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CRM Integration for Entourage

Read this article to see how Riva Integration Server from Omni now delivers server-side integration and interoperability between Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition, and over 12 of the leading CRMs. You can read the official media release.  Contact Omni if you would like to receive more information or a price quote. Go here to see Entourage CRM integration demo videos or you can view the videos on YouTube.
 

Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition

To use Riva Integration Server to integrate Entourage with your CRM, you will need to have installed and configured Microsoft Entourage 2008, which comes bundled with Office 2008 for Mac (Business Edition), and upgraded to the latest version Microsoft Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition.

And, of course, you will need Riva, an Exchange account and a CRM account on one of the Riva supported CRM systems. The only consideration for the configuration of your Exchange and CRM accounts is that the email address associated with these accounts need to match. Riva links these accounts based on the email address rather than on the login names. With this in place, you are able to benefit from Riva's server-side, transparent, bi-directional integration of emails, appointments, tasks, contact list entries and CRM data – no Entourage plug-ins required!

Entourage 2008 - Exchange Account Configuration

Use the standard configuration process to configure Entourage to access your Exchange account. In Microsoft Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition, select Entourage > Accounts from the main menu. Click the "New" button and select Exchange from the Account Type drop-down list. This will bring up the screen shown above. (If you selected the arrow on the "New" button and then selected Exchange, click the "Configure Account Manually" button in the lower left of the dialog box.)

You will need get the following information from your email administrator:

• Your email address
• Your account ID
• Your domain
• Your password

Entourage 2008 - Advanced Exchange Account Settings

Click the Advanced tab. For this tab, you will need the following information from your email administrator:

• Search base settings
• Exchange server address
• LDAP server address

Your email administrator will need to to install and configure Riva Integration Server from Omni and add your account to a synchronization policy using standard Riva configuration processes. There are no Entourage-specific configuration parameters. Ask your administrator to contact us if he or she has any questions.

CRM Calendar Integration for Entourage

After your account is added to a Riva synchronization policy, Entourage will automatically sync your CRM contacts with Entourage. You can tell whether a contact, appointment or task has been synchronised to Entourage from your CRM based on the assigned CRM category. The items shown above in teal have been synchronized from the CRM.

You can now view and edit these CRM contacts, tasks and appointments directly from within Entourage. Any changes made to an item will be automatically synched back to the CRM based on the interval defined by your Riva administrator. This interval can be configured from once a minute to one a day. If you have existing contacts, appointments or tasks that you want to have synched up to the CRM, all you have to do is assign the "CRM" category to them and they will be automatically synched up to the CRM.

Entourage alerts and reminders will continue to work as you would expect them to – even for the new CRM calendar items that are now visible in Entourage.

CRM To-do Item Integration for Entourage

Access a consolidated view of your Entourage and CRM To Do items.

Again, all you have to do is make sure you have assigned the "CRM" category to each To Do item you would like to sync to the CRM. The sync is bi-directional, so if you update a To Do in the CRM or Entourage, the update will be reflected in both applications.

CRM Account and Contact Integration for Entourage

Imagine having access to your full CRM address book (all accounts, contacts and leads that are visible to you in your CRM) directly from Entourage. That's what Riva does for you. It allows you to view and modify CRM accounts, contacts and leads directly from your Entourage contact list. Want to sync an existing contact or lead up to your CRM, simply assign the CRM category to the item – nothing else to do. Riva takes care of the synchronization for you.

When you compose an email and start typing a recipient's name or email address, Entourage will auto-fill the "To:" field in your email, based on the CRM leads and contacts. This will save you time from manually cutting and pasting information from your CRM.

Riva SmartConvert - Drag-and-Forget CRM Email Archiving

How long does it normally take you to add a new account in your CRM, add the related contacts, and create an associated opportunity, quote or case? Chances are, it will take at least a few minutes – for every new account you add to the CRM. This is time that could otherwise have been spent selling.

Riva completely automates this process. You simply need to Alt-drag an email into the Create Email folder in Entourage and, if the information isn't already available in the CRM, Riva will automatically create the account in the CRM (based on the domain name of the address), assign the individuals listed in the "From, To, CC, and BCC" fields as Contacts (first name, last name, email address), and create a new CRM opportunity, quote or case automatically (the email subject will be the title and the email body will be copied to the description field). And it's all transparent to you. You drag the email into the folder, Riva does the rest of the work for you!

Sales and support staff who have Riva CRM Integration report that they save up to 1 hour per day through Riva's SmartConvert folders and sales process automation. Riva helps deliver significant time savings – time that can be spent on extra support and strategic sales initiatives.

CRM Opportunity Integration for Entourage

What does Entourage know about CRM opportunities, cases or quotes? You would expect to be able to see your CRM address book and calendar data, because both applications "understand" and know how to deal with these items. But, normally, you only can view and manage CRM opportunities, cases and quotes in your CRM.

Another one of Riva's advanced options is to automatically add a folder in Entourage to view and manage CRM Opportunities, Cases and Quotes. By clicking on the folder, you will see all opportunities, cases and quotes that have been assigned to your account in the CRM (based on the number or date range limitations your Riva administrator has applied).

By clicking on an opportunity, you open the "summary view" that provides the same summary information you would see in the CRM. Click on the Riva ConnectBar "Review" or "Edit" buttons and the Omni ConnectBar automatically opens the record in the CRM for you to review or edit. You don't need to manually open the CRM, click the Opportunities tab, search for the opportunity, click to open it, click to edit it, etc. You just need to click the ConnectBar and Riva automates the rest!

The SmartConvert folders and Riva ConnectBar provide quick and easy access to manage and update CRM opportunities directly from Entourage.

Omni ConnectBar - Automatically Opens CRM to Edit Opportunity

When you select "Edit" in the Omni ConnectBar, Riva will automatically open the opportunity in the CRM in Edit mode. After you make your changes to the CRM record, Riva will then automatically sync the changes back to your Entourage client and highlight that a new CRM opportunity has been updated.

Riva AssignTo - Archive an Email to a CRM Opportunity

Now, what if you want to assign or archive an email to a specific opportunity, case or quote in your CRM? The traditional and time-consuming way is to manually cut and paste the email into the Notes or History section related to the opportunity. Riva provides an alternative approach that saves you time.

Simply Alt-drag the email to the respective Opportunity folder under the "Assign To" parent folder in the Entourage folder list view. Your administrator will have configured the number of opportunities that appear here based on a specific number of opportunities or a date range to only allow those opportunities that have been "active" within the time period to appear. This "Assign To" process is the same for opporunities, quotes, cases and orders (depending on the CRM).

Next Steps

Are you an Entourage user who is interested in using Riva Integration Server for Microsoft Exchange to enhance your sales and support processes? Have your Exchange administrator contact Omni for a demo or quote.

Other Useful Links:

• View supported CRMs for Entourage 2008 »
• Register to download Riva Integration Server »
• Download Office 2008 for Mac »
• Download Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition »
• View Entourage CRM Integration press release »