Understanding Microsoft’s Integration with LinkedIn and Cortana

Microsoft’s latest integration includes Cortana and LinkedIn for Windows 10 users.  Users will be able to discover information about their LinkedIn contacts through Cortana.  The partnership between Microsoft and LinkedIn is designed to bring people together so they can stay connected with their contacts.  LinkedIn members who use a calendar will receive meeting reminders through Cortana.  Users can also click directly to their LinkedIn’s contact name to go directly to their profile.  The connection is simple through Connected Accounts in the Cortana Notebook.

If this integration proves successful, Microsoft may add future integrations with other services for Cortana.  Even though Microsoft has already used Outlook integration, this is the first time they have enabled users to connect accounts to external services.  This integration allows Cortana to provide information about LinkedIn contacts based on their profile and displays it on the desktop.

Another nice feature to this integration is that when Cortana sends a meeting reminder that includes a LinkedIn contact, it will search the contact’s LinkedIn account to provide contact information such as job title, profile picture, and company.  This is helpful if users want to search their contact’s LinkedIn profile to find out how they should address them in an email or what their latest feeds are, etc. so they have more information on the people they are meeting with.  This type of information isn’t typically connected with calendar data.

Rolling out Microsoft’s Integration With LinkedIn and Cortana

This feature is currently being rolled out globally as a slow release.  Users will have to keep an eye on their Connected Accounts screen to see when they will be able to connect their LinkedIn accounts.  Cortana will provide details on the desktop so after an account is set up there aren’t any further steps for finding contact information, as it will come up through LinkedIn.

This roll out could be a forerunner of new features to come to Cortana.  Since Cortana already connects with Office 365, users will be able to connect even deeper with their contacts and their professional colleagues.

Useful Information

After a user sets up the connection to their LinkedIn account, the next reminder they receive from Cortana will include their contact’s LinkedIn information.  Users will have to navigate through their LinkedIn contacts through a “see more on LinkedIn.com” link just below the contact’s LinkedIn photo.  If not already a LinkedIn contact an option to connect on LinkedIn is available.

This feature is great for business users.  Even though users have to click a couple of links to get to their contact’s LinkedIn profile, they won’t have to do a separate search on LinkedIn to get to their profile or to even discover if the contact has a LinkedIn account.  In other words, if users want to dig a little further, they have to click to see their contact’s full LinkedIn photo and see who their common connections are, their education, and other information displayed on their profile.