Any way to create 'alias' for "Online" Smart Tag?

[Guest]

I really like the "online" smart tag feature in Outlook 2003 - the ability to
see whether someone I've received e-mail from is online and to see their
contact information is really great. (I'm referring to the green or grey
circle to the left of a message sender's name that appears in both the
reading pane and the actual message window.) However, if someone sends a
message to me from an e-mail account that is NOT linked to their MSN
Messenger (e.g, Passport) account, the smart tag doesn't work.

Is there any way to create an 'alias' for that person in either my
"Contacts" folder or their Passport account so that when messages arrive from
their other e-mail accounts, the smart tag is able to locate and display
their online status and contact information?

If not, would Microsoft consider adding this capability in a future version?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

you can add their messenger address to their contact and it should work,
even if the message was sent from another address (as long as that address
is in the email field of the contact).

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the response, Diane. I tried your suggestion and it worked...but
only for one of the 8 contacts I tried. For the other 7, the "Person Names"
icon is greyed in the OL reading pane and when I click on it, it says the
person is not an online contact. Curiously, when I open their OL Contact and
display the E-mail address to which their IM account is assigned, the "Person
Names" icon appears and correctly reports their online status! Any idea why
it works for one and not the others in the reading pane view"

you can add their messenger address to their contact and it should work,
even if the message was sent from another address (as long as that address
is in the email field of the contact).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I really like the "online" smart tag feature in Outlook 2003 - the ability
to
see whether someone I've received e-mail from is online and to see their
contact information is really great. (I'm referring to the green or grey
circle to the left of a message sender's name that appears in both the
reading pane and the actual message window.) However, if someone sends a
message to me from an e-mail account that is NOT linked to their MSN
Messenger (e.g, Passport) account, the smart tag doesn't work.

Is there any way to create an 'alias' for that person in either my
"Contacts" folder or their Passport account so that when messages arrive
from
their other e-mail accounts, the smart tag is able to locate and display
their online status and contact information?

If not, would Microsoft consider adding this capability in a future
version?

 

[Guest]

Diane,

I was able to fix all but one of my Outlook contacts to recognize their
Messenger online status. I clicked the "Add new contact for..." item on the
Person Names dropdown, selected the e-mail address from the subsequent
contact form and pasted it back into the permanent Outlook contact form for
the person. Upon saving their modified Outlook contact form, the "online"
indicator for them started working. I'm still working on the one contact for
which this approach does not work, but any additional suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.

you can add their messenger address to their contact and it should work,
even if the message was sent from another address (as long as that address
is in the email field of the contact).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I really like the "online" smart tag feature in Outlook 2003 - the ability
to
see whether someone I've received e-mail from is online and to see their
contact information is really great. (I'm referring to the green or grey
circle to the left of a message sender's name that appears in both the
reading pane and the actual message window.) However, if someone sends a
message to me from an e-mail account that is NOT linked to their MSN
Messenger (e.g, Passport) account, the smart tag doesn't work.

Is there any way to create an 'alias' for that person in either my
"Contacts" folder or their Passport account so that when messages arrive
from
their other e-mail accounts, the smart tag is able to locate and display
their online status and contact information?

If not, would Microsoft consider adding this capability in a future
version?