Track a contact's activities (Outlook 2000/2002/2003)

Outlook is a powerful organizational and productivity tool, so why not let it help you whenever possible? You can track a contact's activities by linking items to that contact. This can be useful for such things as client billing purposes or just to find an email that you know you sent to a specific person. Some items, such as emails and meetings, are automatically linked to a contact without having to take any steps on your part.

To view what items are currently linked to a contact, click on the Contacts folder in the Folder List (Contacts icon in the Navigation Pane in 2003). Find the contact that you'd like to track and double-click on it. Click on the Activities tab. Here you'll see all the emails, meetings, appointments, tasks, journal entries, notes, and documents linked to that contact.

To link an item, open a Contact form and choose Actions | Link. From there, either choose Items or File, depending on what you'd like to link. If you'd like to link an item, choose Item, locate the item you'd like to link to the contact, and then click OK. If you'd like to link a file to a contact, choose File, locate the file you'd like to link, click Insert, and then click the Save And Close button on the new Journal Entry form. Now, when you view the Activities tab for that contact, these items are linked.