When you are synchronizing information between Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Outlook, you will have to consider how the two applications handle contact and task entities when you create them. Consider the following recommendations when planning your Outlook Integration implementation.

Working with Contacts

Creating Salespeople as Contacts (CONT_SP)

You must first create salespeople in Microsoft Dynamics NAV and then you can synchronize information about them with Outlook. You cannot create a contact in Outlook, and then try to synchronize the contact as a new salesperson in Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Creating New Contacts (Cont_PERS)

You can create contacts in Outlook and then synchronize them with Microsoft Dynamics NAV. However, if you want to assign a salesperson at the same time, make sure that the salesperson code is valid in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. If you do not have the salesperson information available before synchronizing, leave the field empty, and then add the salesperson code when you are working in Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Creating Company Contacts in Outlook

In Microsoft Dynamics NAV, for a contact of the Company type, the values in the Name field and the Company Name field are always the same.

When you create such a contact type in Outlook, and then want to synchronize it to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, take the following step to facilitate consistent and successful synchronization. In the Full Name field in Outlook, set the field to the same value as the Company field in Outlook, or leave the field empty. When you synchronize to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the Name and Company Name fields will be correct.

Naming of Contact Companies and Persons

You should avoid starting the name of a contact company that you create in Outlook with the word “the,” because this can cause synchronization errors. Outlook strips out the word and truncates the name, which you can see in the File as field. However, you can begin a contact company name with the word if you are creating the contact in Microsoft Dynamics NAV and then synchronize with Outlook.

Similarly, you should avoid using titles, such as Mr. or Mrs., in the names of person contacts related to a company that you set up in Outlook, and then synchronize to Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

If you plan to use a contact as a related contact in tasks and appointments, do not fill in the Title field in the Contact window in Outlook.

Accounting for Inheritance Settings

In Microsoft Dynamics NAV, you can specify that person contacts inherit settings from the related company contact. For more information, see How to: Create Contact Persons.

If you modify this information in Outlook and synchronize, the changes will not be updated in Microsoft Dynamics NAV to reflect your changes. To fix this issue, make the changes in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and then synchronize the changes to Outlook.

Working with Tasks and Appointments

Synchronizing Tasks by the Outlook user

It is important that the name of the salesperson exactly matches in Outlook and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. That is, the value in the Full Name field in Outlook must be identical to the value of the Name field in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. If not, synchronization will be unsuccessful.

In addition, the name and email address of the to-do organizer must be filled in and be identical to those of the current Outlook user for the to-do to be synchronized correctly. Choose related contacts and recipients for appointments or tasks exclusively from the folders defined in the synchronization setup.

Choosing Outlook Items from folders set up for Synchronization

When you are selecting a contact or a meeting attendee, make sure that the person you select is a valid option in the folders that you have set up in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Outlook Add-in Settings dialog box. Only those contacts may be selected and synchronized successfully.

One way to help scope your list of contacts to just those in the folder you have specified for synchronization is to add the folder to your Outlook address book.

To specify folders for your Outlook Address Book

  1. In Outlook, in the navigation pane, choose Contacts.

  2. In the My Contacts list, select the synchronization folder that you have set up.

  3. Right-click on the folder name, and choose Properties.

  4. Open the Outlook Address Book tab, and then select the Show this folder as an e-mail Address Book check box.

Creating to-dos

When you create a task that you want to synchronize with a Microsoft Dynamics NAV to-do of the Phone Call or Blank type, select only one contact. Choose a contact synchronized with a Microsoft Dynamics NAV contact of the Person or Company type.

If more than one contact is specified for Outlook, the last one is automatically chosen and the other contacts are ignored.

Manually adding related contacts

When you manually add a related contact to a task or appointment in Outlook, you should make sure that the name is that of a valid Outlook contact. Otherwise, the contact is not synchronized. To make this verification, in the Names group, choose Check Names.

Tasks that are assigned to others but are stored in the synchronization folder of the current Outlook user are not synchronized.

Appointments with the organizer that are stored in the synchronization folder but that are different from the current Outlook user are not synchronized because of Outlook limitations.

Synchronization Settings

Scheduling automatic synchronization

Make sure that you provide enough time for synchronization to complete if you set up automatic synchronization.

If you have many items to synchronize, adjust the number of minutes between synchronization.

In the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Outlook Add-in Settings dialog box, on the General tab, specify the number of minutes that should elapse.

Security Considerations

When you install the Outlook add-in, its settings use HTTP instead of HTTPS. However, you can secure Microsoft Dynamics NAV web services using SSL so that all communication goes securely over HTTPS.

We recommend that you secure Outlook Synchronization web services, especially in those cases in which you are using Basic Authentication. In that scenario, credentials are sent in plain text over the network.

For more information, see Web Services Authentication and Walkthrough: Configuring Web Services to Use SSL (SOAP and OData).