Outlook Integration Guide

Keep your inbox and your CRM in sync. Understand how email tracking, server-side synchronisation, and the Dynamics 365 App for Outlook work together.

Your inbox and CRM, connected

Most customer communication happens by email. Without Outlook integration, your CRM has an incomplete record of customer history and your team spends time manually copying context between systems. Dove365 CRM — Starter solves this.

01

Full email history in CRM

Emails between your team and customers appear on the CRM timeline. Anyone reviewing an account, contact, or opportunity can see the full email history without ever leaving CRM or accessing someone else’s inbox.

02

Create CRM records from Outlook

The Dynamics 365 App for Outlook lets users create leads, contacts, tasks, and phone call records directly from their inbox — no application switching, no copy-pasting.

03

No duplicate effort required

Server-side synchronisation tracks emails automatically in the background. Users don’t need to manually file emails — the integration handles it, keeping CRM current without adding to your team’s workload.

Tracking emails against CRM records

Email tracking means a copy of relevant emails is stored in CRM and appears on the timeline of the related record — giving every team member access to the communication history they need.

How email tracking works

Automatic tracking via server-side sync

Once configured, server-side synchronisation automatically tracks emails to and from contacts in your CRM. No manual action needed for these emails to appear on the timeline.

Manual tracking via the Dynamics 365 App

For emails not tracked automatically, use the Dynamics 365 pane in Outlook to manually track and link them to specific records at your discretion.

Set Regarding for precise linking

When tracking an email manually, use Set Regarding to link it to a specific opportunity, case, or lead — not just the contact. This keeps pipeline and case timelines accurate and useful.

Untrack when needed

If an email is tracked by mistake, you can untrack it to remove the CRM copy. The email remains in your Outlook inbox as normal.

Who benefits

Sales teams Tracked emails appear on the lead and opportunity timeline. Before a proposal, your team can see every email conversation to date — context they’d otherwise need to search their inbox for.
Support teams Tracked customer emails appear on case records. When a case is escalated or handed over, the new owner has full email history immediately, without needing a briefing.
Management Management reviewing an account has visibility of recent customer communication without needing to ask individual team members for a status update.

Always-on email synchronisation

Server-side synchronisation runs in the background, keeping your Outlook and CRM in sync automatically. It handles incoming email, outgoing email, and appointments — without any ongoing manual effort from users.

Runs automatically

Once enabled for a mailbox, server-side sync processes emails in the background. Users experience the benefit without doing anything manually.

Covers email in both directions

Inbound emails from CRM contacts and outbound emails to CRM contacts are both tracked, giving you a complete two-way communication picture on every record.

Syncs appointments

Appointments created in Outlook or CRM can synchronise between both systems, so calendars stay aligned without duplication.

Mailbox-level configuration

Each user’s mailbox must be individually configured and enabled for server-side sync. Your CRM administrator handles this setup as part of the Dove365 CRM — Starter deployment.

Mailbox configuration is handled by your CRM administrator. If tracked emails are not appearing on timelines, speak to your admin to confirm server-side sync is enabled and the mailbox has been approved and tested.

CRM features inside your inbox

The Dynamics 365 App for Outlook adds a CRM panel to Microsoft Outlook on desktop and web. It gives you access to CRM data, email tracking controls, and quick record creation — without leaving your inbox.

Administrators must assign the Dynamics 365 App for Outlook User role directly to each user, approve and test the mailbox, and deploy the integrated app. A role inherited only through a team does not complete Outlook add-in provisioning.
01

View CRM data in Outlook

When you open an email, the Dynamics 365 pane shows the sender and recipients’ CRM records — account details, contact info, and recent activity — so you have full context before you reply.

02

Track and link emails

Track any email from the Dynamics 365 pane and link it to a specific record using Set Regarding. The email appears on the selected record’s timeline immediately and remains there permanently.

03

Create records from emails

Create contacts, leads, tasks, and phone call records directly from Outlook. New records are saved to CRM without leaving your inbox — faster and less error-prone than switching applications.

The Dynamics 365 App for Outlook must be deployed by your CRM administrator before it will appear in your Outlook ribbon (desktop) or under More (web). Contact your admin if you cannot see it after your Dove365 CRM — Starter deployment.

Continue learning

Activity Tracking

Understand all activity types and how the timeline works — the foundation that email tracking sits within.

SharePoint Integration

Connect your document management to CRM records — the complementary integration to Outlook email tracking.

User Management

Understand how mailbox configuration and Outlook add-in deployment are managed through the Admin app.

Ready to see Dove365 CRM — Starter in action?

Book a free demo and see how Dove365 CRM — Starter can work for your business inside Microsoft 365.