Integrating Salesforce with Outlook

Tired of having to jump back and forth between Salesforce and your Microsoft Outlook client to sync up emails and calendar activities?

It’s a subject that pops up frequently when talking to clients about integration and best practices when using Ascendix products on Salesforce Lightning. So, we just had to write an article on it!

Note: Only available for users with Office 365 or access to Microsoft Exchange Server for Outlook

Before we get started let’s make sure we meet the minimum specifications for integrating Salesforce for Outlook.

Outlook Program Versions:

• 2016
• 2013
• 2010
• 2007 (Supported until April 2017)

Operating System:

• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 7

Browser required to use Salesforce Side Panel in your Outlook Client:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 11

Note: This information is gathered from the Salesforce Spring ’17 release guide.

Great, now that you’ve met the minimum specifications go to your Outlook client and locate the Store Icon on the top right of your home bar and search for “Salesforce Lightning for Outlook” and enable the Add-in.

Once you have that enabled close out of Outlook and re-open it. Then select the Salesforce Cloud Icon next to the Store Icon. You will be prompted to login to your Salesforce instance. Please note by enabling the add-in Outlook your Office 365 account will have the same functionality as well.

Salesforce for Outlook is almost ready to use! For this part, you will need to get in touch with your Salesforce Administrator to help you configure the sync between Outlook and Salesforce.

To configure, go to Setup and search for “Outlook Configurations” and select “New Outlook Configuration”. From here you can assign specific Groups and Users to the configuration as well as set how information is synced between the two programs.

Congratulations! Now your Outlook to Lightning interface is ready to use!