inform MS-Outlook Add-In

Transcription

1 inform MS-Outlook Add-In User Guide Version 2.01 Created By: Frikkie Saayman 6 February 2017

2 1 Introduction The inform MS-Outlook Add-In is an extension (of inform) to MS-Outlook that allows MS-Outlook users to create inform related appointments, reminders, leads, opportunities and messages directly from within MS-Outlook. It also allows users to create new inform contacts and prospects from within MS-Outlook. The add-in implements the following functionality: Synchronises all or selected inform contacts with your MS-Outlook contacts any of your inform contacts Monitor incoming for inform related messages Create appointments and reminders against synchronised inform contacts Create tasks (inform reminders) against synchronised inform contacts or companies Create new leads and opportunities while also managing opportunity stage in process 2 Requirements In order to use the add-in your workstation must comply with the minimum requirements listed below. 2.1 Operating System The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following operating systems are supported. MS-Windows 7.x MS-Windows 8.0x / 8.1x MS-Windows 10.x (Note: All operating systems must have the Microsoft.NET Framework 4.5 installed. The add-in cannot operate without it. Confirm with your local IT administrator.) 2.2 Microsoft Outlook You must have a version of MS-Outlook installed before you will be able to make use of the add-in. The following (32-bit or 64-bit) versions of MS-Outlook are supported: Outlook 2010 Outlook 2013 (used during the compilation of this guide) Outlook Download In order to install the MS-Outlook add-in you need to download the installer application from Nashua Ltd. The installer is a standard executable application (.MSI) available from: Upon download completion save the.zip archive (file containing the add-in s installer program) to any folder of your choice e.g. your MS-Windows desktop

3 4 Install Once you have downloaded the add-in it must be installed (like any other MS-Windows application) to your workstation. Note that the installation program will also allow you to uninstall any previous installed versions of the add-in. 1. Unpack (unzip) the.zip file archive. 2. Install the add-in by executing the.msi file as an administrator (right click (and hold) the application icon and select Run as administrator. 3. Follow the installation wizard (application) by clicking the Next or Back buttons while taking note of the default installation path (usually C:\Program Files\iNForm Outlook Add-In). 4. Finally click the Close button when the add-in has finished installing. 5 Start-up After installation the add-in is ready for use by you starting MS-Outlook. When you start Microsoft Outlook the following happens: 1. The add-in will prompt you for your inform username and password. This is the credential set that you make use of to sign on to inform (from within your web browser) on a daily base. 2. Remember that your password is case sensitive. 3. Once you have successfully signed into inform (via the add-in) you are ready to import all your contacts or manually select certain inform contacts that you would like to import. We strongly suggest that you ONLY import only selected contacts and not your complete base. Taking into consideration that importing your whole contact base may take a long time while you may only be interested in ing specific contacts. 4. Your inform contacts will then be stored in a (MS-Outlook) folder named inform Contacts. 5. Click on the People link displayed at the bottom of MS-Outlook and you ll find the folder list containing that folder in the left hand column of MS-Outlook. 6. You may observe your inform contacts arriving into that folder (list) during the import. 7. You will also find your inform contacts in a MS-Outlook address book titled inform Contacts when you click on any of MS-Outlook s Address Book menu items. 6 Add-in Use Once you have successfully signed into inform the add-in will become visible as a new tab on the Microsoft Outlook ribbon. This tab is titled INFORM and it contains shortcuts that will allow you to conduct inform related CRM activities. See the screen snippet of the add-in tab (main menu) below: Note that checkmark on the ribbon menu s tab (to the right of the INFORM wording) indicates that you have successfully signed into inform and will be able to use the add-in

4 6.1 Login From here you are able to sign into inform. Usually this is not needed unless you have lost network (internet) connectivity to inform and/or your inform work session has expired. 6.2 New Clicking this menu item will allow you to create a new inform related message i.e. you intend to send an message to one of your inform contacts. Those are the contacts you previously imported into MS-Outlook s inform Contacts folder AND they have valid addresses. This is done from ribbon menu option 6 see the screen snippet above. Once successfully delivered the message will automatically be synchronised (copied to) with inform. 1. MS-Outlook will display its standard New window - as shown below. 2. Ensure that the Synchronise with inform checkbox is checked. Very IMPORTANT! Note: If this checkbox is not checked the message will NOT be synchronised with inform. 3. Complete your message by entering the subject and the message content. 4. Click on the To button to display the Address Book selection list from where you ll be able to select your recipient (in this case from the inform Contacts address book). 5. Select the appropriate inform contact person from the inform Contacts address book. a. You may also start typing the recipient s name in the To field and MS-Outlook s predictive typing may automatically suggest the intended recipient. 6. Click on the Send button and MS-Outlook will send your message

5 7. The add-in will then automatically synchronise your message to inform AFTER MS-Outlook successfully transmitted that message to the recipient. Only then. 8. If so needed, open the applicable account/contact from within inform and observe your new message attached to the contact person as shown below. 6.3 New Appointment Clicking this menu item will allow you to add a new inform related appointment to your Microsoft Outlook calendar. Once added the appointment will automatically be synchronised with inform and you ll be able to view it from My Workspace and also against the contact person you created it. 1. MS-Outlook will display the standard New Appointment window - as shown below. 2. Ensure that the Synchronise with inform checkbox is checked. Very IMPORTANT! Note: If this checkbox is not checked the appointment will NOT be synchronised with inform. 3. Complete your appointment by entering a subject (which will be displayed by inform), location, start/end times and description content

6 4. Add appointment invitee(s) from the inform Contacts address book by clicking on the To button or invoke MS-Outlook s predictive recipient lookup by starting to type a recipient s name. 5. Click on the Send button and MS-Outlook will send ( ) your appointment request. 6. The add-in will automatically synchronise your appointment with inform once the invite has been successfully transmitted to the recipient. Only then. 7. If so needed open the account/contact from within inform and observe your appointment attached to the contact person as shown below. 8. The new appointment will also be visible on the calendar of inform s My Workspace page. 6.4 New Contact Clicking this menu item will allow you to add a new inform contact. For the contact to appear in inform you HAVE to attach it to one of your existing inform accounts (see second screen snippet below) or create a new prospect account (automatically happens when you enter a Company name not already in inform). Once completed the contact will automatically be synchronised with inform. 1. MS-Outlook will displays the modified New Contact window as shown below. 2. Ensure that the Synchronise with inform checkbox is checked. Very IMPORTANT! Note: If this checkbox is not checked the contact will NOT be synchronised with inform. 3. Note that the fields (highlighted in light blue) at the top of the new contact screen area are information unique to inform 4. Select the existing inform account to which you would like to attach the new contact; 5. Select the Job Title of the new contact person; 6. Select the contact person s Birthday date remember to congratulate! 7. Select the contact person s Sports Watched entry invite to the Nashua suite (box) maybe? 8. Paying attention to the field as you will not be able to mail contacts with invalid addresses; 9. Try adding business and mobile telephone numbers as those are essentials when trying to conduct business activities (CRM as well)

7 10. Click on the Save & Close button of MS-Outlook to save the new contact. 11. Your new contact will now be available from under My Contacts in the inform Contacts folder of MS-Outlook s People page. A link to MS-Outlook s People page is by default displayed at the bottom of MS-Outlook s main window. 12. Your new contact is also added to MS-Outlook s inform Contacts address book. 13. The new contact will also be available in inform against the account selected in step above

8 6.5 Synchronise (Synch) Clicking this menu option will allow you to configure the manner in which the add-in synchronises information between MS-Outlook and inform. This synchronisation by default happens in the background (every 30 minutes) but you are also able to trigger an immediate synchronization. 1. MS-Outlook displays the Synchronise inform Contacts window below: 2. You may enable of disable inform synchronisation by checking or unchecking the Schedule an automatic synchronisation ever xx minutes checkbox. 3. You may also set how frequently the add-in synchronises MS-Outlook with inform. By default synchronisation will occur every 30 minutes. You are not able to decrease that interval. 4. If you have set a synchronisation interval of e.g. 30 minutes but you would like to immediately send information to inform or receive information from inform then click on the Synchronise Now button. MS-Outlook and inform will then immediately share new information with each other. 5. Note that conducting a Synchronise Now may be a time consuming operation especially if you are the owner of more than 200 accounts that have multiple contacts, reminders, leads, opportunities and appointments attached. 6. Click the OK button to save the synchronisation state (whether to do to background synchronisation or not) and also the synchronisation interval (in minutes). 7. Clicking the Cancel button will close the window without saving any synchronisation setting changes

9 6.6 Search Clicking this menu option will allow you to either synchronise your complete contact (person) base (you are the inform OWNER of those contacts) or pick (filter) certain inform contacts from the complete contact base that you have access to (your contacts and those of your sales team teammates). 1. MS-Outlook displays the dialog window below: 2. Click the appropriate checkbox that will allow you to import all your own contacts or only selected contacts. We strongly suggest that you make use of the default option (Own contacts only) where you search for specific contacts to import. 3. Note that you are able to search through your own contact base or through those of your sales team s teammates. This is dependent and your current inform team roles (your authorization levels). 4. Enter the surname optionally followed by the name (and separated with a comma) of the inform contact that you are interested in. To search for the contact click the Search Now button. 5. A list of contacts (100 maximum) will be displayed in order for you to select the contacts that you would like to import (synchronise). If your contact is not displayed then refine your search criteria. 6. Select the contacts that you would like to import by checking the checkboxes next to each listed contact. 7. Once satisfied with your selection click on the Synchronise button displayed at the bottom left off the window. 8. The add-in will now import the selected contact(s) and automatically maintain synchronisation between them in MS-Outlook and them in inform

10 6.7 New Reminder (Task) Clicking this menu item will allow you to add a new inform reminder (or Task as it is known in Microsoft Outlook). 1. MS-Outlook will display the modified New Task window - as shown below. 2. Ensure that the Synchronise with inform checkbox is checked. Very IMPORTANT! Note: If this checkbox is not checked the reminder will NOT be synchronised with inform. 3. Note that the fields (highlighted in light blue) at the top of the new task screen are information unique to inform. 4. Select whether you would like to attach the reminder to an inform Account or to an inform Contact (person) while at the same time selecting and account name or a contact person. 5. Complete your new reminder by entering a subject (which will also be displayed by inform), Start/End date (must be the same) and Reminder time. This is when you will be reminded. 6. Click on the Recurrence menu option to configure if and when a reminder is to repeat e.g. daily, weekly or monthly. 7. Ensure that you check ON the Reminder checkbox located below the Due date input field as without it you will not be able to enter a reminder start time rendering the reminder useless; - 9 -

11 8. Click on the Save & Close top menu button to save your new Task (Reminder). 9. You will locate your Reminder on MS-Outlook s Task page marked with a green inform category tag (block) in any of the task views e.g. the To-Do view. 10. You will also find your new reminder on inform s My Workspace page. All reminders have a light red background colour. 11. INForm will also display the new reminder against the appropriate account or contact person you selected in above. 6.8 New Lead Clicking this menu item will allow you to create a new inform lead. This lead may be attached to an existing inform customer or inform prospect. 1. MS-Outlook will display the New Lead window - as shown below

12 2. Decide whether you want to add a new lead to inform or attach the new lead to an existing inform account. Do this by clicking on the corresponding radio button located at the top of the screen. 3. Ensure that you enter values for the following compulsory fields: a. Company Name b. Company Address c. Company Suburb (or town or city) d. Contact person s Name e. Contact person s Surname f. Contact person s Phone g. Contact person s h. Lead Interest (what the lead is all about) 4. Also try entering values for all the non-compulsory fields. Remember that this is the start of a new business opportunity i.e. the more information you capture the easier it will become to negotiate a business deal with this person (your prospective client). 5. You may also attach multiple documents and photographs to the new lead. 6. Click OK to save the details of the new lead to inform. 7. Now you will be able to locate the newly created lead in inform s lead section. 8. Locate the new lead in inform by entering the lead s description in the default search field (situated at the top right of the web page) or do an Extended Search (link also situated at the top right of the web page) and search on the lead s company name. You can also search on the lead description from here. 9. inform will display the new lead against the account (client or customer) that you selected in step above. 6.9 Convert Lead Clicking this menu item will allow you to convert any of your inform leads into opportunities. Note: There may be a noticeable delay while all your leads are downloaded from inform. A Retrieving Accounts message is displayed at the top of the window. By default this window displays leads attached to inform accounts. However if you select the Show All Leads option from the account selection dropdown list, you will also be able to select leads not attached to an inform account. 1. MS-Outlook will display the Convert Lead to Opportunity window - as shown on the next page. 2. Select the lead that you would like to convert making use of the dropdown account list: a. Select Show All Leads in order to select leads not attached to an inform account. 3. If already known select values for the Interest and Units fields and enter descriptive text in the Details field 4. Click the Convert button in order to convert the lead at inform 5. A confirmation message is displayed after successfully conversion

13 6.10 New Opportunity Clicking this menu item will allow you to attach a new opportunity to any of your inform accounts (i.e. customers or prospects). Note: There may be a noticeable delay while your accounts base is downloaded from inform. A Retrieving Accounts message is displayed at the top of the window. 1. MS-Outlook will display the New Opportunity window - as shown on the next page. 2. Select the inform account (prospect or customer) to which you would like to attach the new opportunity. 3. Enter values for the following compulsory opportunity fields: a. Expected Revenue b. Expected Gross Profit c. Product Category d. Product e. Number Of Units 4. Try entering values for all the non-compulsory fields as well. Remember that opportunities are the foundation of new sales. The more information you collect the easier it will become to negotiate a business deal with this company. It will also provide you and your manager with quick insight to the stage in the negotiation process by entering values for: a. Stage In Process b. % Chance of Winning 5. Select (set) the Create Competitor Contract checkbox in order to also attach a competitor contract to the opportunities parent account (customer or prospect) 6. MS-Outlook will subsequently expand the input screen to allow for contract detail input

14 7. Enter as much as possible information related to the opposition contract. The following fields are compulsory: a. Brand b. Product Type c. Contract Type 8. Click the OK button to save the new opportunity together with the new opposition contract. 9. A confirmation message is displayed when the opportunity and opposition contract were successfully saved at inform

15 6.11 Manage Opportunity Clicking this menu item will allow you to manage (update) any of your inform opportunities. Note: There may be a noticeable delay while all your account base is downloaded from inform. A Retrieving Accounts message is displayed at the top of the window. 1. MS-Outlook will display the Manage Opportunity window - as shown below. 2. Select the inform account that has an opportunity attached to it from the dropdown list. Note that this list only shows inform accounts with attached opportunities. 3. If the selected account has more than one opportunity attached then select the required opportunity from the Select Opportunity dropdown list. 4. Once an opportunity was selected you ll be able to modify the following opportunity properties: a. Expected Close Date b. Details c. Stage in Process d. % Chance of Winning 5. Click the OK button when you have finished updating the opportunity. 6. A confirmation message is displayed when the opportunity was successfully updated at inform

16 6.12 Status Clicking this menu item displays the Status window from where you are able to view the current status of the add-in together with when last synchronisation (with inform) has occurred. It displays the following items: a. Whether you are logged into inform or not b. The amount of inform contacts imported by the add-in c. When last inform and die MS-Outlook synchronised and what the outcome was d. When then next automatic background synchronisation will occur The window below is displayed: 6.13 About

17 6.14 Incoming (inform Related) The add-in will continuously monitor all incoming for messages that originated at any of your inform contacts. As soon such is received it will automatically synchronise (copy) those e- mail messages with inform Event Logging The add-in continuously logs all operational activities to an event log (file) that is maintained while you are using it (from within MS-Outlook). Nashua Ltd. administrators together with the software development team may at times require this file to trace any add-in reported errors or any unknowns. You may be requested to share these log files via The log files are stored in the following MS-Windows folders: C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\iNForm Outlook Add-In C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\iNForm Outlook Add-In\Logs Log files are created every time you start MS-Outlook and they are named as follows: informoutlookaddin.date.time.log Examples: informoutlookaddin.2016_04_18.16_49_20.log informoutlookaddin.2016_04_19.06_20_32.log OutlookPluginLog.txt Note: If you cannot access the log files then contact your local IT administrator to provide you with the necessary file access (rights) Support This is add-in (extension) was created to assist you in conducting inform CRM activities (including NPP activities) directly from within your MS-Outlook workspace. It will regularly be enhanced (updated) but we require your assistance in doing so. Updates and enhancements will be released upon which you ll be notified via and Twitter. When a new updated becomes available you need to uninstall your existing add-in and replace it with the updated version (install the latest version). Go to Microsoft Windows: Control Panel Programs Uninstall a program in order to remove any version of the inform MS-Outlook Add-In. Once uninstalled you may install the latest version. Feel free to share any errors, unknowns, questions and constructive criticism with the development team. us at: seppiee@nashua.co.za frikkie@nashua.co.za informsupport@nashua.co.za The latest version of this User Guide may always be downloaded from the link below or from the Operation Manuals section inside Product Source (see Operation Manuals - Systems inform):