Microsoft Outlook integration overview

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Practice CS integrates with Microsoft Outlook so you can perform basic Outlook functions and view information from Outlook in various areas of the program.

Requirements and general information

Outlook requirements

You need to meet the Microsoft Office Guidelines for your installation(s) of Outlook. See the Microsoft Office Guidelines for CS Professional Suite.

Microsoft Exchange

If you have Microsoft Exchange, you can view shared calendars and public folders in Practice CS. It doesn't matter if you have Microsoft Exchange hosted through a third party. Some Outlook integration features require that emails be in a public folder. Consult your IT representative to set up public folders in Outlook. To designate the public folder that Practice CS will use see: Selecting a public Outlook folder for client mail.

Points of integration

Staff Dashboard

  • Outlook Mail Portlet

    The Outlook Mail portlet displays the following information:

    • Unread mail in the primary inbox.
    • The total number of unread and read emails in the inbox.
    • Drill-down option of creating a new email by selecting Create New Mail.
    • Click the header of the Outlook Mail portlet to open your Outlook Inbox.
  • Outlook Calendar Portlet
  • Outlook Tasks Portlet
  • Assignments by Target Date Portlet (requires Staff Management module)

    This portlet combines Practice schedule items such as Meetings, To Do's, Projects, Tasks, CPE courses along with Outlook Calendar Appointments and Outlook Tasks into a single schedule so staff have a full picture of all scheduled items, both those in Practice and those in Outlook.

  • Interactions Portlet (requires Client Management module)

    The interactions Portlet lists all interactions with the staff member. Among the interactions may be emails to or from the staff member that are in the designated Outlook public folder.

Client Dashboard

  • Interactions Portlet (requires Client Management module)

    The interactions portlet lists all interactions with the selected client. Among the interactions may be emails to or from the client that are in the designated Outlook public folder.

Staff Calendar

Click here to view more information regarding Staff Calendar information.

Contact Export

For information on how to export contacts to Microsoft Outlook, see How to export contacts to Microsoft Outlook. 

Contact Synchronization

If you are licensed for the Client Management module, you can synchronize the contacts in Practice CS with a contacts folder in Outlook. After the initial synchronization to populate the selected contact folder with the contacts in Practice, whenever a change is made to contact information in Practice CS or Outlook, it is automatically reflected in the other. For information, see Contact Synchronization with Microsoft Outlook.

Emailing out of Practice CS

Additional Locations

There are some additional locations from which you can access Microsoft Outlook from within Practice CS:

  • Send notifications by Outlook email by checking the box under Notify by E-mail for any event on the Setup > Firm > Notifications tab.
  • Open Outlook Mail, Outlook Calendar, Outlook Contacts, and Outlook Tasks from the Staff Navigation pane, or by going to View > Outlook.
  • Add new Emails, Tasks and Appointments from the Add button in the main toolbar.

Troubleshooting

You don't need to turn integration on. If you meet the requirements, integration will work.

If integration isn't working and you aren't getting any error messages, the integration might be disabled. See How to disable the Microsoft Outlook interface to check if it's been disabled. There are also instructions on how to re-enable it.

If you're getting an error or if integration isn't disabled but still isn't working, see Outlook failed due to fatal error.

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