Groupware synchronization

The field service often uses Microsoft Outlook or some other group­ware to manage contacts and tasks. For this reason, JustRelate CRM offers a communication interface that also allows managing emails and contacts by means of a mobile groupware, and synchronizes them regularly with the system (groupware syn­chronization).

Emails are a form of correspondence for JustRelate CRM and can therefore also be created as correspondences via the activity management.

Correspondences of the email dispatch type can be created from cases and contacts. They can contain attachments that are sent together with the email. When created from the CRM, an email can be edited in the groupware and is automatically checked in to the CRM database as a correspondence. Of course, you can also edit (HTML editor) and manage emails completely in the CRM.

Emails that you receive as a user in your groupware can also be checked in (synchronized) as separate correspondence records in the CRM. This usually happens automatically, and the emails can be managed in The CRM mailbox.

The field service has the possibility to match contacts between the CRM and the groupware using the groupware synchronization. This process can be initiated from the CRM as well as from the groupware. If you synchronize one or several contacts, the contact information is matched and updated. When contacts from the groupware are synchronized, a distinction is of course made between private and business con­tacts if they have been marked accordingly, or are managed in a separate folder.

• The main address in the CRM becomes the business address in Microsoft Outlook.
• The private address becomes the private address in Microsoft Outlook.
• If neither the main address nor the private address in the CRM has the postal flag, the address with the postal flag in Microsoft Outlook will be filed under "other address".

In Microsoft Outlook, there are always main, private and postal addresses. The latter can be of any Type in the CRM.

Synchronize

The Synchronize command in the groupware always synchronizes all data records of a folder, selected data records within a folder, or an opened data record with JustRelate CRM. In this process, the up-to-dateness of the data records in the groupware and the CRM is compared, and the data records updated most recently are syn­chronized.

Synchronizing in the groupware means:

• Synchronize folder (e.g. special folder "Contacts" in Outlook = all contacts in this folder, private con­tacts must have been marked as such).
• Selective synchronization (marked contacts from the contact folder)
• Synchronizing an open contact (single contact from contact window)

The matching is done according to a standard:

The Groupware Connector also synchronizes contact data from the CRM to the groupware. This feature is available for Exchange Server 2010 as well as Exchange Online as part of Office 365. In the standard, it synchronizes the respective user’s external contacts with her or his groupware account.

• The connector synchronizes all external CRM contacts of an internal employee (account manager) with the default contact folder of the groupware account.
• In order to exclude contact records of the groupware from the synchronization, additional own contact folders need to be created.
• The connector uses an intermediate table, "Contacts - Contact ID in Exchange". The table contains additional attributes to identify when and for which internal employee an external contact was synchronized.
• The contact synchronization job is GRW_SYN_CON_EXP. The parameters are documented in the job administration. It is recommended to copy and parameterize the default job.

She or he manages the list of objects deleted in the CRM since the last synchronization, which have been logged in order to check which objects can be deleted there during synchronization with an external system. This ensures data consistency during the next synchronization.

The folders that should be synchronized (Outlook or Lotus Notes, ...) can be configured in the My data form. If this has not yet been done, JustRelate CRM will request that this assignment be created at the first attempt to export to the groupware.