Exchange Public Folder Types

You can create six different types of public folders in Exchange: appointment, contact, journal, mail, note, and task.

• An appointment folder records schedules and appointments for individuals, groups, and resources that can be scheduled (e.g., conference rooms). An appointment folder might contain a corporate calendar that contains regularly scheduled meetings and employee events.
• A contact folder records information required to contact an individual or an organization. You can describe each entry by name, company, job title, address, phone number, email address, and many other fields. A corporate contact folder might contain the official company list of qualified vendors, suppliers, contractors, and support personnel.
• A journal folder records the time and date of specific events. The most typical use of a journal folder is contact and lead tracking by sales or marketing personnel. A journal can be tightly integrated with a contact folder to record interaction with individuals and companies. A journal can also track the time a user spends working with many Microsoft applications, including Office 97.
• A mail folder is the most common type of public folder. Mail folders typically organize documents related to the same subject (e.g., policies and procedures and employee handbooks developed by human resources). A mail folder can publish a variety of document formats, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, rich text, and HTML. And a mail folder can host all these document formats simultaneously.
• A note folder records the equivalent of sticky notes that contain simple text. This type of public folder is the least useful for collaboration purposes. For example, you can give a coworker an electronic sticky note instead of applying a post-it directly to his or her monitor or keyboard.
• A task folder records and tracks tasks. You can describe each task by a name, a start and finish date, and a status. You can delegate each task to an individual and the person responsible for the task can update the task status until it is complete. This folder type is ideal for projects where online tracking and reporting is desired.