How to use Outlook as a phone book?

[Gary Gary]

Is there any program that interfaces with the address book of Outlook
whereby I can bring up a name and have the option to email, IM
(MSN/Skype/Yahoo Messenger/Paltalk), phone or fax them? I would need a
fax modem with full duplex of course for phoning and faxing. And a mic or
headset. It just seems redundant not to use the computer as a phone. The
possibilities are endless for contact management, not to mention incoming
calls. They could all be logged on the computer. The downside is the
computer has to be on all the time. But for many of us, it is anyway.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Is there any program that interfaces with the address book of Outlook
whereby I can bring up a name and have the option to email, IM
(MSN/Skype/Yahoo Messenger/Paltalk), phone or fax them? I would need
a
fax modem with full duplex of course for phoning and faxing. And a mic
or
headset. It just seems redundant not to use the computer as a phone.
The
possibilities are endless for contact management, not to mention
incoming
calls. They could all be logged on the computer. The downside is the
computer has to be on all the time. But for many of us, it is anyway.

usually the Windows dialer controls the modem hardware on the PC. The
Windows dialer has no ability to turn to call over to a handset once the
connection is made. Some voice/fax modems come with dialer software
that supplants the Windows dialer and if yours is one, Outlook may be
able to use it. There may be Skype add-ins that can integrate with
Outlook, but I don't know of any myself. I'd be surprised if there were
add-ins that allow interfacing to messenger programs in the manner you
describe.