LinkedIn sent its users a brief message this week that stated the following:

As an active user of LinkedIn for Microsoft Outlook Social Connector, we wanted to make sure we let you know that on March 9, we will no longer support LinkedIn for Microsoft Outlook Social Connector in Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010. This means that LinkedIn information about your email contacts will not be visible in those Outlook versions.

What’s This Mean for You?

Many businesses, for example, use Microsoft Office 2010 – that includes Outlook 2010. It’s common to use this connection to look at the LinkedIn status of contacts. When you select a contact that’s connected with LinkedIn, Outlook will show you that contact’s status.

It’s a valuable feature to know a co-worker or client’s LinkedIn status before e-mailing or calling them, so losing the connection between Outlook and LinkedIn can be difficult for some. Don’t worry yet, though, because there are easy ways to get around it and continue on work as usual.

A Simple Upgrade

If this affects you, it’s probably time to upgrade your Microsoft Office. If you’re running a small business you can upgrade to Microsoft Office 2013 for Home, which includes Outlook, for $99.99 a year for up to five computers. Some Microsoft Exchange providers will give you a license and software for Outlook 2013 as well.

With the newest Office or Outlook you can download a new connector at no additional cost so that you can continue staying connected with your clients and contacts through LinkedIn.

For more IT news and to ensure your system and applications are up to date, contact your IT service team on email or by the phone.