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There’s no denying that email contacts are the modern-day equivalent of the traditional address book. For modern businesses, digital contacts are a company’s lifeline. They provide the means of connecting with clients, collaborating with team members and communicating important information to employees. Without an organized approach to setting up and maintaining these digital address books, communication lines can be broken and business productivity can take a hit.

A huge number of modern professionals use Microsoft Outlook to send and receive business mail. Whether businesses are using server versions like Exchange or cloud-hosted versions with an Office 365 subscription, developing streamlined procedures for setting up and managing Outlook contacts will save your business time and hassle.

Today’s Rolodex: Using Outlook Contact Lists to Streamline Business Communication  

The contact list feature in Outlook has a variety of streamlining tools to make business communication easier than ever. For instance, with an organized contact list, new emails can be addressed simply by typing the person’s name or selecting it from your contact list. Additionally, if you’re detailed when building your contact list, you can add other personal info like mailing addresses and phone numbers. This allows businesses to use Outlook as their easy-to-manage and scalable ‘digital Rolodex’.

The process of building a contact list will vary among different businesses, depending on their situation. Some companies will be starting from scratch, creating an entirely new collection of contacts, while others will already have some contacts in place. Regardless, keeping an organized list of contacts is the best way to keep track of all the people you communicate with.

Building Your Contact List: Creating, Syncing and Adding New Contacts in Outlook

There are a few different ways to add contacts to your Outlook list. You can manually create a contact with all the necessary details. You can avoid manually adding contacts by syncing a pre-existing list from another webmail provider. You can select someone’s email address to manually add that person as a contact. Or you can use the Outlook Suggested Contacts tab to select familiar contacts to add. Let’s check out the details for each way of setting up contacts in Outlook.

Manually Creating a New Contact

• Open Outlook.
• Select the People icon in the lower half of the left side pane.
• Select the New Contact
• In the Contact window, enter all relevant contact details for this person.
• Select Save & Close.

Syncing an Existing Contact List from Another Source

Export your existing list:

• Pull up your online mail service using your internet browser.
• Select the contacts you want to export and click on the appropriate export command.
• Choose the option of exporting your contacts in Microsoft Outlook or Outlook CSV
• Save the exported CSV file.

Import your contacts into Outlook:

• Open Outlook.
• Select File and then select Open & Export.
• Click the Import/Export
• In the Import and Export Wizard, select the option to “Import from another program or file” if it is not already selected.
• Click Next.
• At the Import a File window, select the Comma Separated Values option if it is not already selected.
• Click Next.
• At the next window, browse for and select the CSV file you exported from your webmail browser.
• The next window will then provide three options:
  • Replace duplicates with items imported,
  • Allow duplicates to be created, or
  • Do not import duplicate items.
• Select the option you want and click Next.
• At the next window, make sure Contacts is selected as the destination folder.
• At the final window, confirm that the CSV file will be imported from the Contacts
• Click Finish.

As a side note: Export settings will vary among different webmail providers. For instance, with Gmail, you can select the contacts you wish to export, export a specific group, or export all contacts. However, with Yahoo, your only choice is to export all your entire contact list.

• Creating a New Contact Using Email Address Selection
• Right-click on an email address in a received or sent the email message.
• From the popup menu, select the Add to Outlook
• A contact card will pop up – enter any further contact details required.
• Click Save to add that contact to your master list.
• Using the Suggested Contacts Feature
• Open the Contacts
• Select Suggested Contacts in the left side pane.
• Select the contacts you want to add to your Contact list.
• Drag and drop your selections into your Contact list.

Managing Contacts in Outlook: Making the Most of Your Outlook Contact List

Once you have your Outlook Contact List started, it’s just as important to keep it organized. Making sure you weed out old contacts, verify that information is correct and up-to-date, and manage contact access will ensure that your entire staff experiences the streamlining power that Outlook offers.

Editing & Deleting Contacts:

There’s nothing worse than having a crowded contact list, filled with outdated or unnecessary contacts. Maybe you have old employee info to remove or maybe there’s a stash of an old client’s info that’s no longer relevant. Regardless keeping your contact list groomed is a great habit to keep.

Here’s the step-by-step process for editing or deleting contact info:

• To view the details for any contact, double-click on the contact name or right-click on the name and select Edit Contact from the menu.
• If you need to edit info, make the necessary revisions and when finished, click
• If you want to delete a contact completely, just select the contact and use the Delete key on your keyboard. Otherwise, you can right-click the contact and manually select Delete from the menu.

Dual Contact View

This might seem like a strange feature, but viewing two contacts at the same time can be extremely helpful in organizing your inbox. Perhaps you have duplicate entries for a certain contact and you want to compare info to see which is most recent. Or, maybe you communicate with multiple people in the same office and want to make sure addresses and phone numbers match.

Regardless of the reason, here’s how to pull up two contacts at once in Outlook:

• Double-click on the first contact you’d like to view.
• Select the Cancel button to display the contact card.
• In the card, click on the Pin icon to keep the card visible.
• Double-click on the second contact and perform the same steps to keep the second contact in view.
• Now you’re able to position the two contacts in a side-by-side view.
• Click on the Edit link for each contact card.
• Copy and paste information as needed, from one contact to the other.
• When done, click Save for the contact whose information you revised and Cancel for the other.
• Then, close each of the two contact cards.

Add Individual Contact Lists to the Outlook Address Book

To keep businesses even more organized and productive, the Outlook Address Book helps to centralize company contacts in one place for easy access. Using the Outlook Address Book allows you to access your contacts instantly from within an email message by selecting the To, Cc, or Bcc buttons.

Here’s a step-by-step process for adding your contact list to the Outlook Address Book:

• Open Outlook.
• Select the File
• Select the Account Settings button, then select Account Settings again.
• In the Account Settings window, select the Address Book
• Make sure an address book is listed. If not, select the New
• Select the option for Additional Address Books and click
• Click Finish.
• In the Contacts window, right-click on your Contacts list.
• Select Properties from the popup menu.
• In the Contacts Properties window, click on the tab for Outlook Address Book.
• Click on the checkmark to “Show this folder as an Email Address Book” if it is not already checked.
• Click

Here’s how to access and view contacts once they’re added to the Outlook Address Book:

• Go to your email view and start a new message.
• Click on the To field, and you should see your contacts listed.
• Double-click on the contact or contacts that you want to send mail to.
• Click any contact that you want to Cc and then select the Cc
• Click any contact that you want to Bcc and then select the Bcc
• Hit send and you’re all set!

As you can see, while business contacts are a straightforward concept, Outlook offers a variety of dynamic ways to create, maintain and optimize your digital address books. Staying on top of organizing and updating business contacts is critical to ensuring your company’s line of communication is working as strong as possible. Make sure your company is making the most out of the technology you deploy.

It should be noted that these step by step instructions are for the 2013 and 2016 versions of Outlook. However, the steps for earlier versions are quite similar. If you’ve recently made the switch to Outlook or if you’re looking to get on top of your Outlook Address Book once and for all, don’t feel overwhelmed. Making use of Outlook’s dynamic contact management features will have your digital address book neat and tidy in no time.

We are issuing a warning to businesses that there is a major internet outage being reported across the United States today. The issue is being reported by several major outlets including Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T. Comcast is calling it an “external network issue”.

This comes shortly after the one-year anniversary of a major DDOS attack on Dyn last year that crippled the internet for an entire day back in October 2016. There are no firm reports of a cause as of yet. According to DownDetector, a site that tracks outages, Comcast customers are experiencing problems in “Mountain View, Denver, Portland, Chicago, Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis, and Boston.”

The story remains ongoing.

It is vital that we properly educate our clients on how to handle outages and provide the right tools to minimize the serious risk at hand.

While antivirus and firewalls are incredibly effective in reducing risk from ransomware and hackers, but you need a more robust security solution in place to defend against the increasingly dangerous threat landscape. To be fully protected, companies will need a proper, reliable backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution with online and offline backup solutions as the ultimate failsafe against successful attacks.

Which Version of Microsoft Office 365 for Businesses or Enterprises is Best for You?

It’s easy for most businesses to justify a switch to MS Office 365.  Microsoft keeps their apps updated and has a good reputation for providing robust, industry-standard software.  Many companies rely upon Microsoft products because they provide them with the right features and help them remain compatible with their outside business partners and customers.

What do you get with MS Office 365 plans?  Besides core software like Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel, some plans also bundle in apps for productivity, communication, business intelligence, security, and more.  Plans also come with generous allotments for cloud storage.  In addition, Microsoft has kept their monthly and yearly pricing fairly modest, and they offer various plans that can suit the needs of everybody from home business owners to global enterprises.

Choosing the Best MS Office 365 Plan for Your Needs

You can drill down to all of the prices and features for every MS Office 365 plan on the official website.  While you won’t lack for choices when you view all of the different plans, the variety may seem overwhelming at first.  These summaries of popular MS Office plans should help you narrow down your choices.

Small- to-Medium-Sized Businesses

Microsoft tailored these three plans for SMBs:

• Business Essentials: This low-priced plan only costs $5 a month per user with an annual subscription.  You can also pay $6 a month if you don’t want to pay upfront for an entire year.  You get online access to core software like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote.  Microsoft also gives you cloud storage for email and documents, but you don’t get Outlook.  In addition, you can use productivity and communication software like Flow, SharePoint, Sway, Skype for Business, and more.  While some of the software may function fine on mobile devices, you don’t have access to the mobile versions.
• Business: This plan costs slightly more, but it isn’t exactly an upgrade over Business Essentials. Instead of only getting online access to the core software, you can download the software to your PC.  This plan does include Outlook, and Business Essentials does not.  You also get OneDrive storage and mobile applications, but you can only access two of the extra productivity apps.  You will pay $8.25 a month for each user with an annual commitment.
• Business Premium: This plan offers you a combination of the features you get with Business and Business Essentials.  You get all of the productivity, communication, and mobile software.  You get Outlook for email management, and you can also download the core software to your PC.  The annual prepaid price is $12.50 for each user.

Enterprise MS Office 360 Plans

If you have a larger company or more sophisticated requirements, you may find that one of the MS Office 360 plans satisfies you the most.  These plans may cost slightly more than their comparable plans in the section for smaller companies.

This is a quick overview of the Enterprise plans:

• Office 365 ProPlus: ProPlus closely resembles Business Premium.  It also comes with more sophisticated business intelligence tools that you can use with MS Excel.  It should cost approximately $12.50 per user per month.
• Enteprise E1: You can think of this plan as an upgraded version of Business Essentials.  It offers online-only access to core programs.  However, you also get a portal for corporate videos and the ability to broadcast meetings to large groups.  You pay $8.00 a month for each user for Enterprise E1.
• Enterprise E3:This plan offers you a combination of features from ProPlus and E1.  In other words, you get the downloadable software and access to the video and meeting software.  Expect to pay about $20 a month for each user.
• Enterprise E5:  This high-end version of MS Office 365 will offer you the features of Enterprise E3. Plus, you can use Office PBX, a cloud solution for managing your phone calls. Your estimated cost should run about $35 a month per user.

Education and Home

If you just want a version of core software and cloud storage for home use, you might consider Microsoft Office 365 Home.  For instance, your kids can use Word for homework.  You can use Outlook for emails or Excel to manage your budget.  You can install this version on up to five devices, and you will pay $99.95 a year if you prepay.  If you pay monthly, it costs $9.99 a month.

Microsoft also offers a few different plans to students, educators, and educational staff.  They even provide the most basic version of their educational plan for free.  They charge for plans that also include features like advanced analytics and security.

How to Pick the Best Microsoft Office 365 Plan for Your Company

Microsoft certainly provides their customers with plenty of choices.  Besides the types of plans listed above, the company also has plans for nonprofits, government agencies, and first line workers.  You should be able to choose an option that offers you what you need the most for a budget-friendly price.

At the same time, Microsoft won’t let you substitute one feature for another on any plan.  If you require a feature that doesn’t appear on your plan, you may have to upgrade to get it.  For example, you might want Access to manage databases, and you can’t get Access with the Business Essentials plan.  If you want downloadable software, Outlook, and Sharepoint, you need to choose the Business Premium plan over the Business plan.  This means that you could find yourself paying for some features you won’t use in order to get everything that you want.

At the same time, Microsoft keeps their monthly and annual subscription rates fairly modest.  If you tried to buy different kinds of software to handle all of these tasks on your own, you would certainly spend more money.  Most subscribers probably don’t use every feature they have in their plans.  At the same time, many subscribers do rely upon the features that they do need every day.  Microsoft offers their customers free upgrades, state-of-the-art software, cloud storage, and many other features.  No matter which plan you choose, you will probably find that you got a reasonable deal.

Social engineering tactics let hackers take cyber attacks to a whole new level by focusing on a specific target. This kind of special attention and extra detail can often be just enough to fool users into clicking, downloading, or otherwise helping a hacker get exactly what they want.

Here are 5 of these scams you should know how to spot and avoid.

• Phishing – The most common type of social engineering scam, phishing is typically done through email. By posing as a financial institution or government agency, hackers send out urgent-seeming emails that contain malicious attachments or embedded links that when clicked release malware onto your system.
• Baiting – Like phishing, these emails often appear to come from a legitimate source. Rather than relying on scare tactics these emails instead offer the target some sort of incentive to open attachments or click on links, like a free gift card or a free mobile phone or tablet.
• Tailgating – This low-tech tactic is still surprisingly common. By pretending to be a fellow employee who forgot their badge or a delivery person, a scammer will ask you to open a door for them that will allow them access to workstations or restricted areas.
• Pretexting – Another form of phishing, this has a hacker pose as a C-level employee or a supervisor from another department and send an email asking for sensitive information like passwords. They might also send an attachment that contains a hidden malicious payload.
• Quid Pro Quo – Much like baiting, this tactic has hackers pose as someone who can help the target with a task in exchange for information. Typically this ruse involves the hacker pretending to be IT support, offering to fix a non-existent problem in exchange for login credentials.

Contact {company} at {email} or {phone} to learn more about social engineering scams, and the steps you can take to protect your business from this type of cybercrime.