Dial Phone from Outlook

Dial Phone From Your Mail

If you have a modem connected to a voice telephone line, you can use Microsoft Outlook to dial any phone number you specify.

Before Outlook can make phone calls for you, you must set up your computer and a modem for automatic phone dialing. Then Outlook can dial phone numbers you specify, including phone numbers for contacts in the Outlook contacts list.

If you make frequent calls to particular phone numbers, you can create a speed dial list of those phone numbers and quickly make calls from the list. Or you can select a phone number from a list of numbers you recently dialed.

If you use your computer at different locations, you can set up dialing parameters for alternate locations. You can set up calling card use, specify how phone numbers are dialed from the current area code, and specify what number is to be dialed to reach an outside line for local or long distance calls from within a company or hotel. For each location entry, you can turn off call waiting and can select tone or pulse dialing.

If you want to automatically time a call and type notes in Outlook while you talk, you can set an option before you start the call to create a journal entry for the call in Journal. For example, you may want to use this option if you bill clients for your time spent on phone conversations.

Make a telephone call
Call a person in the contacts list

• In Contacts, click the contact you want to call.
• On the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, and then click the phone number you want to dial.
• Click Start Call.
• Pick up the phone handset, and then begin your conversation.
• Click End Call, and then hang up the phone.

Call someone not in the contacts list

• In Contacts, on the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, and then click New Call.
• To have Microsoft Outlook look for a number in the contacts list, enter a name in the Contact box.

If the name is in the Outlook contacts list and you've previously entered a phone number for it, click the phone number in the Number box.

If the name is not in the Outlook contact list or does not have a phone number already, enter the phone number in dialable format or in international format in the Number box.

• Click Start Call.
• Pick up the phone handset, and then begin your conversation.
• Click End Call, and then hang up the phone.
• Redial a recently called number

In Contacts, on the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, point to Redial, and then click the number you want to call.

• Click Start Call.
• Pick up the phone handset, and then begin your conversation.
• Click End Call, and then hang up the phone.

Notes:
To keep a record of the call in Journal, select the Create new journal entry when starting new call check box prior to clicking Start Call. A journal entry opens with the timer running. You can type notes in the body of the journal entry while you talk. When you are finished with the call, click Pause Timer to stop the clock, and then click Save and Close.

If you omit the country code and area code from a phone number, the automatic phone dialer uses settings from the Dialing Options dialog box (on the Actions menu, point to Call Contact, click New Call, and then click Dialing Options).

If you include letters in the phone number, they are not recognized by the automatic phone dialer.