14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s working on a new set of features for Outlook.com and Outlook on the web that will make it really easy to pick your recipients and send an email to the right person.
Starting early 2016, Outlook accounts will be upgraded with a smart contact manager that will display suggested email addresses and emails in the To: and CC: fields. A drop-down list will be generated based on your usage, and Microsoft says that only people you’ve been communicating with recently and most frequently will be added.
But that’s not all. The new feature will also include a spell checker that will recommend the right contacts based on the common variations in the spelling of names.
How it’s going to work
Microsoft explains how this particular option is going to work:
“Outlook will now show you names of people you email most frequently - even if you spell their name wrong. For example, if you occasionally write to ‘Kathryn,’ her name will appear as a suggestion even if you typed ‘Catherine.’”
Furthermore, if you usually send emails to contact lists, but you forget to include one recipient in a new message, Outlook can help with that too.
“If you frequently send emails to the same set of people - say, Steve, Anna and Bob - then whenever you email only Steve and Anna together, we’ll ask, ‘Do you also want to include Bob?’ This prompt will not get in your way and will only show when Outlook is highly confident you want to add Bob.”
In addition to contact improvements, Outlook will also add flight information in your calendar whenever you receive confirmation from a supported airline ticket provider. Basically, Outlook will automatically search for key information in the message and then use it to add a new entry in your calendar, without any user interaction. You’ll thus get reminders and flight information three hours before the flight.