Add train journey details to Outlook appointments
I recently heard about an extremely useful add-in for Outlook 2007 from National Rail Enquiries, which allows you to plan and add train journey details to your Outlook appointments. Great idea and it’s really nicely put together too :). The screenshots below show how it works in Outlook 2007, but there’s also a version for Outlook 2003.
First of all you just download the plug-in from the National Rail Enquiries web site.
Once you’ve installed the plug-in you get an extra ‘Journey Planner’ button in all your appointments.
Clicking the Journey Planner button opens a dialogue box where you can specify you’re departure and arrival destinations, including default settings for work and home. You can then view details to select the journey which best suit your needs.
Once you’ve selected your journey appointments are created in your Outlook calendar which even have reminders set to the appropriate time, so you leave enough time to make it to the station!
The appt itself has all the detail of your journey, including links to the live departure board, so you track any delays. You can also set up SMS alerts for the journey.
All in all, a really nicely designed little application, which I know I’ll be making good use of very soon. Give it a go and let me know if it works for you!