IT Tips - February 2013

It Tips – February 2013

Do you see that? Princess Leia finally declared her love to Han Solo (which I assume no longer makes him a ‘delusional laser brain’). Love is in the air, indeed…

…Oh, you don't watch Star Wars for Valentine's Day?

What’s Inside:

Tech Section

·         My ‘Set Regarding’ button is gone!! (field-staff)

·         Deleting Outlook Folders

Common Outlook Issues

Candy is dandy but this IT Tip is a trip. In the spirit of the holiday, I want to show the love the only way I can: babbling about Outlook…

Like the month of February, this tip is short and sweet. 

My ‘Set Regarding’ Button is Gone!

This topic comes up quite a bit, and for good reason. The CRM Outlook Client is a very valuable tool for the Sales staff and when it disappears, our BCs notice in a hurry!

The CRM Outlook Client is what’s known as an ‘add-in’. In other words, it’s a program that loads inside of Outlook to provide additional features. Those of you using the Outlook Client know how useful these additional features, such as tracking appointments, can be. However, there are certain circumstances which may cause this CRM add-in functionality to disappear.

There are two things I will show you. First, you will learn how to avoid losing the CRM Outlook Client buttons. Second, I will provide easy-to-follow instructions for resurrecting the Outlook CRM functions, should they disappear. Grab your heart-shaped box of chocolates and follow along.

Please note: The CRM Outlook Client is used to track/link Outlook items (such as appointments) with CRM. This functionality is primarily used by our lovely field staff. If you don’t know what the CRM Outlook Client is, then it’s likely this first section doesn’t apply to you.  

Get on with it, Keith. Why do my CRM buttons keep disappearing?



Always use the VPN unless you want your CRM buttons
to disappear like Houdini!

Our new Exchange 2010 server has a feature called ‘Outlook Anywhere’ which allows Outlook to connect without VPN access. Outlook Anywhere is a great feature if you don’t use the CRM Outlook Client. This is because CRM, unlike Outlook, cannot connect without VPN access. That means if you open Outlook without first connecting to the VPN, the CRM Outlook Client will be unable to connect and might perform its disappearing act.

How can I prevent losing my CRM buttons?

Put simply, if you wish to avoid losing your CRM buttons, always connect to the VPN before opening Outlook.

There is another thing to avoid: do not close your laptop lid with Outlook still running. As you know from reading last month’s tip (wink-wink), closing the lid puts the computer into sleep mode. Sleep will cause the VPN to disconnect, but will not close the Outlook application. When you re-open your laptop, the CRM Outlook client will try to connect but will fail since the VPN will no longer be connected. This failure to connect may cause the Outlook CRM buttons to vanish.

OK, that makes sense. How do I get it back if it does disappear on me?

I thought you’d never ask! There are two options for restoring the CRM add-in.

First, we’ll try the quicker solution. Just follow these three easy steps!

1.) Reboot your computer to have a fresh start. Now, connect to the VPN (first!) and then open Outlook.

2.) Scroll down to the bottom of your Outlook folder list (on the left side) and click on the ‘IREDALE MINERAL COSMETICS’ folder.

 

3.) Now, click the ‘Sign In’ link on the right side.

You will now see ‘CRM trying to connect’

After a few minutes, the dashboard will appear along with your CRM buttons at the top!

 

In some rare ciscumstances, the first option may not work. If nothing happens after 5 minutes, or you get a ‘CRM unable to connect’ message, give option two a try! There are six (still easy) steps to follow here.

Ensure that you’re connected to the VPN.

Completely close out of Outlook (File -> Exit).

1.) Click the start bubble (bottom left) and select ‘All Programs’.

2.) Click on ‘Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011’.

3.) Click on ‘Diagnostics’.

4.) Now click the ‘Advanced Troubleshooting’ tab

5.) Finally, click the ‘Enable’ button and then click ‘Save’

6.) Re-open Outlook (while still connected to the VPN) and your ‘Track in CRM’ should reappear. 

Deleting Folders

You may be thinking, “Keith is out of ideas, why the heck would he need to tell us how to delete folders.” First of all, that’s hurtful; I’m doing my best here… Second, this has confused plenty of people, so don’t judge me.

Deleting folders is the easy part. Finding those folders after you’ve banished them to your ‘deleted items’ folder is the tricky part.

There is one simple thing to remember here: click the +. When you delete a folder, it becomes a sub-folder in your Deleted Items. By default, the Deleted Items folder will be collapsed. So you’ll need to expand, or click the +, to find the sub-folders.

This knowledge can be especially useful if you’ve accidentally deleted a folder. If you do not know to expand the Deleted Items folder, you may think you’ve lost the folder forever.  

Have a great month, everyone!

-Keith 

Please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email if you have a something that you think will make a good tip. You’ll get credit on the blog for your contribution and I might give you a high-five!