“While You Were Out” Outlook Addin

Sometimes I am amazed at what software developers omit in their software. For example, you would think that Outlook would offer a simple way for a user to take a phone message. Sure, you can just send an e-mail. Or, if you are trying to implement David Allen’s Getting Things Done system, you can have your assistant enter a task and assign it to the “@Calls” category, so it shows up in your Outlook task list.

This latter is the approach I used to take, until I realized I was missing important messages. In the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, I sometimes wouldn’t get a chance to check my task list for several hours. What I really wanted was both: I wanted an e-mail notification that I had received a message, and, if I needed to return the call, I wanted a task entered into my Outlook task list. This sounded like the perfect opportunity for me to write a simple Outlook VBA program to make this easy on my assistant and easy on me. (I know, I know, the President of a company shouldn’t be writing code, but I consider it a hobby and do it on my own time!)

The result is what I call “While You Were Out” (“WYWO” for short). It provides the user with the opportunity to take a message, capture all the relevant information, and send it on to the intended recipient. It’s written in VBA, which means there’s not an elegant way to deploy it. As a result, I will have to give you detailed instructions for installing it and getting it running. I will do that at the end of this post. But first, let me go over a few of the features, so you can make sure this is something you want to take the time to install.

Features

When you install WYWO, you will copy a custom button image to an Outlook toolbar and attach the VBA program to it. My toolbar looks like this:

When you click on the icon, you get a dialog box that looks like this:

Hopefully, most of the fields are self-explanatory. I was able to get the two assistants in our executive office running on it with about two minutes of explanation. However, let me point out a few of the features:

• The Date field uses the standard drop-down calendar. The Time field also uses this, but it is formatted to display the time. Both fields default to the current date and time.
  
  
• The To field can be set to a default value, using the Settings button at the bottom of the form. (More about that in a minute.) You can either manually enter a name in the Outlook format or an e-mail address. Alternatively, you can click on the To… button (just like the Outlook e-mail message form) and you will get a Select a Recipient dialog box with all your Outlook contacts. If you make a selection, the To field will be filled with your selected value. The CC field works the same way.
  
  
• The Type field has three possible values: “Voice Mail,” “Live Call” (you actually talked with the caller) and “Came By” (referring to a drop-in visitor). You can select a default value in the Settings dialog.
  
  
• The Urgency field also has three possible values: “Normal,” “High,” and “Low.” The program uses your selection to set the Importance level of both the e-mail message you send to the recipient and the (optional) task you create.
  
  
• The Caller and the Company fields are self-explanatory. The Phone field is set up to automatically format the field. Just enter the raw numbers without entering any parenthesis or hyphens. When you exit the field, the program will automatically format it. You can enter a default Area Code and phone Prefix in the Settings dialog. (This is a good thing to do the first time you use the program.) Once you do that, if you enter a four-digit number, the program will automatically add the default area code and prefix. If you enter a seven-digit number, the program will automatically add the default area code. If you begin the number with the international prefix of “011,” the program will leave the number unformatted. The Ext field is optional and is for a phone extension.
  
  
• The Action You Have Taken or Will Take group both encourages the user to take an action regarding the call (as opposed to just passing on the message) and also gives them the opportunity to tell you exactly what they have done. The Notes field provides them with additional space to elaborate if necessary.
  
  
• The Action Recipient Needs to Take gives the user an opportunity to explicitly specify what action is required by the recipient. And, again, the Notes field provides the user with additional space to elaborate. In the event that the user selects the option, “You must speak personally with the caller,” the program also creates an Outlook task for the recipient. (The recipient must have access to the recipient’s task folder for this to work; otherwise, the program will generate an error. However, the program will trap this, so it doesn’t crash. The user will be warned, and the task will not be created. The e-mail will be sent as usual.) This can also be adjusted in the Settings dialog box.

When the user clicks on the Send button, the program builds an e-mail message with all the relevant data and sends it to the user. As I mentioned in the last bullet above, the program also creates an Outlook task if the recipient must personally return the call. A default category for the task can also be set in the Settings dialog box (by default it is the GTD standard, “@Calls”).

The tag on the subject line—“WYWO”—allows you to create an e-mail rule that will be triggered by these messages. For example, you could play a specific sound or display a visual alert when you receive a WYWO message. If your assistant is also receiving copies (e.g., as a CC recipient), he or she could create a rule that will automatically move the message to a “Phone Log” folder. In addition, if necessary, the program generates an Outlook Task like the following one under the @Calls category:

The contents of the WYWO Notes field are also copied to the Notes field in the Outlook Task. I won’t go over the Settings dialog; I think it is self-explanatory.

Installation

Unfortunately, as I mentioned previously, there’s not an easy way to deploy a VBA program. Before you go through this process, let me make a little disclaimer:

This program was developed on Windows XP and Outlook 2003. I have not tested it on earlier versions of Windows or Outlook. Also, I consider this “alpha” software. It has not yet been beta-tested. If you use this program, consider yourself a “guinea pig.” You may find significant bugs. (Please report them to me. Before you do, see the bottom of this article for any updates.) Therefore, it may not work or may not work as expected. If you install and use this program, you do so at your own risk! I accept no responsibility for any damages or lost time you experience as a result of installing this program and using it. You’re on your own.

So, with that aside, here are the step-by-step installation instructions:

1. Download and install Redemption. You can find it here. This program allows WYWO avoid the constant Outlook security prompts when another program is trying to access Outlook e-mail. WYWO will not work without this module installed. Unzip the downloaded files into c:\Program Files\Redemption and double-click on the Install.exe file. This will automatically install Redemption.dll on your computer.
   
   
2. Download “While You Were Out.”You can find it here. Unzip the downloaded files into c:\Program Files\WYWO.
   
   
3. Load Microsoft Outlook. Again, as a reminder, I have only tested this program on Outlook 2003. Once Outlook is loaded, press Alt-F11 to bring up the Visual Basic Editor.
   
   
4. Import the WYWO components. On the upper left-hand side of the screen, you should see a Project window that looks similar to this:
   



Select File | Import File (or press Ctrl-M). Browse to the c:\Program Files\WYWO folder and then import frmAbout.frm, frmSettings.frm, frmWhileYouWereOut.frm, and WhileYouWereOut.bas. Now save the VBA Project file by selecting File | Save VBAProject.OTM or by pressing Ctrl-S. Now close the Visual Basic Editor by selecting File | Close and Return to Microsoft Office Outlook or press Alt-Q.



5. Copy the WYWO button image to the Windows clipboard. You will need this for the next step. You can do this by opening Microsoft Paint (choose Start | All Programs | Accessories | Paint). Open the Toolbar.ico file. It should be located in your c:\Program Files\WYWO folder. Now choose Edit | Select All and then Edit | Copy. This will put the button image on the Windows clipboard. You can now close Paint.
   
   
6. Install a macro button to run the WYWO program. Select Tools | Customize. This should bring up the Customize dialog box. Now click on the Commands tab. Click on the Macros category in the Categories list box. You should now be looking at a screen similar to this:
   
   
   
   Now click on the macro that is named “DisplayWhileYouWereOut.” Note that this may or may not be proceeded by the word “Project1” (as above). Now drag the macro to the toolbar. It doesn’t matter where you place it; you can put it anywhere you want. (As you can see from the screen shot at the beginning of this article, I placed mine just to the right of the Forward button.) Now right-click on the button itself. You should get a context menu that looks similar to this:
   
   
   
   In the Name field, replace the name of the macro with “While You Were Out.” This will become a “tool tip” when you later point at the button with the mouse. Now click on Paste Button Image. This will replace the default button image with the WYWO button image. Select Default Style, which will eliminate the text next to the button. Now close the Customize dialog box by clicking on the Close button. You’re done!

The first time you run the macro, you may get an Outlook Security warning. If so, follow the prompts to indicate that “Michael S. Hyatt” is a “Trusted Publisher.” (I have digitally signed the macro for this purpose.) Also, the first time you run the program, click on the Settings command button and enter your default values. Hopefully, you will find this program useful. If you like to dabble in writing VBA code, I think you will find the source code particularly interesting. I’m not a professional programmer, but perhaps you can learn from my work. I have tried to thoroughly document the code, so that you can more easily understand it.

Update: Some users have reported an error message to the effect that the “DTPCallDate variable is not defined.” If you get this message it is because an ActiveX control that the program uses is not installed on your system. Here’s how to install it:

1. Make sure that Outlook is not running. Close it down if necessary.
   
   
2. Download the control by clicking on this link: MSCOMCT2.OCX.
   
   
3. Save the file to your c:\windows\system32 folder.
   
   
4. Register the file in Windows by clicking Start | Run. In the Open field, type “regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\mscomct2.ocx” (without the quote marks). You should get a message that says, “DLLRegisterServer in c:\windows\system32\mscomct2.ocx succeeded.”

Now start Outlook and try to run WYWO again.