Microsoft Brings Your Social Network to Your Business Inbox with Release of Outlook Social Connector
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Outlook Social Connector Brings Your Networks to the Enterprise
Written by: Shadeed Eleazer
The trend of enhancing the user experience from inside his/her inbox continues as Microsoft has announced the BETA release of the Outlook Social Connector. The timing of its release comes at a perfect time for the software giant, as the tech industry is buzzing over the announcement of the Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this week.
For a corporation that many viewed as ‘behind-the-times’ in comparison with rival Apple, the recent announcements have many wondering with enthusiasm how the combination of Windows Phone 7, Outlook Social Connector, and the enhancements of the 2010 Suite of Office Applications will shake up the marketplace.
OSC connects the user to the social experience via a provider that connect the social and business networks that you utilize. The surprise in this initial offering is that it has partnered with LinkedIn amongst the other networks introduced which are: Facebook, MySpace.
Impact on Productivity
How will information workers be impacted by the increase in “social media noise” within their respective inboxes? Many organizations have completely blocked social media within corporate settings and have been either reluctant or dismissive about creating a solid Social Media policy that addresses the upcoming changes in the workplace. Is there a business reason for employees to use Facebook or MySpace? Time will reveal these answers as decisions will need to be made.
Particularly (but not only) in the German speaking world (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Xing is much more popular than LinkedIn for professional social networking. Any chance to get a connector for Xing? And what about Facebook? I have over 200 friends there, at least half of them I know professionally…
Microsoft announced the Outlook Social Connector as early as Nov 2009 but additional testing has lead to the integration of Facebook amongst additional new features.
Features Include:
- The People Pane - This includes a profile appearance of your friends/colleagues when you receive a message from them.
- Rich history - Instant access to a history of recent message traffic and attachments from each incoming/outgoing message.
- Activities Real-time updates from social networks
- SharePoint 2010 Integrate your Social networks right into the revamped MySite. I believe that Windows Phone 7, SharePoint 2010, and Outlook 2010 will be a killer trio. Joel Oleson put together a great post on Win Phone 7 and SharePoint 2010 capabilities
- Extend A The OSC Software Development Kit will enable developers to integrate a variety of social networks. The possibilities to build a true Social Media Center are becoming apparent.
From the Microsoft Outlook site regarding compatibility:
“NOTE: The Outlook Social Connector included in the Office 2010 Beta is not compatible with the beta providers currently available online. Office 2010 Beta users must install the Outlook Social Connector 32-bit Beta in order to successfully use the social network providers currently available. Also, you cannot install the 32-bit OSC Beta on Outlook 2010 Beta 64-bit.”
Download the 32 bit connector here.
System Requirements
OSC is supported by the following Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Vista; Windows XP
OSC is supported on the 32-bit version of Outlook 2010 beta, Outlook 2003 and 2007
