider.
Would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

 

[Russ Valentine]

Outlook is not a dialer. It simply hands off to the Windows dialer which has
always has required an analog phone line and a modem. I don't see those
listed among your options.

 

[a062916]

Thanks Russ. So, since I have digital phone service (not analog), you're
saying I won't be able to use this feature; is that right?

 

[Russ Valentine]

Again, Outlook is not in play here. But no, the Windows dialer cannot use
digital lines.

 

[Gary Gary]

It is unbelievable how Microsoft missed this. Imagine just right clicking
any number, in a document, webpage, email message, etc, then clicking the
drop down menu item "Dial Number" and poof, you're talking to the person
as if they were in front of you, without fussing with the phone. It makes
no sense not to integrate all our communication needs which are: email,
instant messaging, phone, SMS and fax. Did I leave anything out?

I seem to remember Cisco had some sort of communication package that was
designed for small to large offices. Surely this could be used for the
home office. There are lots of programs that will turn your computer into
a voicemail system and integrating that incoming data with a database. If
anyone knows about outgoing programs controlling phone dialing, please let
us know. They may be called contact managers or something like that.

VOIP packages are making some progress here but unfortunately unless you
have something like a T10 connection, VOIP sucks. If you value your
communication quality VOIP is the last thing you'll use in the home. And
if you make money from your telephone conversations, the same thing
applies. So for quality we need POTS (plain old telephone service) that
has perfect audio quality and handoff, integrated with our computers.

 

[Russ Valentine]

Microsoft didn't "miss" anything. Outlook is was never intended to be CRM
software. Feel free to purchase some.

 

[Steven L.]

I would love to be able to have Outlook automatically dial my contacts
(rather than looking up someon's phone #) and then manually dialing it. It
appears that the software is able to do this. My laptop is equipped with a
modem. My question is: how do I set this up? Simply stated, what gets
plugged in where? I have a high speed cable internet connection and digital
land line telephone service from the same provider.
Would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

If you've got your laptop's modem connected to a phone jack via the
usual phone cable, then you're already set up.

Go into Contacts, double-click on the contact you want to phone.

What happens next depends on which version of Outlook you have.
In Outlook 2007, you'll see "Call" in the Communicate section of the
Ribbon at the top of the contact.

Just go there and select "New Call..."
Then select "Dialing Options..." and make sure everything is set up
properly for your phone.

 

[Russ Valentine]

You do realize that this will accomplish nothing that the OP wanted, right?

 

[Gary Gary]

Yes - when a company misses the opportunity to improve people's
productivity its a great loss.

 

[Gary Gary]

Russ, what news reader are you using? The headers say Windows Mail. Does
that mean you're using Windows Live Mail as a newsreader? The previous
posts are grayed out and only the last post is transmitted, deleting all
the previous posts. Not good. Anybody joining the discussion has no idea
what the past is of the thread. Why does Microsoft insist on using the
worst fonts possible....light gray on glaring white background. Bizarre.

 

[Russ Valentine]

Windows Mail. This group will display fine in any newsreader. I suspect are
using something else. Never use a web interface.

 

[Russ Valentine]

Repeating, Outlook was never intended to be CRM software. It does not need
anything to add to its bloat.
Choose the right software for the right purpose. That's up to you.

 

[Gary Gary]

You mean Windows Live Mail? I'm using Operamail. A great newsreader but
obviously a little incompatible with WLM.

 

[Russ Valentine]

No. I don't mean Windows Live Mail.
At any rate, all posts in the thread display just fine. Are you connecting
directly to the microsoft public new server or someone else's mirror?

 

[Jay Burleigh]

I would love to be able to have Outlook automatically dial my contacts
(rather than looking up someon's phone #) and then manually dialing it. It
appears that the software is able to do this. My laptop is equipped with a
modem. My question is: how do I set this up? Simply stated, what gets
plugged in where? I have a high speed cable internet connection and digital
land line telephone service from the same provider.
Would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

So it late but for the benefit of others....
If by digital line you mean VOIP then I suggest you use menudex. It will call outlook contacts.
You will also need a softphone. To find one you like search for wiki softphone.

 

[Jay Burleigh]

I would love to be able to have Outlook automatically dial my contacts
(rather than looking up someon's phone #) and then manually dialing it. It
appears that the software is able to do this. My laptop is equipped with a
modem. My question is: how do I set this up? Simply stated, what gets
plugged in where? I have a high speed cable internet connection and digital
land line telephone service from the same provider.
Would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

Sorry for the late reply but if by "digital land line telephone service" you mean VOIP then Menudex www.menudex.com.au will do the job for you. You will also need a softphone, just search for wiki softphone.