In July 2017, Microsoft announced that Dynamics 365 for Outlook (Outlook client) is officially deprecated and will not be included in the upcoming Dynamics 365 release.

Therefore, I’d like to introduce you to its replacement…Dynamics 365 App for Outlook which is an add-in.  The Dynamics 365 App for Outlook is zero footprint as it does not need to be installed on your local desktop.  It uses server side synchronization and allows you to track email on your mobile devices.  To take advantage of all the features you should be using Outlook 2016.

Top 5 features for the Dynamics 365 App for Outlook:

1. Create a contact or lead from an unknown email recipient.
2. Track an email with the Outlook desktop, Outlook web and Outlook on iOS (Outlook on Android coming soon)
3. Compose an email and link it to a Dynamics 365 record.
   a. Add an email template, sales literature or knowledge base article when you create an email.
4. Track a phone call, appointment or task activity and link it to a Dynamics 365 record.
5. Track Outlook contacts in Dynamics 365.

Do you need to know more?…check out the step by step user’s guide.

Create a contact or lead

1. When you receive an email, click on the Dynamics 365 icon in the ribbon to identify potential contact and lead matches. If no match is found click on the + Add To Dynamics 365 and select Contact or Lead.

2. Create Contact -> Fill in the required information and clickSave.

Track an email

1. Outlook Desktop: Once you have saved your Contact click Track. You will see a list of Recently Used Records or you can search for your Dynamics 365 record and select it.  Or you have the option to create a new record.

• The default tracking entities are: Account, Contact, Lead and Opportunity but you can enable additional entities and custom entities with configuration.
• Relevance Search and mobile need to be enabled for additional and custom entities to appear.
• The Dynamics 365 App uses the quick create forms for data entry. If you have a lookup field on your form, verify that you have enabled the entity for mobile access.

2. Outlook on iOS: Click on the ‘. . .’ under the time in your email message and click Dynamics 365. Click Track to search for your Dynamics 365 record.

Compose an email

1. Compose your email and enter the mail recipients. Click on the Dynamics 365 icon in the ribbon to track the email, insert a template, sales literature or knowledge base article.

 

2. Click on Templates to insert an email template.

3. Click on Sales Lit to insert sales literature.  It will insert the document as an email attachment.

4. Click on Articles to insert a knowledge base article. The article will be inserted as an attachment.

Track a phone call, appointment or task

1. Just like an email, select an existing phone call, appointment or task or create a new activity and click Track.

 

Track Outlook Contacts

1. To track your Outlook contacts click on the blue Dynamics 365 icon at the bottom of Outlook. You may have to click on the ‘. . .’ to find the Dynamics 365 Contact Add-in.
2. Select a contact and click Track on the ribbon or the green icon in the Details.
3. Then Link the contact to an account.

If you’d like to learn more about Dynamics 365 or have any questions, we’d be happy to talk to you!