Demystifying MS CRM 2011 Synching Contacts to Outlook Contacts
Posted by Ron Harris on Wed, Nov 16, 2011
In MS CRM version 4 we regularly used marketing lists to define which CRM contacts to sync to Outlook contacts. When dynamic marketing lists were introduced in MS CRM 2011 we didn't think twice about continuing to use these new marketing lists, but they don't work. The Outlook filters for contact sync don't trigger CRM to evaluate the condition, to the dynamic marketing list appears empty.
The solution, of course, is very simple. Instead of defining a marketing list in the Outlook contact filter, you use the condition that you would have used to build the dynamic marketing list. Way simple and it works flawlessly. As I worked with getting my contacts to sync to Outlook contacts I discovered some other things that impact your ability to sync the contacts you want from MS CRM to Outlook contacts.
I setup a new field on the contact form called "Ron's Contact" and made it a checkbox. If the checkbox is checked, I want it to sync to my Outlook contacts. When I uncheck the field, I want the contact removed from my Outlook contacts. Simple and easy to use.
I setup my Outlook filter for contact sync to check the Ron's Contact field and sync contacts where the value is true. I manually ran the sync and everything worked perfectly. My CRM contacts were copied into Outlook contacts and were being tracked.
I next unchecked one of the contacts in CRM and ran the sync but I got unexpected results. The contact stayed in Outlook contacts, but was no longer being tracked in CRM. Turns out that if I am the owner of the contact record in CRM, the Outlook contact is not removed. The way to fix this is to change the owner to another user or team, set the Ron's Contact field to yes and then sync again. Unchecking the Ron's Contact field will now remove the contact from Outlook contacts.
I could have deleted the contact manually from Outlook but that has its own issues. I discovered that if I delete a contact from Outlook, that it would not sync back into Outlook if I later changed my mind about having that contact record in my Outlook contacts without taking another step. You need to find the contact record you deleted in your deleted items folder and permanently delete it. Once it is permanently deleted, the sync process will bring it over into Outlook contacts again.
I bring over the contacts from CRM into my Outlook contacts so that when I am out of the office and need to reach a prospect or client I have the information available. When one of my contacts call me on my cell phone, the caller ID match shows who is calling. There are lots of reasons to sync contacts to Outlook contacts. If I update a contact in Outlook contacts or on my phone, the information I update or add is automatically updated in CRM.
We have one other rule that probably fits most organizations and that is "Keep your personal contacts personal". Do not sync personal contacts in Outlook to CRM. Resist the temptation to do that or you may find that you are sending marketing materials to your auto mechanic or dentist.