OneNote basics

[Naz]

Hi

I've heard a bit about OneNote and have put in a request to our IT
department to get it. They have come back and said can’t I use Outlook Public
Folders instead.
I thought that OneNote was a bit more sophisticated than Public Folders and
had functionality that Outlook folders doesn’t. Are there things OneNote can
do that Public Folders can't or should I explore Public Folders' a bit more.
I wanted OneNote to store meeting notes, create searcheable reports, and for
voice notes and eventually for tablet functions. I'm stumped by their
response.


All comments appreciated

 

[John Waller]

What do you actually want to do with OneNote?

How exactly did you convey your request to your IT Dept? i.e. what were the
reasons you gave for wanting OneNote?

Their response may be perfectly reasonable depending on what words and
reasons they heard from you. But their suggestion appears not to address the
issue you want to solve.

Perhaps they simply misunderstood why you were asking for OneNote.

 

[Naz]

Hi my exact e-words were

Reports/notes that we print into OneNote can be centrally located and more
importantly searched quickly within OneNote. Its also very good at project
management, its much more suiited to our needs than MS Project which having
used I find is more appropriate for larger complex projects with
large/scattered resources. We can also use it as a spreadsheet management
system keeping tutorials, troubleshooting for each spreadsheet in one place.

I know you can create a Outlook folders but then all you can do is move
files into it...i don't think you can realisticaly search within the files or
scan documents in.

 

[John Waller]

Sounds like "show, don't tell" might be a better approach. Demo your
suggested new approach to them.

i.e. download and install the time-limited free Trial version of OneNote.

Then create various samples using real material (reports, spreadsheets etc)
that you deal with showing them how OneNote is a better tool to use than
your existing ones such as Outlook Public Folders.

You'll find yourself building a stronger, more compelling business case.

Plus you'll learn OneNote's strengths and weaknesses as they apply to you.

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP]

I can see why they might have suggested Exchange Public folders as a
possible solution, but OneNote DOES bring a lot to the table that you won't
get with Exchange Public folders in Outlook.

For one thing easy collaborative note-taking within the same item. Also the
ability to easily tie in content from multiple sources (Word, Web, etc.)