Synchronizing CRM contacts and activities to Microsoft Exchange

CRM offers the following synchronization functionality:

  • Contacts from LN can be synchronized to Microsoft Exchange.
  • Activities with the Call or Appointment types can be synchronized as calendar events between LN and Microsoft Exchange. Calendars are synchronized in both directions.

Synchronization parameters and master data

Before you can synchronize contacts and activities, you must first define the following parameters and master data:

  • Select the Synchronize Contacts check box in the COM Parameters (tccom0000s000) session if you want to enable contact synchronization. If this check box is selected, you must also specify ISO codes in the Countries (tcmcs0510m000) and Languages (tcmcs0146m000) sessions.
  • Select the Synchronize Activities check box in the COM Parameters (tccom0000s000) session if you want to enable calendar synchronization.
  • Configure the Exchange Synchronizer in the MS Exchange Synchronization Settings (ttaad2140m000) session.
  • Specify the users that require synchronization of their contacts and calendars in the MS Exchange Synchronization Users (ttaad2141m000) session.
Note: 

To synchronize activities for attendees of the Employee type, who are specified in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session, the following must be applicable for the employee:

  • The User field is specified in the Employees - General (tccom0101m000) session.
  • The E-Mail field is specified in the Employees - People (bpmdm0101m000) session. The email address must be identical, including upper and lower case characters, to the email address defined in the Windows domain.
  • The Email Address in the MS Exchange Synchronization Users (ttaad2141m000) session is equal to the E-Mail field in the Employees - People (bpmdm0101m000) session. The email address must be identical, including upper and lower case characters, to the email address defined in the Windows domain.

Invitations to an activity can only be sent to the attendees' calendars if the activity's Meeting Organizer, as specified in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session, is also defined in the MS Exchange Synchronization Users (ttaad2141m000) session. The reason for this is that MS Exchange generates the invitations for the organizer.

Exchange Synchronizer

In the LN UI Administration Webapp, the Exchange Synchronizer can be started and terminated for an LN CRM environment.

When the Exchange Synchronizer is started, these steps are completed:

  1. The Synchronizer connects to LN.
  2. The settings defined in the MS Exchange Synchronization Settings (ttaad2140m000) and MS Exchange Synchronization Users (ttaad2141m000) sessions are sent to the Synchronizer.
  3. The Synchronizer starts the synchronization of contacts and activities.

For more information, refer to Infor LN UI Administration Guide.

Synchronizing contacts

Contacts from LN are synchronized to Microsoft Exchange through a pull mechanism. The Synchronizer is triggered through a pull interval. This interval consists of a number and a time unit, such as 1 hour or 7 days. When triggered, for each user that requires synchronization, the Synchronizer retrieves contacts from LN that have the Synchronize check box selected in the Contact (tccom1640m000) session and have changed since the last synchronization run. These contacts are synchronized to Microsoft Exchange.

Synchronizing calendars

Calendars are also synchronized using a pull mechanism that is based on a pull interval. When triggered, for each user that requires synchronization, the Synchronizer retrieves all calendar events from both LN and Microsoft Exchange that are in the present or future. The Synchronizer will not use the pull mechanism to synchronize events that are in the past.

Note: Besides the pull mechanism, the calendar synchronization also supports the push notification mechanism. If the Enable push synchronization check box is selected in the MS Exchange Synchronization Settings (ttaad2140m000) session, when a calendar event is created, modified, or deleted in Microsoft Exchange or LN, a push notification is sent to the Synchronizer. This notification triggers the synchronization of the involved calendar event.

Calendar event originates from LN

For activities that are created in LN and that must be synchronized, the following check boxes are selected in the Activities (tccom6100m000) session:

  • Created by Infor LN
  • Synchronize

When triggered, the Synchronizer synchronizes the calendars for the attendees that are linked to the activity and have the Invite check box selected in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session.

Note: 

If the calendar event does not exist yet in Microsoft Exchange, the Synchronized check box is cleared, but the Sent to Synchronizer check box is selected in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session.

When the calendar event is created for the attendee in Microsoft Exchange, the Synchronized check box is selected in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session.

Calendar event originates from Microsoft Exchange

Calendar events that are created in Microsoft Exchange and that must be synchronized to LN, but that do not exist yet in LN, must also be created in LN. Therefore, in the Appointment (tccom6600m100) session, the calendar event is created as an activity of the type Appointment to which attendees are linked.

The following are applicable to the generated appointment:

  • In the Activities (tccom6100m000) session, the Created by Infor LN check box is cleared and the Synchronize check box is selected.
  • The email address of a user that requires synchronization, determines whether an attendee is set to Employee, Contact or Other in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session.
  • The Synchronized check box is selected and the Sent to Synchronizer check box is cleared in the Attendee (tccom6105m000) session.
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