Is there a better addressbook for Outlook 03

[hyde+]

Is there anything better than this useless "address book" i can get for when I am sending new e-mails so I can sort by company or e-mail address or display name or last name.. I mean this is pretty useless when sending e-mails.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Open Contacts

Don't know if it is better. It is different.

[Joel]

Yeah, start using the features builtin to the Contacts view instead of that sore excuse that's a leftover from Outlook Express. Forget the Address Book, use Contacts.

[hyde+]

Thank You Gary. But it doesn't integrate with Outlook, right?

Joel, I agree that using Contacts view or Contact section of Outlook is really good, but even that is not enough under certain conditions.

For example you cannot just type the name or e-mail address of the person you are looking for and have it just minimize the results, you still have to go through all of your contact before finding the correct person. It is just not that easy when you have 2000 contacts.

What I would love is the auto complete with either first name, last name, displayed name, company or e-mail address as I am typing or with some sort of fast search. That would have been great.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Thank You Gary. But it doesn't integrate with Outlook, right?

Joel, I agree that using Contacts view or Contact section of Outlook is really good, but even that is not enough under certain conditions.

For example you cannot just type the name or e-mail address of the person you are looking for and have it just minimize the results, you still have to go through all of your contact before finding the correct person. It is just not that easy when you have 2000 contacts.

What I would love is the auto complete with either first name, last name, displayed name, company or e-mail address as I am typing or with some sort of fast search. That would have been great.

I guess it doesn't. Sorry. Upgrade to Outlook 2007. It is great and use the contacts and not the address book . You may have to fiddle with the options.

[hyde+]

I am going to have to try 2007, can't say that I am a fan of the "ribbon". Thanks anyway. I just thought there would be an add-on or plugin for Outlook which would make the address book view better and more functional.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

I am going to have to try 2007, can't say that I am a fan of the "ribbon". Thanks anyway. I just thought there would be an add-on or plugin for Outlook which would make the address book view better and more functional.

The only time I used Outlook 2003 was on my company's network. They used an exchange server and the contacts had thousands of names but it was on their mail server. It did not look like the one that you showed.

[Joel]

Joel, I agree that using Contacts view or Contact section of Outlook is really good, but even that is not enough under certain conditions.

For example you cannot just type the name or e-mail address of the person you are looking for and have it just minimize the results, you still have to go through all of your contact before finding the correct person. It is just not that easy when you have 2000 contacts.

What I would love is the auto complete with either first name, last name, displayed name, company or e-mail address as I am typing or with some sort of fast search. That would have been great.

You can. Have you ever tried? Type the name in the To: field and compose your message and send. If you're not talking about when you compose, then please explain what exactly you're trying to accomplish. If you're talking sorting, sort by Categories if you don't have a field that suits you for sorting in the default views, or customise a view.

[hyde+]

Gary, this is also my company's e-mail and calender stuff but we do not use Exchange server. The contacts are just stored locally on each workstation.

Joel, yes it is what I am talking about. I compose a new message, and type like ' Bob ' on the To: field, and hit "Check Names" or just hit "Send", if there isn't a single Bob on my "Contacts", the screen shot I posted on my First Post shows up. This screen does not allow me to sort by any of the field I mentioned. Neither I can customize the fields.

Do you run Outlook 2003? Could you please go to compose new e-mail and just type a random name and hit check names and post the name selection screen? Just to see if yours is any different or if you can sort by any one of the fields.

Sure, we can sort by anything on the Contacts section of Outlook, but not on its Address Book or whatever it is using when composing a new e-mail. I think it is called "Select Names" dialog. Outlook only allows sort by Last Name or by Display Name, which has to go through options and not directly on the dialog screen.

[Joel]

1. If you don't have a Bob in your list, what use is sorting the address book list that comes up?
   
2. Why not compose a new message from the more powerful Contacts interface then? You can even send new to any group or category, all from that screen.
   

[hyde+]

Problem is not Bob, but when you just know someone's company or the way it is put in your address book.

Composing new message is not a problem, but when replying or forwarding is, because you cannot really pick a name or add someone using Select Names dialog.

Anyway, I think I am going to get used to it. I am going to try to change it so it sorts by Display Name instead to see if it gets easier.