Within the digital period, contacts have turn out to be more and more vital. They assist customers to create new relationships and nurture present ones, which type constructing blocks to lasting relationships that allow customers to do extra.

We regularly hear from our customers that their contacts get stale over time, and they want them to replace robotically. Our customers also discover organizing contacts difficult. They need an simple method of organizing contacts into related classes of individuals from mail, calendar, and Individuals hub.  

You requested and we delivered 

We perceive and recognize this want and have some thrilling information to share with you! Right now, we’re happy to announce that we’ve launched a brand new set of clever experiences that will help you higher entry and handle your contacts:

1. Self-updating contacts (for enterprise customers solely) to at all times maintain contacts updated. 
2. Contact classes to simply manage, discover, and join with contacts. 
3. New contact editor so as to add, replace, and handle contacts. 
4. Upgraded Individuals hub to view, handle, and collaborate with contacts.

All the brand new contacts you add from the folks card of an individual belonging to your group can be self-updating contacts. These contacts robotically keep updated primarily based on the group listing. Any modifications made to contact particulars, resembling cellphone quantity, division designation, and many others., will robotically be up to date within the contact. 

We additionally be sure that customers can select what info to persist of their contacts with out dropping any knowledge. Customers can select whether or not they want to maintain their private edits or override their edits with the instructed replace. No extra stale contacts! 

A picture of the Individuals card demonstrating the brand new self-updating contact function (for enterprise customers solely) in OWA.

Set up contacts utilizing Classes 

Shifting away from the standard method of organizing contacts, we’re introducing Classes—a brand new, simple, trendy, and versatile method of managing contacts changing the prevailing folders. Classes are identical to tags; you’ll be able to apply these tags to contacts to group contacts into desired classes. 

Categorizing helps selectively view contacts related to that class for sooner retrieval and collaboration. You may add classes to a contact from their folks card in mail, calendar, or within the Individuals hub.  

Your present folders are migrated to classes, and you may see them as classes within the left navigation pane. Contacts that have been in a selected folder(s) are stamped with classes that share the identical identify because the folder. These will be accessed by clicking on the class within the left navigation pane.

New contact editor 

Introducing our new contact editor, which brings a brand new and higher visible expertise. The brand new contact editor permits you to create, replace, and categorize contacts, and handle them from the e-mail, calendar, and Individuals hub so you’ll be able to focus in your core job whereas concurrently managing your contacts. 

A picture demonstrating how contacts are migrated to Classes within the Individuals hub.

Individuals hub

The abovementioned new experiences and the Outlook Net App (OWA) Individuals hub are powered by the brand new, wealthy, and clever contacts schema. 

What are you able to do in Individuals hub?  

• View, handle, and manage your contacts
• Create and handle private contact lists
• Entry vital contacts by favoriting them
• Shortly name, message, and electronic mail contacts/contact lists 
• All of this and extra!

Please Notice: Customers will not be capable to entry Public Folders contacts from Individuals Hub in Outlook Net App. Please go to Individuals Hub in Outlook desktop to view and handle Public Folder(s) contacts. 

How are you going to entry the brand new contacts options? 

Signal into OWA and choose the Individuals icon  within the left navigation pane that exhibits a listing of apps inside Outlook.  

We’re listening! 

Our objective is to make it simpler so that you can handle contacts with our newest expertise within the Individuals hub. With this newest replace, we hope you will discover it simpler to entry and handle your contacts.

Tell us how you are feeling about these options. When you have any questions, suggestions, recommendations, or any points to report, please submit it within the weblog’s remark part beneath, or electronic mail us at: [email protected]. 

We’ll use this suggestions to enhance our choices. 

Gargy Shekhar 

Senior Product Supervisor