TechExcel CustomerWise Outlook Sync
Contents TechExcel Outlook Sync Overview... 3 Feature Summary... 3 Requirements... 4 System Administration - Configuring TechExcel CustomerWise for use with Outlook Sync... 4 User Configuration Configuring TechExcel Outlook Sync... 8 Using TechExcel Outlook Sync... 12 Add an Outbound Email to CustomerWise... 12 Add a Sent or Received Email to CustomerWise... 14 Add an Outlook Task or Outlook Appointment to CustomerWise... 15 Synchronize CustomerWise Events to Outlook Appointments/Tasks... 20 APPENDIX: Installing TechExcel Outlook Sync... 21 2 T echexcel Outlook Sync
TechExcel Outlook Sync Overview TechExcel Outlook Sync provides Microsoft Outlook users the ability to interact with TechExcel CustomerWise CRM data from directly within Outlook. The TechExcel Outlook Sync adds additional buttons to the Microsoft Outlook interface making it easy for salespeople and customer support technicians to synchronize activities performed within Outlook to CustomerWise. Synchronizing communications, activities, and tasks from Outlook to CustomerWise improves both user efficiency and visibility. Feature Summary Capture Outlook Emails Incoming and outgoing Outlook emails may be selected and linked with the appropriate customer in CustomerWise CRM with a single click. Or, more detailed Customer and Contact search may also be used to find and match the email with the appropriate customer record. Automatic Record Matching Emails sent and received are automatically matched with existing CustomerWise CRM information based on matching email addresses. Sales and support teams link new and existing emails with leads, contacts, opportunities, or support incidents while adding Outlook emails to CustomerWise. If no match is found, users may also choose to perform a search of CustomerWise CRM data from within Outlook. Online/Offlinee Customer Contact Support Search the CustomerWise CRM customer database from within Outlook even when offline. TechExcel Outlook Sync maintains a local database of customer, contact, opportunity, and event information so sales and support users may access and update information while offline. All updates made locally will be synchronized with the CustomerWise CRM server when online. Customer and Contact Manager Add new customers or contacts to CustomerWise directly from Outlook at the same time you add an email, task, or appointment. Create Outlook Tasks and Activities From CustomerWise Events CustomerWise Events may be configured to automatically createe calendar appointments or tasks in Microsoft Outlook. CustomerWise Events are also workflow driven so you may configure a process which automatically updates users task lists and calendars as a part of the sales or support workflow to ensure opportunities and incidents are worked on consistently and in a timely manner. 3 T echexcee l Outlook Sync
Requirements Server Requirements TechExcel CustomerWise 8.0 or above Outlook Integration must be enabled and configured by Administrator End User Requirements Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, XP Professional, or Vista Microsoft Outlook XP, 2003, and 2007 Permission to perform Outlook Sync Actions System Administration Configuring TechExcel CustomerWise for use with Outlook Sync TechExcel System Administrators must configure Outlook Sync within the Admin Client before use. There are two areas within the Admin Client that must be configured: 1. Support Member Manager System administrators must grant team members permission to use Outlook Sync. This privilege is granted using a new checkbox in the Team Member Manager. The image below shows a new privilege Can perform Outlook Integration that must be checked for team members allowed to perform actions. 4 T echexcel Outlook Sync
2. Outlook Integration Settings The second step is to configure the Outlook Integration settings found under the Advanced Project Settings folder in the Admin Client. 5 T echexcel Outlook Sync
The image below shows the new Outlook Integration page and is followed by a brief description of each control on the page. 1. Enable Outlook integration This checkbox must be checked to enable syncing Outlook items with events and saving emails as events in the work project. Event Sync Options Tab Control how events sync from TechExcel CustomerWise to Microsoft Outlook with these settings. Only the events that meet the criteria defined here will be synced to Outlook appointments or tasks. 2. Sync options For each event template there are three sync options available: 1. Don t sync 2. Sync to appointment 3. Sync to task 3. Sync Statuses 6 T echexcel Outlook Sync
For each event template, the administrator may choose the event statuses in which the event will be synced. 4. Date Range The administrator may define date ranges to further limit event syncing so not all events are synced at once. The Administrator may create Date Range rules based on the event Create Date, Start Date, and End Date. The date range rules are global and will apply to all event templates configured to synchronize with Outlook. Save Emails as Events Tab End users may save emails from Microsoft Outlook to TechExcel CustomerWise as an event. When users choose to save an email as an event, they will be able to choose from the events the administrator has selected as applicable event templates. Only event templates with an event type of Email received or Email sent (defined in the event template settings) are available to administrators when defining applicable events. A default event template may also be defined by the administrator for the most commonly used event. 7 T echexcel Outlook Sync
User Configuration Configuring TechExcel Outlook Sync If you have not installed the TechExcel Outlook Sync plug-in, please see the Appendix Installing TechExcel Outlook Sync for detailed installation instructions. Configuring Outlook Sync for Use 1. Press Configuration Before using TechExcel Outlook Sync, you need to run the Configuration wizard. The wizard will run automatically the first time you open Outlook after installing. You may also run the configuration wizard by pressing the Configuration button in the Outlook toolbar, or selecting the new CustomerWise menu option, and selecting Configuration. 8 T echexcel Outlook Sync
2. Press User Login Enter your TechExcel CustomerWise login credentials, select the correct web service connection, select the project to synchronize emails, and press the OK button. Having Trouble Logging In? Do you have permission to use the Outlook Sync? Contact your CustomerWise Administrator to request permission to use Outlook Sync. Does the project you belong to allow for Outlook Sync? Contact your CustomerWise Administrator to inquire if the project allows Outlook integration. Not Seeing Synchronization? Make sure you have selected the correct project in the Select Project dropdown. You may only synchronize with one project at a time. However, you may always return to this configuration screen and switch projects. 9 T echexcel Outlook Sync
3. Press Setup Local DB After you have configured user profile information, the wizard will ask you to set up a local DB. Or, you may select the Setup Local DB item in the Configuration menu. The local database will be used to preferences and also actions performed while offline. When a connection becomes available, the actions performed will synchronize with the live CustomerWise system. To configure your local database Select the Database Type. Choose between: Microsoft Access Microsoft SQL server Once you have completed the database connection information, press the OK button. The configuration wizard will populate the local DB with the correct tables and synchronize data from live CustomerWise database. 10 T echexcel Outlook Sync
4. Finishing Configuration After the local database is updated, the configuration wizard will display a list of event synchronizations and email settings defined by your CustomerWise Administrator. This summary shows the CustomerWise event templates used for synchronizing Outlook events and appointments and also the CustomerWise events created when saving Outlook emails to CustomerWise. You may always utilize the Configuration menu to reconfigure local settings. For example, Set up local DB: Create a new or change the local database. Sync time: Re-synchronize the time difference between the local and master database. Restore local DB: Overwrite the local database with data from the live CustomerWise database. 11 T echexcel Outlook Sync
Using TechExcel Outlook Sync Add an Outbound Email to CustomerWise When sending an email, you may now choose to save the email to TechExcel CustomerWise and associate the email with a customer and a specific support incident if connected to a support project or sales opportunity if connected to a sales project. 1. Create a new message within Outlook. 2. Press the Add-Ins toolbar or menu item. 3. Press the Send and Save Email to CustomerWise button (Shown in image below). 4. Confirm the Send Email information is correct or make adjustments using the Save Event dialog (shown below). 12 T echexcel Outlook Sync
5. The correct customer and contact will be selected automatically based on the matching email information from TechExcel CustomerWise. You may add customers or contacts using the New buttons next to Customer and Contact fields. You may search customers using the icon next to the Customer field. You may edit the existing information using any of the Edit buttons for Customer or Contacts. Please Note: Creating/editing customer and contact information is only available when there is an interment connection. Functions performed offline will be done on the local database and synchronized to main TechExcel CustomerWise database when a connection becomes available. 6. Choose the related incident or sales opportunity to associate the email event. 13 T echexcel Outlook Sync
7. Choose the Event template and Event status used to track this email activity in TechExcel CustomerWise. 8. You will now see this Email event and message from within TechExcel CustomerWise. Please Note: An email can only be saved to one event. Once saved, the Save email to CustomerWise button will be disabled for that email. Add a Sent or Received Email to CustomerWise Emails already in your Microsoft Outlook Inbox or Sent Items folders may also be saved to TechExcel CustomerWise retroactively. The steps are similar to those above and the Save Event dialog is the same. 1. Select any email you have received or sent within Microsoft Outlook. 2. Press the Save Email to CustomerWise button from the CustomerWise toolbar. 3. Complete the Save Event dialog. Again, you may use this dialog to associate the email with the correct customer, contact, incident, and CustomerWise event. You may also create new customer and contact information from this dialog. 14 T echexcel Outlook Sync
Please Note: An email can only be saved to one event. Once saved, the Save email to CustomerWise button will be disabled for that email. Add an Outlook Task or Outlook Appointment to CustomerWise You may choose to sync an appointment/task to a CustomerWise event. To do so, you will be required to specify the customer and event information using the CustomerWise toolbar visible whenever an Outlook task or appointment is opened. Understanding the CustomerWise Outlook Toolbar The toolbar shown below becomes visible whenever an Microsoft Outlook task or appointment is opened: By default, the toolbar is grayed out for a new appointment/task, indicating it will not be synced to a CustomerWise event. The tool bar includes three fields that display the current Project, Customer and Event information. The toolbar includes two ellipses ( ) buttons you may use to change the associated Customer and Event Info. Clicking either ellipses ( ) button will bring up the dialog below: 15 T echexcel Outlook Sync
Synchronizing Events and Appointments 1. If Sync to CRM is not checked, all other fields on the dialog will be disabled. This appointment/task will not sync to a CustomerWise event. 2. To specify the customer/event information, check the Sync to CRM checkbox: 16 T echexcel Outlook Sync
3. When a customer is selected the customer and contact information will be displayed. 4. Clicking the New or Edit buttons will begin the create/edit a customer/contact dialog shown in the image below. Please Note: Creating/editing customer and contact information is only available when there is an interment connection. Functions performed offline will be done on the local database and synchronized to main TechExcel CustomerWise database when a connection becomes available. 17 T echexcel Outlook Sync
5. A quick search dialog is provided for searching customers. 6. You may choose to associate the event to the incident or opportunity. Only incidents related to the selected customer are displayed. 18 T echexcel Outlook Sync
7. Select the event template and status in the Event Info frame. The events available are based on the status of the related incident selected. If you are using event workflow you will only see events that are applicable to the state of the incident. If no incident is selected, all the event templates will be listed. 19 T echexcel Outlook Sync
8. The default event owner will be set to the user using Outlook Sync. You may change it to another team member. Please Note: If you create or change the ownership of an appointment/task to another project member it will no longer be available for you to once it is synced to CustomerWise. 9. You must specify a customer and an event template if you want to sync the appointment/task to a CustomerWise event. 10. When an appointment is synced to a CustomerWise event the subject and content will become Event Title and Event Description. The start time and end time of the Outlook appointment/task will become the CustomerWise Event start date and end date. Synchronize CustomerWise Events to Outlook Appointments/Tasks This operation happens automatically and there is no user interface involved in this function. When Microsoft Outlook is opened, the TechExcel Outlook Sync begins to compare the live CustomerWise database with your local database. If there are synchronizations required they occur automatically. If there are any changes in the Administration settings or incidents/customers/contacts, the sync service will also sync them to local DB. Therefore the settings for the Outlook integration will be up-to-date as long as there is an interment connection. 20 T echexcel Outlook Sync
APPENDIX: Installing TechExcel Outlook Sync 1. Download TechExcel Outlook Sync setup (OutlookSynz.zip) from website or a location provided by your TechExcel Administrator. 2. Backup Microsoft Outlook files using Microsoft Outlook backup function. 3. Close Microsoft Outlook 4. Uncompress installation files to a local folder. You will have the following folders and files: 5. Run the setup.exe to install prerequisite program files. 6. Run CWOutlookAddinSetup.msi and follow on-screen prompts 7. Start Microsoft Outlook and continue with the section User Configuration Configuring TechExcel Outlook Sync above. 21 T echexcel Outlook Sync