Yahoo! Messenger Blog

A closer look at the Address Book in 9.0

January 8, 2009 on 12:08 pm | In 9.0 version |

Yahoo! Address Book is one of the handiest features that is often overlooked in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0. In 9.0, we’ve made your Yahoo! Address Book into another group in your contact list, which makes it easy to start all your communications, with all your friends, from one place. You can easily contact friends via email, phone or even SMS text messages, right from Yahoo! Messenger.

The fastest way to find someone in your contact list, including an address book contact, is to search for them using the contact search bar. Type in their name or contact info and your list will begin filtering down to the matching contacts. When the match appears, click on it in your list to view their contact card. From there you can IM, email, SMS or call depending on what contact info you have for them.

Within the Address Book group in your contact list, there are a variety of icons that can appear next to each contact.

This icon indicates that you can IM with this contact. While they’re not in your everyday list of IM contacts up above, you do have their IM ID. Just double click on the contact to start an IM. To add them to your everyday list of IM contacts so you can see when they’re online, click the “Add User” button in the IM window.

This means that you have a mobile number for a contact so you can send a free SMS message to their mobile phone, right from Yahoo! Messenger. When they reply, the response comes back to you in the same IM window. Note that your recipient may be charged for receiving and replying to your SMS message depending on their wireless plan.

This means you have a home or work phone number stored for a contact. Using the Phone Out feature, you can call this contact right from Yahoo! Messenger. Rates are as low as 1¢ a minute and a Phone Out account is required.

This icon indicates you have an email address for a contact. Double click it to start an email to them using your computer’s default email program. Find out how to make Yahoo! Mail your default email program.

This means you don’t have any “actionable” contact info for that friend, e.g. no email, phone or IM information that Yahoo! Messenger can use to help you reach them. However you can still view what information you do have for them – just double click on their listing.

From the Address Book group in your Yahoo! Messenger contact list, you can also add and remove contacts. To remove a contact, right click on it and select “Delete”. To add a new Address Book contact, right click on the “Address Book” group heading and select “Add a contact”. To edit a contact’s information, right click and select “Contact Details”. Any changes you make in your address book in Yahoo! Messenger will be reflected everywhere you use your Yahoo! Address Book, such as Yahoo! Mail.

If you prefer not to have your Address Book group appear in your Yahoo! Messenger contact list, you can hide it (and it will still be searchable using the contact search bar). Just click the contact preferences button next to the contact search bar up top, then select ‘Show Address Book contacts’ to uncheck it.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager