The Evolution of Email

Today, Takeshi Numoto tackles the email debate on The Microsoft Office Blog. In his post, Takeshi announces the results of a recent study conducted by independent market researcher provider MarketTools Inc. that found 96% of the 1,268 professionals and students surveyed expect their email communication in the workplace to increase or stay the same over the next five years. It’s clear that email continues to be an essential part of business communications, even as the options for communication grow. The survey also found that the majority of respondents expect to increase their use of social media, text messaging, instant messaging and phone. And that’s where having a communications hub, like Outlook 2010, that helps you manage the different ways you communicate with people, comes in handy.

For example, Microsoft Outlook bring updates from some of your favorite social platforms right into your inbox with Outlook Social Connector. Social tools have their place in business as they foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. The study found 35 percent of participants feel social tools are an effective method of communication with colleagues, clients and vendors. Microsoft agrees, and provides social tools for enterprises, including Outlook Social Connector and SharePoint. Microsoft also works with companies, including LinkedIn and Facebook, to bring social tools into Microsoft products. Find out more about the Outlook Social Connector, here, and try it, here.

And Outlook Social Connector is just one example. Did you know that you can also get text messages and voice mails delivered to your Outlook inbox? Or that you can bring multiple email accounts into Outlook? Microsoft Outlook delivers email and more, so if you’re looking for ways to streamline your communication and be more productive, learn more about how to get the most out of Outlook, here.