Quick and illustrative communication with your Tablet PC

Published: March 14, 2006

By Joli Ballew, author and media and technology expert

Related Links • Tablet PC General Discussion Newsgroup

Published: March 14, 2006

By Joli Ballew, author and media and technology expert

Related Links • Tablet PC General Discussion Newsgroup

If you’re on the go all the time, travel a lot, or are often in meetings or seminars, the Tablet PC is an easy way to keep it touch. In addition to being able to communicate with others using Microsoft Office Outlook and MSN Messenger, you can also use Tablet PC as to send meeting notes and messages to a mobile device. This article will give you suggestions of how you can use your Tablet PC to stay in touch with co-workers during the day.

On This Page

Send meeting notes immediately after taking them

Send meeting notes immediately after taking them

You can create notes and e-mail them from a Tablet PC in a number of ways. For example, you can write them on sticky notes, create them with the Input Panel, or produce them in your own handwriting and convert them to text. Once they’re created and saved (and maybe converted), you can then send them through e-mail to anyone you want. I find one of the easiest and fastest way to send handwritten notes is with Windows Journal and Outlook.

Some notes are better left as handwritten notes and not converted to text. Once you’re done, you can send them to co-workers.

To create handwritten notes with Windows Journal and send them as e-mail:

Note  You can also use Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 to create handwritten notes and send them using e-mail. Learn more how Tablet PC and OneNote can work together.

Top of page

Send handwritten e-mail and MSN messages

With Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and MSN Messenger 7.5, you can send handwritten notes, drawings, and even add a handwritten signature to the end of your e-mail messages from your Tablet PC. Now, you can personalize otherwise generic messages bosses and coworkers by adding a little flair of your own.

Sending handwritten e-mail

To send handwritten messages in Outlook, first you need to configure Outlook to use Microsoft Office Word as the e-mail editor. To do this, in Outlook on the Tools menu, click Options, and then select the Mail Format tab. In the Message format section, verify that Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 To Edit E-Mail Messages is selected. If it isn’t, select it and tap OK.

Now you’re ready to send hand-written messages.

Note   If you’re using Office XP, before you can send e-mail messages with ink, you must first install the Office XP Pack for Tablet PC from the Microsoft Download Center.

To send a handwritten e-mail message in Outlook

Sending handwritten instant messages

Sending handwritten IM messages can sometimes be quicker and also make the messages more personal. You can send handwritten messages in nearly all IM programs, but below we show how to do it in MSN Messenger 7.5. How to do it in other programs may vary slightly.

Note   If you’re using Office XP, before you can send e-mail messages with ink, you must first install the Office XP Pack for Tablet PC from the Microsoft Download Center.

To send a handwritten message in MSN Messenger 7.5

Top of page

Send text messages from your Tablet PC to a mobile device

You can send text messages, often referred to as SMS messages, direct from MSN Messenger to your coworker’s mobile devices even if they’re not MSN Messenger users. First, you have to set up a new contact using your contact’s wireless phone number.

To create a new contact using a wireless phone number.

Once the contact is in your address book you can send them a text message from your Tablet PC. (Note that the mobile recipient has to have the option to receive these kinds of messages set up on his or her mobile phone. If the recipient doesn’t, you’ll receive a message in MSN Messenger saying so.)

To send a text message to a mobile number from your Tablet PC.

Tip   To add your mobile number so you can receive MSN messages from MSN Messenger contacts, visit the MSN Mobile Web site.
Summary

In this article, you learned new ways to use your Tablet PC, including e-mailing handwritten notes with Microsoft Journal through Outlook, sending handwritten notes and drawings through MSN Messenger or Outlook, and sending text messages from MSN Messenger to a mobile phone. Each of these options can be expanded on to take you and your Tablet PC farther than ever.

Joli Ballew Joli Ballew is a technology trainer and writer in the Dallas area. She holds several certifications including MCSE, A+, and MCDST. In addition to writing, she teaches computer classes at the local junior college, and works as a network administrator and Web designer for North Texas Graphics. Joli has almost 20 books available, including Degunking Windows (voted best computer book of the year by the Independent Publishers Book Awards in 2005), Degunking Your PC, Degunking Your Mac, and Degunking Your Mac Tiger Edition (Paraglyph Press), Hardcore Windows XP (McGraw-Hill), and Windows XP: Do Amazing Things (Microsoft Press). Joli also writes for Microsoft’s Windows XP Expert Zone, is a Microsoft blogger, and has written a textbook for Microsoft’s MCDST certification. In her free time, Joli enjoys golfing, yard work, and teaching her cat, Nikko, new tricks.