Want to be more productive in Outlook? Microsoft’s CVP for Time Management shares some tips

Microsoft Outlook is a solid email client that many users, whether basic consumers or corporate enterprises, can use to stay informed and in touch with others. It competes with a major product of Google, Gmail, which is regarded as the most popular of email platforms. While the Mountain View, California tech giant might have the advantage of having its 2.7 billion users with Android phones likely pre-installed with Gmail, Outlook sets it apart by its unique feature set.

To help inform new users, and to remind those who have been using it for some time, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Communication and Time Management, Guurav Sareen posted an article online detailing what many people might find useful within the app. These tips can help safe time for consumers and increase productivity for business users. Here are his main points:

• For high priority emails that seek quick responses, users can @ mention others within a message to help get their attention. The unread message will be marked with an @ symbol, and the recipient will be able to see his or her name mentioned with the same symbol, informing them that they were mentioned. It works on the desktop app, on the web, and on mobile phones, too.
• Document collaboration is easy in Outlook, as those attached within an email can be edited by both the sender and recipient(s) if the editing settings allow. It’s certainly easier than repeatedly sending new revisions to each other and saves a lot of time. However, this is a unique feature to Outlook on the web.
• Office Lens integration in Outlook make it easy to scan items such as business cards which will be straightened and saves it to OneNote as a fully searchable page. And since OneNote can understand the information saved, opening it will allow the contact info to be saved either in Outlook on desktops, or in the contacts in phones.
• Outlook is integrated with LinkedIn, a company that was acquired by Microsoft a few years back. For those with Office 365, people can view profile and contact information by hovering over People Cards from within Outlook, thanks to the integration with LinkedIn. Additionally, users will be able to see insights about people on their Outlook calendar, and also lets you share your documents to other LinkedIn users for easy collaboration of Office documents.
• Both desktop and mobile users can plan calendar events and manage availability easily from within their apps. Outlook Mobile makes it easier, allowing anyone to insert the calendar events directly within the email.

These features are likely welcomed by many, but are only a small part of the big picture. The fact is, Outlook definitely has no shortage of other nice tools, and Microsoft is always improving it.