2 Important Tips when Setting Up Email Synchronization in Dynamics 365 for Sales

Posted on: July 5, 2017 | By: Jim Bertler | Microsoft Dynamics CRM

One of the major benefits of using Dynamics 365 for Sales is the integration with Outlook. Not only does Dynamics 365 have a new Outlook App (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/dynamics-365-app-for-outlook-user-s-guide.aspx), it also has built in synchronization between Outlook and Dynamics. Within Dynamics, the user has the ability to synchronize incoming email, outgoing email, and appointments, contacts, and tasks. With this functionality, users can create a task or appointment directly through Dynamics, then see it appear on their Outlook calendar. Users can also create contacts in Dynamics and have them sync to their list of Outlook contacts.

As anyone can imagine though, there are a lot of different settings to have the synchronization just right. To create the ideal setting, there needs to be some thought into what syncs, to which users, and in which direction. There are though, 2 main settings that need to be considered when turning on the synchronization for a Dynamics environment.

The first setting is the Process Email From field on the main Exchange Server Profile. To get here, go to Settings- Email Configuration- Email Server Profiles, and open the Exchange Server Profile. For many organizations that have had Dynamics CRM for a long time, this date may be set to a year or more in the past. If you have had CRM for a while, but never had server side synchronization enabled, this date could very well be a long time ago.

What we have seen, is that if server side synchronization is enabled and this ‘Process Email From’ date is way in the past, the server will try to start processing appointments and tasks in users’ Outlook calendar and thus create hundreds or even thousands of activities. To avoid this, be sure to open up the mailbox and set the date to the current date.

The second tip that is very useful are the synchronization filters. These are often overlooked because there is not much mention of them and the setting is a very small button. These filters though are where you set the directional synchronization. For example, you may want appointments and contacts to sync, but not tasks. Here is where you would set that:

Click the Gear button in the top right of Dynamics- Click Options- Click the Synchronization tab- Click Filters.

Filters is the small hyperlink in the first line of the synchronization settings. As depicted, you can see that out-of-the-box there are filters already activated for activities such as tasks, phone calls, and appointments. There is also one set up for ‘My Outlook Contacts.’ This setting is what dictates if a new Dynamics contact syncs back into your Outlook, so it is wise to check this setting and decide accordingly on how your organization wants contacts and activities to sync.

 

If you think that a Dynamics CRM system is the next best step for your business, contact Logan Consulting, your Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner of Chicago.

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