Connect for Outlook 3.0Functional Overview

Ly TownsendCustomer Success Manager

Best Practices

Index

Business Driver and Common Use CasesSystem RequirementsBest Practices for Synchronizing ContactsNotes on New 3.0 BehaviorFAQ

Best Practices

Business Driver

Customers would like the ability to integrate their Outlook Edition with salesforce.com. This capability would…

Allow users to synchronize Contacts, Tasks, and Calendar events Associate Outlook email messages with Contacts, Events, and Tasks Create Tasks and Cases from Outlook email messages Map custom fields in Salesforce to fields in Outlook Save time entering data in both salesforce.com and Outlook

Best Practices

Common Use CasesRole Problem Area Use Case

Customer Support Rep

Email to Case A Support Rep gets an email with a problem description, a screenshot of an error, and a plea for help. Using ‘Add Case’, the rep can avoid switching applications, logons, double data entry and loss of context by creating the case in Salesforce directly from Outlook.

Project member Calendar and TaskDouble data entry

A project member may create all their meetings and tasks in Outlook – but the system of record for tracking and reporting is Salesforce. Using Connect Outlook, they can easily sync these two environments, for full visibility across both systems.

Sales Rep Contacts sharing Sales reps need to share their contacts database with others on their team, get access to the contacts info of others, and keep up-to-date with the latest changes to contact details. Connect Outlook connects and synchronizes their personal Outlook Contact folders with the Salesforce Contact database.

Best Practices

System Requirements

Best Practices

Where do I get Connect for Microsoft Outlook, and what are the system requirements?

Salesforce Editions: Available to All EditionsInstall the latest Outlook Edition 3 (known as O3) from Setup/Personal Setup/Desktop Integration/Outlook EditionSystem Requirements for O3:

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000, XP Professional SP1, XP Professional SP2, or VistaMicrosoft Outlook XP (2002), 2003, or 2007Outlook Edition 3.0 is not compatible with Outlook 2000 or Word 2000.

Best Practices

Skill Level RequiredRecommended skill level to implement O3 is an IT administrator working with a Salesforce administrator.

User preferences and synchronization settings should be determined by an administrator.

O3 can be downloaded and used immediately if users have access to the tool.A controlled and customized implementation of O3 typically takes one week to configure, test, train, and rollout to end users.

For larger customers, this time frame may vary and often takes longer.

Best Practices

Are there minimum bandwidth recommendations?

Outlook Edition has no explicit bandwidth requirements, although faster connections obviously translate to faster performance. Users with home DSL connections with <1Mbits/second download rate will likely notice slower sync times.  Use with a modem connection is not recommended."Average" sync exchanges are roughly 1-5Mb (Note that "average" is very difficult to pin down, as it is highly dependent on an org's custom fields, custom tabs, and the amount of data being synched). Average space requirements vary with the amount of data being synched. A normal Outlook Contact equals ~2k. For example, if a user syncs 1000 Contacts, expect this to require an additional ~2Mb storage on the client.

Best Practices

Are Vista & Outlook 2007 supported?

O3 has support for Vista and Outlook 2007, including the new Ribbon UI.

Best Practices

Best Practices forSynchronizing Contacts

Best Practices

How does synchronizing contacts work?(This has not changed from O2.)

When a contact is marked for synchronization, matching is based on 4 fields:

First NameLast NameAccount NameEmail Address

Based on built in logic, if the contact record in Outlook is not matched based on the criteria above, a new contact will be created in salesforce.com.

Assumption: Bi-directional sync

Best Practices

How does synchronizing contacts work? (cont’d)

A Conflict resolution box is displayed if the contact has previously been synchronized and now detects changes have been made in salesforce.com and Outlook based on last sync.

If a similar contact is found in general, but the contact still does not match well, then a new contact is created.

Assumption: Bi-directional sync

Best Practices

Synchronizing Contacts - Example

Contact Name: Jennifer SmithAccount Name: IBM

Matching will only occur for the Contact and the Accounts associated with Jennifer SmithIf there is only ONE Account of IBM, then this is considered a matchIf more than one IBM exists, O3 will prompt you to create a new record or associate to an existing one. (This is different from O2.)

Best Practices

Best Practice for Synchronizing Contacts

Salesforce.com should be the data master!Don’t make Contact changes in Outlook – Create and maintain Contacts in salesforce.comSet up synchronization to be unilateral from salesforce.com to Outlook

• When synchronizing, the latest information from salesforce.com will be brought into Outlook

Know your contact data in salesforce.com and determine your approach:

Are most of your Contacts old?Are most of your Contacts new?Do you have a mix of new and old Contacts?

Best Practices

If most of my Contacts are old…

If the majority of your Contacts in salesforce.com are old or may have outdated information:

Create a new Contacts folder in OutlookSynchronize Contacts from salesforce.com to the new folder in Outlook

Why?By synchronizing Contacts from salesforce.com into a new Outlook folder, old Outlook Contact data can be maintained separately.Contacts in the new Outlook folder can be maintained and synchronized bi-directionally which helps keep data clean.

Best Practices

If most of my Contacts are new…If the majority of your contacts in salesforce.com are new:

Create a new Contacts folder in OutlookSynchronize Contacts from salesforce.com into OutlookFrom your new and old Outlook Contacts folder, consolidate your contacts to have the latest Contact informationSynchronize bi-directionally

Why?You now can maintain one list of new contacts in both Outlook and salesforce.com Helps keep Contact data consolidated and cleanHelps reduce duplicate Contact records in both systems

Best Practices

I have a mix of old and new contacts…

If you have a mix of old and new Contacts in salesforce.com, the best approach is to leave all the Contacts in the existing Outlook folder.

When synchronizing Contacts, you will be prompt to resolve the Contacts through the Conflict Resolution screen.This process, however, may be time consuming.

Why?Conflict resolution will match any existing Contacts in salesforce.com and Outlook and provide you options to select the most updated data.

Best Practices

Synchronization of EventsAll synchronized events are labeled with the "salesforce.com" category.Daily open-ended events and events with an end date synchronize for up to one month. Open-ended weekly and monthly events synchronize for up to one year. Open-ended yearly events synchronize for 5 years.Synching Recurring Events

Salesforce stores recurring Outlook events as separate events. If you need to change a recurring event, change it in Outlook and your changes will be reflected in salesforce.com the next time you synchronize.

Best Practices

Synchronization of EventsWhen creating events in Outlook and synchronizing to Salesforce, you need to do a manual association on the event to track it against a record in Salesforce. If you do not manually associate it to a record, then the event will only be displayed on your homepage.

Best Practices

Notes on New 3.0 Behavior

Best Practices

O3 Enhancements

Faster PerformanceSupports Email AttachmentsSupports Who/What Associations with Custom Objects

Supports “Associations” with Contacts, Tasks, and Calendar EventsAbility to Quick Create records

Quick create can either be turned completely on or off. There are no mix and match options yet.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – General Tips

Your first synch may take a few minutes!During a search for a contact, the default search only displays the first 50 Account names.If you do a full search where an Account name is manually entered, this may take longer since it’s looking for all the account names that match.Synchronizing over the VPN is known to be slower.When O3 is installed, Outlook may be slower during start up.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – General Tips

In Outlook 2007, security is disabled when it is pushed out to users. There is a security setting in Outlook that needs to be enabled. Contact support if you need additional information.Outlook 2007 may be slower when starting up because of the initialization process. However, this is generally not noticeable to most customers.Add Emails: Performance may be slower when associating a record to a custom object when an organization has a large number of custom objects.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – Use Unique Names

When creating a Contact in Outlook, best practice to ensure that the Contact has the proper name is to use unique names for Accounts.

You must use the Associate button to make a proper association to the appropriate record.Example: If you just enter “IBM” for the Account Name, O3 will not let you mark that contact for sync.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – Task Types

Tasks and events in Outlook that are synched do not have an Event/Task type passed to salesforce.com. This will affect reporting activity analysis.

Example: Reporting for Joe Smith may have 10 Event tasks with Type = blank, while others have “Onsite Visit, Conference Call, Left Message, etc.”

Task type information from salesforce.com going into Outlook, however, does work.

Best practice for both scenarios above is to use salesforce.com to associate the event/task to the proper name, and use Outlook to view the data.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – Modifying Defaults

O3 allows users to customize the sync criteria by modifying the registration/dictionary files (O_Dictionary.xml).

Example: Ability to synchronize contacts where you are not the contact ownerA technical expert is recommended to modify these settings. See the Advanced Admin Tip sheet for details.

Administrators need to “push” O3 to users if users do not have the admin rights to download software/applications. The administrator will also need to modify or set the dictionary files for customization.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – Modifying Defaults

If using another application such as Plaxo to synchronize Contacts, users may see the O3 icons disappear. This is a known O3 issue since Outlook does not allow us to control the icons. The icon is a “forced” display on Outlook.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – Default Task StatusWhen you 'Add Email' from Outlook Edition, the default status of the activity being created may not set to what you want. For example, it may set the status to "Absent" instead of “Completed”.

This setting is not directly configurable in Outlook Edition. It is inherited from existing settings in salesforce.com. This is set based on the “TaskStatusValues” on the Windows Registry, and displays that as the default status. For more information, please contact Support for Solution 00006311.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior - Asynchronous Login

O3 can log into salesforce.com on Outlook startup and keep the session alive.

A new login is forced every 20 minutes.The schema is refreshed every 10 “real” logins (i.e. a new SID was obtained).After 2 failed logins, we give up until a successful login has occurred.

Best Practices

O3 Behavior – Embedded App

‘Salesforce.com in Outlook folders’ will continue to be supported, except for a change in behavior when using Vista and Outlook’07 in combination. With this combination, using the folders launches a Salesforce session in a new browser window. (This is not on by default anymore. You will need to select this in your O3 settings.)This change is due to additional security features in Vista.

Best Practices

FAQ

Best Practices

FAQ

Does Outlook Edition work on Citrix?Outlook Edition is not supported in ‘terminal server’ environments like Citrix

• However, some customers have gotten O3 to work where additional testing is required.

In a Citrix terminal server environment, several users log on remotely to the same machine. At Salesforce customer sites some of these users will be Salesforce users, while others aren't. For more information on how to handle such implementations, contact Support for Solution 0005937.Best Practice is to thoroughly regression test when rolling out O3 in a Citrix environment.

Best Practices

FAQ

Is Outlook Edition supported on Single Sign On?Outlook Edition is supported with Single Sign On (SSO).There is an SSO Tip Sheet published by Salesforce.com, specifically for Outlook Edition and SSO. See Solution 0005628 for details.

Best Practices

FAQ

What happens when two people own a Contact that has the same email address from the same Company, and one user makes an update, and the other person synchronizes?

If the user can see the record, then the Contact will be synchronized. If the last modified timestamps are different between Outlook and Salesforce, then a conflict resolution screen is displayed. If only one user’s last modified timestamp is different, then an update occurs to the other user.

Best Practices

FAQ

What version of Outlook am I on?In Outlook - click Tools | Salesforce Options | Under the General Tab click About in the bottom right.

How long will Outlook Edition v1 be supported?Outlook Edition v1 is no longer available nor supported.

How long will the Outlook Edition v2 be supported?Outlook Edition v2 will no longer have any version updates. End of life procedures have not yet been determined for this release.

Best Practices

FAQWhen new releases are available for O3, is there a forced upgrade?

If you are an Enterprise Edition Customer and you’re using Client Application Administration, you may be prompted to upgrade depending on your Admin Setup.If you are a Professional Edition Customer, there is no forced upgrade. You will need to log into salesforce.com to get the latest version.

What are the steps needed to upgrade to O3 from O2?Uninstall of O2 is not required.Make sure that Outlook is shut down before beginning installation.Run the install program and follow the steps in the Wizard.

Best Practices

FAQ

I am currently using O2 and am not ready to upgrade to O3. Where can I get the old version?

Submit a case to support, and they will send you a link to the older edition. We want to determine why the customer wants or needs to use an older version of the client.

Where can I find documentation on version updates on O3?Release notes will be coming soon to outline changes in each version updates of O3.

Best Practices

FAQBecause of storage issues, I don’t want any of my users to synchronize with attachments. How can I turn that off for everyone?

The registration key on the o_dictionary.xml file called “SupportAttachments” can be set to “false” to turn off attachment support.

Can I associate an attachment to more than 1 object per synchronization?

No, you will have to select an object to associate the attachment to. You also have the ability to add additional files/attachments from your computer.

Best Practices

FAQWhat is the maximum size of the attachment I can select?

The default maximum attachment size is 1MB and can be changed via the MaxAttachmentSize registry key (number in bytes). This is unrelated to the attachment size limit set in the app.

Why do I get a message saying ‘You have not selected a salesforce record’, even though I have already selected/associated a contact/lead and account/ opportunity.

If you double click the Contact or Lead, you will see it selected at the bottom of the dialog (“Your name selection: “)

Best Practices

FAQ

How come I unmarked my task/event from synchronizing, and it still shows up?

This is a known issue: When an event has been unmarked for synchronization, the event may still get synchronized.

How come the icons do not show up when I am looking at the my contact’s address cards?

Icons do not show on the address cards on Outlook 2007. You will need to switch to the business card view.

Best Practices

FAQ

How come I was able to synchronize yesterday, but today I can’t?

Most likely, you’ve changed your salesforce.com password, but have not changed it in your Outlook settings. In Outlook, go to Tools | Salesforce Options and change your password there as well.

Best Practices

Links & References

Help & Training in salesforce.comAdministering Outlook Edition 3:

http://na1.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/salesforce_outlook3_admin_cheatsheet.pdf

Outlook Edition 3 Cheatsheet:http://na1.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/salesforce_outlook3_cheatsheet.pdf