A couple of useful Outlook tools – #Xobni and #LinkedIN

I hope my regular readers won’t mind if I digress from my usual ACT! related posts and add this article on a couple of free tools I find really useful for Outlook - Xobni and LinkedIN Outlook Toolbar

Both of these tools are useful in finding contacts as well as developing and maintaining your relationships, and so are useful for the types of work that ACT! users like to do. I fact, I believe both of these would be great functions to add to ACT! itself.

Xobni

Xobni is an add-in that indexes your Outlook data and then provides a number of useful functions:

  • Very fast searching across your email file. It’s pretty much instantaneous on my Outlook file, which is over 6GB!
  • Ability to link multiple email addresses to a contact if the contact has more than one address or if their address changes over time
  • Additional information on your contacts from sources like LinkedIN, FaceBook, Twitter and Hoovers.
  • Reports on the times you usually correspond with the contact via email
  • Find other contacts that might be connected from emails between you and the main contact where others have been included in emails To: CC:
  • Sort all emails between you and the contact into threaded conversations – even if the various emails are in different Outlook folders
  • File all attached files sent between you and the contact
  • Auto suggest addresses from your contacts when creating a new email

After you install Xobni, your system may run slowly for a day while it creates it’s index. Do not be concerned by this. Once it has completed the index it will speed up your day.

Note: If you’d like to see Xobni create a link to ACT! by Sage, please add a vote on this post on the Xobni Community Site

 Xobni
LinkedIN Outlook Toolbar

LinkedIN is a business oriented social network. Their Outlook add-in is a powerful resource for building and maintaining your network from inside your email system. Functions include:

  • Build your network selecting from people you email often
  • Create Outlook contacts by highlighting their info in an email and selecting Grab
  • See suggestions of who to invite based on email frequency
  • Invite with one click to build your network faster – using custom templates
  • Update your Outlook contacts with LinkedIn profile information
  • Receive notifications when your contacts change their LinkedIn profiles
  • See LinkedIn mini-profiles for everyone that emails you
  • Use the LinkedIn dashboard to stay up to date with your network with suggestion of emails you might need to reply to or follow-up
  • Access LinkedIn with one quick and easy click

ACT! users should also join the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group

LinkedIN Outlook Toolbar

Both of these outlook add-ins are free and Outlook users should give them a try

3 comments:

Preston Ehrler, Webvantix said...

Mike, great post, and I tried Xobni. The only issue I had with it was, at every time I tried to send an emial Xobni took over the auto-fill and indicated that it was now a feature that was part of their premium package--so no more Outlook auto-fill. With that came a quick un-install. Other than that, it was pretty cool. Preston Ehrler

GLComputing said...

Preston, you should give it another try... the additions to the auto-full is a new feature that they've just released.

There was a new build I downloaded yesterday where the auto-fill still provides the info you'd normally get and the Premium version would give even more.

GL Computing said...

Preston, you should give it another try... the additions to the auto-full is a new feature that they've just released.

There was a new build I downloaded yesterday where the auto-fill still provides the info you'd normally get and the Premium version would give even more.