Outlook 2007 Integration with SharePoint

Outlook 2007 allows users read-write access to group calendars, task lists, contacts, and other information stored on a Windows SharePoint Services (WSS 3.0) team site. This improved integration does not provide a complete substitute for similar functions in Exchange, but will help small teams coordinate information stored in WSS with parallel organization-wide information stored in Exchange Server. The move could foretell a long-term transition in which some collaboration and data-sharing features in Exchange, particularly Public Folders, will be eliminated, with SharePoint products emerging as their replacement.

The features discussed here also work with SharePoint Server 2007-the latest version of Microsoft’s Web-based portal, document management, and search product, which is based on WSS 3.0.

Outlook Access to WSS Lists

Introduced in 2001 as SharePoint Team Services, WSS provides members of small teams of browser users access to information in structured tables known as lists. Some WSS lists store data similar to that stored in Exchange, such as calendars, contacts, and tasks. By gradually improving integration between Outlook and WSS, Microsoft has made it easier to use these WSS features.