Salesforce and Outlook – what are my options?
With so many options available, how do you make a decision on the right way to connect Outlook and Salesforce? Here are some tips to help you in that process.
We’ll start with functionality that doesn’t require additional licensing:
- Email to Salesforce allows any outbound email from any email client to send a copy to Salesforce:
- Each SF user has their own unique address that they cc in the outbound email
- Salesforce consumes the email and applies filters based on each SF user’s configuration setting
- Email only, email technology agnostic
- Provides a solution to tablet users, utilising a tablet email client as this is simply another email address they are copying on outbound emails
- Often used in conjunction with one of the methods below
- Client side using Salesforce supplied desktop add-in, supports older releases of Outlook clients:
- Salesforce for Outlook v4.1 – https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=000113374&language=en_US&type=3 & https://resources.docs.salesforce.com/208/20/en-us/sfdc/pdf/sfo_getting_started_guide.pdf
- Requires each user to install the software on their client machine running Outlook
- Client is downloaded from Salesforce
- Configuration for what is sync’d is controlled in Salesforce.
- Email sync is manual at the client.
- Tasks and Events can be sync’d in the background
- Passive sync – data is synchronised when that email client is fired up on each user’s computer
- Client side using Microsoft supplied desktop add-in:
- Lightning for Outlook (+ Enhanced Email for Lightning for Outlook)
- https://store.office.com/en-us/WA104379334.aspx
- Outlook Clients must support add-ins (Outlook 2013/2016 and Outlook web app)
- Email only, for Contacts and Events sync, see Lightning Sync
- Enhanced setting allows for Emails to be stored in their own related list in Salesforce – if not enabled emails are added as Tasks
- Server side:
- Lightning Sync:
- https://resources.docs.salesforce.com/208/latest/en-us/sfdc/pdf/salesforce_exchange_sync_admin_implementation_guide.pdf
- Works in conjunction with Lightning for Outlook
- Connect via OAuth 2.0 or Service Accoun
- Supported versions are Exchange 2013 (Service Pack 1), 2016 and Exchange online
- Background, server based sync of Contacts and Events:
- Contacts – both directions
- Events from Exchange -> SF only
- No support for recurring events
- Sync preferences are configured inside Salesforce and users are assigned to the configuration(s)
- Appexchange App:
- A large list of Appexchange solutions are available, these existed prior to the Lightning functionality described above
- If using any Terminal Server environment one of these can be used
- Two such solutions are:
- Lightning Sync:
- Lightning for Outlook (+ Enhanced Email for Lightning for Outlook)
If you want to purchase additional licensing, consider Salesforce Inbox, we’ll cover that in a different blog.