Voting Buttons

Adding voting buttons to your e-mail message is great if you are sending a message that requires people to respond to a question and you want to track the responses.

For example if you are having an internal training session and have a choice of times to attend, you can send an email with the details of the sessions with the choices. For example the voting buttons could be Monday 9 a.m./Monday 3 p.m. The recipient just has to click on the appropriate voting button to respond. Once you make your choice you will be given the option to send the message now or edit it before sending and you can add an additional message if you like.

Another example would be if you are organizing the office Christmas/Holiday party if you need to have an idea on how many will be attending you might want to send an email with voting buttons asking if they are planning to attend the party. The choices could be a simple Yes/No/Maybe for the answer.
It is a quick way to get responses and is very convenient for the sender who can then track the responses. I have set out below how to add voting buttons to your email message and how to track them for those who are unfamiliar with this feature in your Outlook email.

Add voting buttons to a message (Word 2007)

This feature requires you to be using a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account.

• Open a New Message and then choose Options
• Select the Use Voting Buttons check box, and then click the voting button names you want to use in the box
• To create your own voting button names choose Custom and then type any text you want. Separate the button names with semicolons
• Under Delivery options, select the Have Replies Sent To check box (your email address should automatically appear, but if not, type in the email address(es) you want the replies to go to)
• Click Close, and then click Send

Review tracking results and voting responses

• Since you clicked the Have Replies Sent To, responses will be emailed to the email address you entered, but you can also check by:
• Opening the original message you are tracking. This message is located in the Sent Items folder
• Clicking the Tracking tab (located in top left-hand corner of message) to see responses.  You will see a list of those who have responded and what their vote was.  You can also click Message (located just above the Tracking tab) to view your original message.

Update:Voting buttons do not work on external emails, but they are still good for internal emails. Many times it will be in-house emails that we want votes on from our co-workers.

What will the recipient see:
When the recipient opens the email they will see in the top left-hand corner the voting button with an arrow down.  Click on it and you will then see the choices.  Choose the one you want and you will be given a choice to Send Response Now or Edit Response Before Sending.  Press OK  Your email will now be sent and the person who sent it will see your answer in the Subject line, but as mentioned above, they can also track it from the original message in their Sent Items.