Special Message to Our Clients

On behalf of our partners and consultants we would like to take this time to say THANK YOU! We value your support, loyalty, and the opportunity to continue to assist your organization to remain more efficient and competitive. As a result, AXIS Integrated Solutions was named to the Top 100 Value Added Reseller list by Accounting Technology for 2005.

This recognition will serve as a great motivator for AXIS to continue our commitment to add value and earn your trust.

How Safe is Your Data?

With the 2006 hurricane season less than six weeks away and forecasters predicting yet another active season, AXIS Integrated Solutions made seeking out a more secure and cost effective backup and recovery solution for our clients a priority. In this connection, we are proud to announce our partnership with CoreVault Secure.

Did You Know?

Most businesses today have considered the risk of data loss, but few have adequately protected their data.

• 34% of companies fail to test their tape backups, and of those that do, 77% have found tape backup failures. (A)
• 93% of companies that lost their data for 10 days or more due to disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. (B)
• 50% of businesses without their data for the same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately. (B)

*Statistics: (A) The Gartner Group (B) National Archives & Records Administration

Benefits of Online Backup

• Data stored offsite immediately
• Ensure Business Continuity with fast restoration
• Backups are automated and confirmed daily
• Centralized management of all backup tasks
• Storage space and backup window reduced with Delta Technology
• Increased security with six levels of encryption Meets regulatory or statutory requirements
  • Sarbanes-Oxley & HIPAA
    
• Reporting capabilities for audits and testing
• Reduction in administrative costs and time
• Advanced Compression Capabilities
• You now have a solid and secure data backup and disaster recovery plan in place.

How Does Online Data Backup and recovery Work?

Who is CoreVault?

CoreVault is a leader of secure online backup and recovery solutions with its software, privately owned fiber optic network and best of class customer support and service. The company’s primary focus is providing and implementing reliable and easy-to-use solutions to meet businesses’ growing data management needs. CoreVault addresses the entire data protection lifecycle with the flexibility of centralized, online data backup with high availability of rapid recovery assisting with regulatory compliance. This software has performed millions of backups and tens of thousands of successful restorations. In addition, CoreVault’s fiber optic network connects both its primary and secondary vault sites, while possessing totally redundant systems.
Legal, healthcare, financial and many other businesses trust CoreVault’s software, network and customer support for their data protection needs. Organizations that want the best for protecting their business-critical data choose CoreVault.

Next Step

Any company can benefit from this solution. Our goal was to find a viable option for our entire client base. CoreVault pricing structure is designed for small and medium sized businesses like yours.

If interested in viewing a demo of this solution, we have scheduled the following dates and time:

Thursday, April 27 at 10:00 AM, EDT
Thursday, May 11 at 2:00 PM, EDT
Tuesday, May 23 at 10:00 AM, EDT

For more information or to schedule a demo, please e-mail us at info@axisintegratedsolutions.com.

Best Practices in CRM
Capturing Customer Intelligence
By Dr. Nancy Rauseo

This article is focused on developing customer intelligence, a key competency in today’s ever-changing business environment. The first phase is to conduct a customer intelligence analysis involving an inventory of the customer data and information available to your company and the gap between the required and the available data and information. This article will concentrate on best practices for capturing the required data and information.

The primary deliverable of the first phase of customer intelligence is a thorough data requirements or intelligence requirements document. The content of the intelligence requirements document must support your CRM vision. During this second phase of your customer intelligence initiative, your assessment team should use the intelligence requirements document to identify the location of this required customer information. Some of it may be within your organizational walls; some of it may not be at your reach at this time. At the end of this phase, you must be able to address these two questions for each intelligence requirement:

• Where (location) in the organization is this required information today? Where will this required information be captured in the future?
• How (method) can it most effectively be captured?

As you embark on this journey, it’s important to prioritize your information requirements. You won’t be able to capture all of your required customer intelligence at one time so start by developing some CRM objectives. Which objectives will help you attain your CRM vision most quickly? What must you know about your customers in order to achieve these CRM objectives?

Location of Intelligence

Most people think of a department or functional area when they hear the term ‘location’ of intelligence. Although this is an important element of location, it is by far the only one. Location consists of:

• the area of the organization that has ownership and/or exposure to the customer intelligence;
• the sources of your intelligence requirements; and
• the business processes associated with that customer intelligence.

Your Intelligence Requirements document will evolve into an Intelligence Blueprint document containing the responses to the questions above.

Identifying the affected organizational areas is linked to customer touch points. Which areas and employees come into contact the most with your customers? Where do customer interactions exist across the various distribution channels? Keep in mind that customer interactions can be personal and non-personal. A customer viewing a website is a touch point even though there is no personal contact.

Your next step is to conduct an assessment of the sources of the intelligence available from both internal and external sources. These sources can range from rolodex cards, spreadsheets, small databases, functional software, to external database memberships and the Internet.

Although all organizations use business processes and workflows, it is at this point of a CRM initiative that many companies realize that they don’t have their processes well defined. Best practices companies are the ones that have well-documented cross-functional processes and process owners. Customer-facing processes are those that touch the customer. It is through these processes that we gather most of our intelligence requirements. In addition, customer-analytic processes are those that work behind the scenes to generate customer insight and help us predict behavior.

The best returns on CRM can be achieved when customer-facing and customer-analytic processes are integrated and aligned with your CRM objectives. Your organization must be willing to change and/or automate its processes in order to improve their effectiveness in gathering intelligence and efficiency in dealing with customers. Even when customer intelligence is available, some companies lack the business processes for disseminating and sharing this intelligence with the right people and doing something valuable with it.

A key challenge in implementing CRM technology is end-user adoption. Best practice companies in CRM design their business processes first; then they identify how and where the technology will be used to facilitate the redesigned, value-added business processes. This allows the company to train employees on process rather than technology, so they understand their specific role(s) in the redesigned process. So if you don’t have clearly defined business processes, I encourage you to begin a CRM process reengineering initiative. Focus on those processes that will add more value to your customers!

Method of Capturing Intelligence

Companies striving for a 360o view of the customer will need to make a technology decision at some point. The use of rolodex cards, spreadsheets, small databases, functional software, and the like may contain relevant customer intelligence; however, without a central place for storing this intelligence, it is difficult for a company to empower employees to make decisions based on reliable and insightful customer information – in a timely fashion. Technology is important, but without customer intelligence, it is a meaningless investment.

The degree of technology sophistication depends on the organization’s complexity, the CRM objectives and budget. CRM technology solutions range from sophisticated enterprise-wide applications to small, shrink-wrapped software. Some solutions address the customer-facing processes (called operational CRM) and some the customer-analytic processes (called analytical CRM). It is important to consult with a professional service provider that can not only aid in the implementation of technology, but also in the integration of this technology with your business processes.

Your CRM objectives and target processes will also dictate the type of technology solution best suited for your organization. Are you striving to improve your sales prospecting process? Is your focus to maximize value in customer service? Or are you looking to enhance your product and service offerings in your marketing efforts? The key is knowing what you need to know about your customers!

As you begin to evaluate your technology options, you can begin to capture your intelligence manually. This will involve the key stakeholders of the targeted business processes. The benefit to this step is that you increase user participation and understanding, leading to more user acceptance of technology in the long run. Using spreadsheets and other manual tools, users can begin to see how their processes will change and what technology will do to facilitate the capturing of customer intelligence. The other advantage is that you will have the right information to populate your technology solution when it is available.

Dr. Nancy Rauseo is on the faculty of Florida International University’s College of Business Administration where she teaches marketing. Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A and Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University. Prior to her teaching career, she held various senior management positions for over 20 years in the areas of sales, marketing and technology implementation. Dr. Rauseo is also Instructor for FIU’s Professional Certification Program in CRM. For more information, visit: http://business.fiu.edu/epe/crm.cfm

Staying One Step Ahead of the Game

Over the past few years, we have seen tremendous shift from manufacturing to services industries in North America and there are no signs of this relenting. With this growth, we are seeing imported white goods, electronics, small goods sales increasing giving rise to new “support” industries.

What does this really mean? We are seeing traditional manufacturers effectively turn into distribution houses effectively overnight. Much of the white goods and automotive equipment sold require service and maintenance support, warranty and after sales support plus a returns system. Because these industries were previously geared more towards manufacture we are seeing a need for them to shift to more mid-level, financial packages integrated with service/support applications as well as CRM needs, since their sales and management force is maturing as well.

It is recognized that many US and Canadian mid-level companies, have the infrastructure, computer literacy skills and workflow know how to actually make use of these systems. The emphasis here is affordability, flexibility and ease of use for many of these companies. They effectively want an ERP type system, not to the sophisticated levels we see in mainframe type applications, but simpler ERP systems that give them good solid workflow practices.

The principals in ERP remain the same, where you have the need to restructure business processes when redefining traditional business functions under ERP. We can use an example in a large corporate supply chain. Before ERP, a purchasing department needs to produce a procurement plan manually, based on goods-in-transport, inventory and so on, a process that usually takes several days or longer if the suppliers' production and transportation time are taken into consideration. Following a B2B ERP implementation, the procurement plan is automated, the time to report shortened, and purchasing becomes a logistics system managed entirely by suppliers. Many economists believe this restructuring is necessary in today's business environment.

Now in a mid sized organization where high-end fully automated B2B ERP is out of reach, they want to apply simpler workflows to achieve similar effect. In the support engineering sectors we are talking about, they have equipment that is sold and so, requires support in the community. They therefore require spare parts under existing warranty and or after-sales service and repair schemes. To manage this correctly a powerful accounting package with a totally integrated service and maintenance application is the only way to go. Here you have the ability to procure parts straight out of the service management software which automatically updates it financials , creates purchase orders and creates a tracking file so it can all be managed to the point that the equipment being serviced is managed and repaired in a timely manner and the efficiency out of the workshops is maintained. You still could have a simple B2B auto-purchase order system to speed up processes.

One such application that achieves all this is Sage Accpac ERP100/200/500 with its associated application Service Manager and Sage CRM. Three distinct applications totally integrated to give many small to mid size companies a full taste of ERP type functionality that can grow with their business. If that business is fortunate enough to become corporate size, then you could spend millions and develop a fully customized ERP system or you can just keep running a solid mid sized Sage Accpac application suite at a branch level. For many integrators this is one way of “staying ahead of the game!” For more information on Technisoft Service Manager, please visit http://www.axisintegratedsolutions.com/alliances.asp.

Bob Reinking is the International Sales & Marketing Manager of Technisoft.

New Option for Outsourcing Payroll

Deciding whether to process payroll in house or outsource it is never an easy decision. Most accounting software packages offer a payroll module, but outsourcing this service may prove to be a sound business decision. For example, the company may lack resources, expertise, or outsourcing may be more cost effective.

If payroll is outsourced, an employer must still compile the hours for the hourly employees, make sure the employee information is accurate and set up with the correct information. The task of gathering this information can get complicated, especially if labor is tracked by jobs or departments. Additionally, an employer also has to make sure that all deductions are set up correctly for insurance, garnishments, pensions, etc.

Some payroll outsourcing services require that you enter this information into the payroll provider’s software while others; obtain this information via a phone call. If payroll is keyed into the payroll provider’s software, an employer can just as easily process the payroll in the accounting software. The payroll provider is basically being paid to deposit taxes, cut checks, deposit direct deposit checks and print the payroll register. Those are the tasks that are the basic part of the payroll process. The most time consuming part of payroll processing is gathering and entering the hours.

This brings us back to the main issue – does the expertise exist in house to make sure all the payroll taxes are taken care of? When an employer opts to outsource payroll, all the employer has to do (after compiling hours) is to ascertain there is enough money in the bank account to fund each payroll. If an employer doesn’t have an accountant or experienced payroll preparer, the fines and penalties for not making timely deposits can pay for the payroll processing. For instance, if 941 tax deposits are deposited over 16 days late; a penalty of 10% of the total tax due can be assessed (for more information see Circular E at (www.irs.gov). Each withholding or unemployment tax has its own deposit schedule and tax form that has to be filed quarterly.

Another important factor that determines whether or not to outsource payroll is cost. Outsourced payroll costs are determined by the number of employees and type of services utilized.

Sage Accpac ERP users now have the best of both worlds with Sage Payroll Services. The Sage Payroll Service seamlessly integrates with Sage Accpac. It offers direct deposit (no additional cost), payroll tax compliance and best of all, flows through to your GL with no duplicate entry. If you just need assistance with payroll tax compliance, you can just use that part of the service.

There are many different options for outsourcing payroll; online services, traditional services, and now Sage Payroll processing. If you are thinking of outsourcing all or part of your payroll, get more information about Sage Payroll Processing and see how it can benefit your business. Contact us at info@axisintegratedsolutions.com.

How Can WMS Help My Business?

If your business is involved in the food processing industry in any way, there are regulations which take effect this year regarding the maintenance of certain information in compliance with the USDA Bioterrorism Act of 2002 (the Act).

Small businesses (defined for this regulation as 11-499 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs)) must comply by June 9, 2006, and very small businesses (defined for this regulation as 10 or fewer FTEs) have to comply by December 11, 2006.

The Act requires that the records are to be maintained at the establishment where the activities covered in the records occurred (onsite) or at a reasonably accessible location.

Records are to be made available when FDA has a reasonable belief that an article of food is adulterated and presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, any records or other information to which FDA has access must be available for inspection and photocopying or other means of reproduction as soon as possible (not to exceed 24 hours from time of receipt of the official request). The records requested may be related to the manufacture, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, receipt, holding, or importation of such an article of food that are maintained by, or on behalf of, an entity subject to the recordkeeping regulation, and at any location.

The Act makes failure to establish and maintain the required records or failure to
make them available to FDA a prohibited act. The Federal government can bring a civil action in Federal court to enjoin persons who commit a prohibited act; the Federal government also can bring a criminal action in Federal court to prosecute persons who commit a prohibited act.

So, how can WMS help?

Built into the Sage Accpac WMS software, the tracking of goods (with or without the tracking of lots and / or serial numbers and / or expiration dates) is automatically maintained within the system. A system log file is readily accessible from the Web Dispatch Console, and available reports within the system will provide the information in printed or electronic form at the push of a button.

Sage Accpac WMS provides an easy-to-use, easy to implement framework that can easily be integrated into an enterprise reporting system. Built for seamless integration with Sage Accpac ERP and Sage Pro ERP, the WMS component is one more piece of the total package to manage your business.

Contact us today for more information on meeting this regulatory compliance deadline or for additional assistance with your warehouse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q – Can I print a monthly check register in Accounts Payable?

A – Beginning with Accpac version 5.3, an Accounts Payable Payment Inquiry Form has been added that allows you to display information for all the payments from a selected bank for range of fiscal year & periods as well as a range of payment dates. For a monthly check register, specify the date range in the From and To Check Date fields as shown below.

The Payment Inquiry also allows you to look up payments using other criteria. For example, can display information for a payment for which you have only the payment number. In addition, you are no longer limited to viewing the payments for one vendor at a time in the Vendor Activity form.

Note: You may also drill down from a selected line on the list to view the original payment in the Payment Entry form by clicking the Document button.

Q – Can I view a list of all the Accounts Payable Miscellaneous Payments that have been posted?

A – Beginning with Sage Accpac ERP version 5.3, an Accounts Payable Payment Inquiry Form has been added that allows you to display information for all of your miscellaneous payments. On the form, make sure there are blanks in both the From Vendor Number and To Vendor Number.

Note: You may also drill down from a selected line on the list to view the original payment in the Payment Entry form by clicking the Document button.

Q – Can you assign a User other than the Admin User the security authorization to add, delete, or modify the User records, Security Groups, and User Authorizations under Administrative Services?

A – In Sage Accpac ERP version 5.3, it is possible to give these security rights to any User. As seen below, there are the Maintain Users, Security Groups and User Authorizations settings available for the Administrator User to add to any Security Group. Once that Security Group is assigned to a User, that User will have the rights to modify the User, Security Group, and User Authorization records.

Note: The Administrator is still the only user with rights to modify the Admin record.

Q – Can CRM be setup to allow an assistant to manage their supervisor’s Calendar?

A - In order to achieve this, the Assistant will be managing the Supervisor’s Calendar from Team CRM. This means that a Team needs to be created to be used specifically for the Supervisor’s Appointments and Tasks.

Note: No one else other than the Assistant or Supervisor can be assigned to this Team.

For this example, a Team called “Boss” is created. For the Supervisor, this “Boss” team should be set as the Primary Team. When this is set, every time the Supervisor creates an Appointment, the communication record will be automatically set under team “Boss”.

For the Assistant, the team “Boss” can be set in the Primary Team field or have team “Boss” under the Display Team area. If the Assistant has team “Boss” under the Display Team area this means that the assistant will be able to select team “Boss” from the Team CRM area. It also means that when the assistant creates an Appointment for the Boss, the assistant will need to make sure team “Boss” is selected.

All Users in the system should have the setting of Team List: set to “User’s Team”. This means that when they are in the Team CRM area, they can only select Teams and view the Communications for their Primary Team and what is set under Display Team. This setting is found under the User Details area.

When the Assistant creates appointments for the Boss, the assistant should be selecting team “Boss”.

However, if the Assistant is creating their own appointments, the assistant does not need to select team “Boss”, especially if the assistant wishes to keep their appointment separately. The assistant doesn’t have to select a Team if they don’t need to see it in the Team CRM area. The assistant will see their appointments under My CRM > Calendar/Task.

Also, when the Supervisor creates their own appointments, they should be creating them under the team “Boss”, so the Assistant can view it under the Team CRM area.

Q - Can I search for all birthdays by month in CRM? For example, I would like to create list or report for all people with birthdates that fall in the month of March from year 1950 to 2006.

A - This can be achieved either through a Target List or a Report.

• Make sure you have a Date Only field type where the Person's birthdate is stored.
• In your report or target list, select the Person's Birthdate field as a Search Criteria item.
• When you run the report, select the For Any option, select Month, the month of March, and the date range.

• Use the Calendar icon to select the dates to make sure you use the correct date format as per the pre-defined date format in your system, and adjust the year that you are searching for.

Note: Make sure you enter the complete date format, rather than just the year or else the report will not search the correct date range.

Q - Why can’t I export a report to Excel?

A - Assuming you have access to Excel, there are two main reasons why you can’t export a file to Excel.

The first reason is that the report is a new standard report (not an existing report that has been modified) and Pro Series doesn’t recognize it yet. All standard report information is stored in a file SYRFRXS. When a new standard report is created, the programmer must enter the information in this file.

The second reason a report may not export to Excel is that it is a “summary” report. Pro Series will only export reports to Excel that have detail lines. It is possible that a report that does not export to excel can be changed to allow excel export with some programming.

Q - If a data entry person does not want to use the mouse, is there any other way to navigate around Pro Series?

A - Yes. Many people who do a lot of data entry find moving from the keyboard to the mouse cumbersome and time-consuming. Pro Series has taken this into account. When you press the ALT key, you will see that the buttons will have a letter underlined. (It is usually the first letter). Press whatever letter corresponds to what you want to do and that button is activated. After some practice, you will be surprised how fast you can go!

There are also a number of other keystrokes that aid navigation. The TAB key is the first of these keys. All of the screens and maintenances are programmed with a tab order to indicate what field is next if you press the TAB key. In addition, the enter key can be used to validate entry and move the focus to the next field for entry. Between the TAB and ENTER keys, you can navigate through the screen. In addition to the TAB and ENTER keys. The arrow keys will let you move within a specific field and between fields.

In addition to the keys mentioned above, the PAGE DOWN key is extremely useful for fast entry. Pressing PAGE DOWN will focus screen to the next step in entry. For example, if you are printing a report and currently are entering options, the ‘page down’ will take you to the next group of options or to the generate button to generate the report. Another example is during sales order entry, pressing page down on the header will validate the header fields and move cursor to start of line item input. Pressing page down during the input of a line item will save that line and move cursor for start of entry of next line item.

Q - How do I edit the COBRA letters?

A - First, you need Microsoft Word 97 or higher. You can edit individual notices or the COBRA Notice Templates for permanent changes:

Editing individual notices:

1. Highlight the notice from the Print Notices window and click on Edit Notices on the bottom of the window. Word will start, the mail merge (the process of inserting your data into the notice) will be performed, and the notices will be shown. Note: If you send a notice to more than one employee, and choose Edit, Word will open only one file. Word appends each notice with the new employee name and address at the end of the previous notice instead of creating a new file for each notice.
2. Make appropriate edits to the work document.
3. Print the notices.
4. You can save the notices, but do not save these edits as DOT files. Use the procedure for editing COBRA Notice Templates below.
5. You will now be returned to a window on which the notices you have printed will be shown. If any of the notices did not print correctly, or you want to reprint them, be sure to select the notices that did not print by highlighting them. Otherwise, HR Series will assume they printed correctly and remove them from the list of notices to be printed. Again, you have the option of using the Select All or Select None buttons . (If notices were not printed correctly, you will need to return to the Print Notices window from the COBRA menu to reprint them.)
6. If you do not select any of the notices listed in the window, you will also receive a window asking you if all of the notices printed correctly. If they did not, click No, and you will be returned to this window to highlight the incorrectly printed notices. Clicking Yes will return you to the Employee Manager workspace

Editing COBRA Notice Templates

HR Series makes use of the "Mail Merge" feature of Microsoft® Word™ to produce notices. Mail Merge is a process by which a list of names (in this case, COBRA enrollees) with associated information, is fed to a Word template file (*.DOT) to produce a letter for each name in the list. If you need to customize the COBRA notices due to some requirement unique to your company, it is these Word Template files you would need to modify.

Eight notice template files are provided, corresponding to each of the COBRA or coverage continuation notices HR Series supports:

Template File Name	Notice
COBNOTIC.DOT	Qualifying Event Notice
COBRAEND.DOT	COBRA Ending Notice
CONFIRM.DOT	Confirmation Notice
COVCONT.DOT	Coverage Continuation Notice
HCRACBRA.DOT	Healthcare Reimbursement Account Qualifying Event Notice
INITNOTC.DOT	Initial COBRA Notice
LATEPAY.DOT	Late Pay/Term. Notice
PAYREMIN.DOT	Payment Reminder

CAUTION: Because these templates are loaded when HR Series is installed, make sure you keep copies of the edited notices in a separate place in case HR Series is re-installed. A new installation or upgrade will overwrite the existing files.

These files are located within the PROGRAM\LETTERS subdirectory of the directory where you installed HR Series. Each notice template is made up of a mixture of plain text, merge fields, and one Word field (for the current date). Merge fields and Word fields are displayed in one of two forms, depending on whether you have Word's "view field codes" option set.

You will see either:

<<Merge_Field_Name>> (merge field — view field codes is off)
June 27, 2003 (Word TIME field — view field codes is off)
...or...
{MERGEFIELD Merge_Field_Name } (view field codes is on)
{TIME \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" } (Word TIME field — view field codes is on)

The view field codes option is reached through the Tools menu, Options menu item, and View tab — look for the check box named Field Codes.

You can safely make the following modifications to the notice templates:

• Add, modify, or delete plain text
• Add, modify, or delete Word fields
• Delete merge fields
• Move merge fields
• Copy and paste merge fields

Be careful when working with merge fields — they do not behave as normal text. When you click a merge field, the entire text of the field becomes highlighted. You should manipulate merge fields in this completely highlighted state. Use the delete key to delete the field or the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands to move or duplicate merge fields. Word will allow you to click a second time within the merge field to set the cursor between individual characters in the merge field text; however, deleting or altering characters within the merge field in this way can lead to unpredictable results. You may end up with an invalid merge field that will prevent the notice from printing or with a completely hidden merge field that you can no longer manipulate.

You should avoid the following modifications to the COBRA notice templates:

1. Adding any new merge fields. The fields you see represent the only information HR Series is providing to the template.
2. Completing steps two and three of Word’s mail merge tool and then saving these actions permanently with the template. Step two associates a data source with the template. (HR Series creates temporary text files named with the root of the template name and a .TXT extension. These text files provide the information the mail merge tool needs to produce the COBRA notices.) If you should associate a data source with the template, the template will not function correctly if you were ever to relocate the directory where HR Series is installed. Also, the template would no longer function for any other user of HR Series over a network for whom the directory path may differ.
3. Adding any automatic macros that you would expect to run when the template opens. HR Series disables automatic macros when it runs Word.
4. Modifying any of the macros that come with the template: AutoPrint, AutoMerge, CyclePrint, and CycleMerge — except in consultation with the HR Series support staff.

TOOL OF THE MONTH

CRM Tips and Tricks

Adding Contacts: Outlook to CRM

You can add Outlook contacts to CRM manually with the Add Contact button. You must have the Outlook Plugin installed from the My CRM preferences tab.

To add Outlook contacts to CRM:

1. Select Contacts from the Outlook Shortcuts group.
2. Highlight the contact you want to add to CRM.
3. Select the Add Contact button from the toolbar.

A dedupe is performed on the Company name.

• If a company match is detected in CRM, the list of matches is displayed and you select the company by clicking on it.
  • Then, a dedupe is performed on the Person.
  • If any duplicates are detected, they are displayed. You can select a contact by clicking on it.
  • If no duplicates are detected, the new Person page is displayed in CRM within Outlook, with the existing contact details from Outlook filled in.
  • If a company match is not detected, a new company (that includes the person details on the Person panel) is automatically created using the Company name from Outlook.

4. Select Save to save the contact in CRM.

The contact is added to the Contacts tab in CRM so that it gets synchronized in the future.

Changing and Deleting Contacts

If you make any changes to any of your My CRM contacts, the changes are reflected in Outlook the next time you synchronize.

When you remove a contact from the Contacts tab in CRM or if the contact is deleted from CRM and therefore automatically removed from the Contacts tab, it is deleted from Outlook the next time you synchronize.

If you delete a contact in Outlook, next time you synchronize, the contact is deleted in CRM if the user has appropriate rights to delete contacts in CRM.

Viewing Detailed Contact Information from Outlook

Any contact in Outlook that has been synchronized with CRM maintains a link to all the detailed customer interaction history in CRM.

To access detailed contact information from Outlook:

1. Select the Contacts icon in Outlook.
2. Highlight the contact you want to view detailed information on.

Contact in Outlook

3. Select the View Contact button from the Outlook toolbar.

The Person Summary tab of the selected contact is displayed.