Why We Integrate with Microsoft

In my opinion, the thing that takes business software from “good” to “great” is the ability to integrate with other systems your team uses. And that’s why we integrate OpenCRM with products like Zapier and Integrate with Microsoft.

It may seem strange that we offer integrations with Microsoft systems, given that they have their own CRM solution.

Other Microsoft tools, on the other hand, are fantastic and have often become bywords for business processes in general.

By doing so, we ensure that our users can truly Integrate with Microsoft in a seamless manner.

Microsoft is Everywhere!

Instead of checking your email, you check Outlook. You don’t discuss something on your messaging platform; you chat over Teams. People don’t use your online appointment scheduler (which is a mouthful); they go to your Bookings page.

See what I mean, Microsoft is ubiquitous in the world of business. And we’d be fools not to integrate with it.

In this article, therefore, I’m going to talk about the different ways you and your users can set up integrations between OpenCRM and your Microsoft products.

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Integrating with Microsoft Teams

If you use Microsoft Teams (and increasingly more and more businesses do), you’ll be used to keeping an eye out for notifications from it.

These notifications could be conversations with someone in your office, a discussion around a particular project, or an incoming call. And now, it could also be one of many notifications from OpenCRM.

Built with the ability for you to allow record and system notifications, as well as Activity reminders, to be sent to a private channel directly from OpenCRM. I use this personally and find it such a simple, but incredibly useful feature.

Since we switched to an instant messaging/productivity platform, my emails have taken a back seat. And because of the varied demands on my time as Managing Director, I am often not sitting directly in OpenCRM to see reminders and notifications pop up in our notification centre.

And I’m not too proud to admit that I sometimes missed the odd meeting reminder or notification…until I could move that alert to Teams. Because those little purple boxes on the edge of my screen interrupt my day, grabbing my attention, the way an email hasn’t done for months or even years.

If you’re anything like me and want to try this out for yourself, this article in our Knowledgebase will walk you through how to set it up

Managing your Bookings and Activities (and the rest of your Calendar)

One of my absolute pet hates is trying to schedule a meeting with someone and spending ages discussing when we’re both free. Honestly, drives me insane.

I’ve tried out lots of calendar/meetings booking widgets and tools that I could integrate with my OpenCRM Calendar (via Google). And then Microsoft released Bookings and integrated it with Teams. I was sold.

Basically, I can send people to a page where they can see gaps in my diary. They schedule a meeting, and then it shows up in OpenCRM:

• at the correct time,
• for the correct duration,
• linked to the relevant Contact using their email address,
• copying the Teams meeting details into the description,
• and the best bit? The confirmation with all those details is also sent to the person booking it.

Virtually all of our meetings and calls are now booked this way. I don’t have to go through the rigmarole of finding a time that works for both of us. And there’s no chance that I’ll forget to send the meeting details.

Integration with Microsoft Outlook

As much as I would love to just ignore them, writing and responding to emails is still a huge part of my day. And a lot of the information I need relates to people and organisations stored in OpenCRM. Often, these email communications are important for other team members to be aware of.

You have two options for getting these emails (and your Contacts) from Outlook through to OpenCRM…one manual and another automatic

Option 1: Manual

The manual integration for syncing Emails (and Contacts and Calendars) from Microsoft Outlook to OpenCRM is done using a tool called the “Outlook Addin.” And it’s included in your OpenCRM subscription, no extra charges.

This tool lets you individually select Emails (Calendars, and Contacts) and manually send them through to OpenCRM. They are matched by email address, but you can also choose other records. You may want to link an email to a particular Ticket or Opportunity, for example.

I’m more of a fan of automation myself, but the real benefit here is for people or companies where not EVERYTHING is sent to your CRM for security or privacy reasons. The manual aspect gives you and your users control over what is synced across for the other members of your team to see.

Option 2: Automatic Email Sync

If, like me, you’re too busy (or forgetful) to manually sync your emails, our Pop2OpenCRM service will also bring emails from Outlook to OpenCRM, linking them to the relevant records in the system by email address.

The beauty of this service is that you can implement high-level controls over which emails are synced, but otherwise, everything is sent through. So, no vital communications are accidentally overlooked.

Just like the Outlook Addin, Pop2OpenCRM is included in your subscription..

What about Tasks and ToDo list Management

To keep your productivity on track, there is our Microsoft Planner task integration.

Tasks that are created in OpenCRM are synchronised into Planner, appearing on the Planner Plan that you control.

You decide what gets sync’d and who gets to see this in your Microsoft environment.

Using the Planner integration features lets you work in an enterprise productivity platform while keeping everything you’re working on front and centre throughout your day.

The sync works both ways. Creating a Task in Planner or in Teams using the Planner Teams app also keeps OpenCRM up to date.

The All-Singing-All-Dancing Integration

So you can see how someone who uses many Microsoft products benefits from the integrations we have set up.

But wouldn’t it be great if you could do even more? Watch our Roadmap and new Feature announcements, as this is a big year for us to build on these integrations even further.