Appointments - Problem with Outlook randomly sending norifications to contacts

Discussion:

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MH OCT

2010-09-28 21:44:22 UTC

Hi,

I am trying to figure out a strange issue with appointment and our CRM
3.0/Outlook sync.

Some of our sales users create appointments in the CRM web client,
which then sync to their Outlook calendars as appointment items.
Based on my understanding of 3.0 and Microsofts documentation, these
items should just show up on the users Outlook calendar, but should
NOT send an email to the required or regarded contacts from CRM.
Outlook also (to my understanding) does NOT send out email for
appointment items, only meeting items.

Our problem is that some of these appointments are sending out Outlook
Meeting Calendar messages to the CRM contacts on the day of the
appointment. The Outlook calendar item shows as an "appointment" on
the title bar, but the sent calendar message shows as "meeting" on the
title bar. These messages usually include the sales users personal
notes, which they would not want sent to their contact.

So far, when this occurs, the messages seem to be sent right before
the appointment (1-15 minutes prior). It does not happen on all
appointments. There is nothing unique or different about the items
that send a message, versus those that work as expected and desired.
And the users are not doing anything that would trigger a message or a
change in the item from an appointment to a meeting in Outlook.

Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know of a way to
correct this? I am stumped, and we really need to figure out how to
correct this issue.

Thanks!

Michele

Dave

2010-09-29 15:11:18 UTC

Permalink

Post by MH OCT
Hi,
I am trying to figure out a strange issue with appointment and our CRM
3.0/Outlook sync.
Some of our sales users create appointments in the CRM web client,
which then sync to their Outlook calendars as appointment items.
Based on my understanding of 3.0 and Microsofts documentation, these
items should just show up on the users Outlook calendar, but should
NOT send an email to the required or regarded contacts from CRM.
Outlook also (to my understanding) does NOT send out email for
appointment items, only meeting items.
Our problem is that some of these appointments are sending out Outlook
Meeting Calendar messages to the CRM contacts on the day of the
appointment. The Outlook calendar item shows as an "appointment" on
the title bar, but the sent calendar message shows as "meeting" on the
title bar. These messages usually include the sales users personal
notes, which they would not want sent to their contact.
So far, when this occurs, the messages seem to be sent right before
the appointment (1-15 minutes prior). It does not happen on all
appointments. There is nothing unique or different about the items
that send a message, versus those that work as expected and desired.
And the users are not doing anything that would trigger a message or a
change in the item from an appointment to a meeting in Outlook.
Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know of a way to
correct this? I am stumped, and we really need to figure out how to
correct this issue.
Thanks!
Michele

I just heard yesterday of this happening with one of my 4.0
clients.. Appointments sending emails to the regarding contact, who
is outside of the company, and may not even know this sales rep, who
uses appointments as reminders to prospect for leads...

So, this is not limited to 3.0... I must say I was quite taken aback
when the client reported this, as I have never heard of this
before... Anybody??

Dave

LeonTribe

2010-09-29 22:09:45 UTC

Permalink

Post by Dave

I just heard yesterday of this happening with one of my 4.0
clients.. Appointments sending emails to the regarding contact, who
is outside of the company, and may not even know this sales rep, who
uses appointments as reminders to prospect for leads...
So, this is not limited to 3.0... I must say I was quite taken aback
when the client reported this, as I have never heard of this
before... Anybody??
Dave- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

I've heard that notifications can get generated if the appointment
details are changed in CRM, then syncing down to Outlook, although I
haven't verified it. I'd look at the modified on field of the
appointment in crm and see if it matches (within 15 minutes) the time
the reminders were sent out.

Leon Tribe
Want to hear me talk about all things CRM? Check out my blog
http://leontribe.blogspot.com/
or hear me tweet @leontribe

MH OCT

2010-09-30 21:12:50 UTC

Permalink

Post by LeonTribe

Post by Dave

I just heard yesterday of this happening with one of my 4.0
clients.. Appointments sending emails to the regarding contact, who
is outside of the company, and may not even know this sales rep, who
uses appointments as reminders to prospect for leads...
So, this is not limited to 3.0... I must say I was quite taken aback
when the client reported this, as I have never heard of this
before... Anybody??
Dave- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

I've heard that notifications can get generated if the appointment
details are changed in CRM, then syncing down to Outlook, although I
haven't verified it. I'd look at the modified on field of the
appointment in crm and see if it matches (within 15 minutes) the time
the reminders were sent out.
Leon Tribe
Want to hear me talk about all things CRM? Check out my bloghttp://leontribe.blogspot.com/
- Show quoted text -

I have been trying to think of things that would trigger a
notification, and a change makes sense. It's hard to tell, since
after the appointment the user addeds additional notes which changes
the modified date. However, the notifications are being sent to the
contact sometimes right before the appointment, when the sales person
is on the road, in their car, and does not have access to CRM and
really wouldn't be making any changes at that point.

Based on lack of information on this issue, I am feeling like I may
not find a solution and will have to find an alternative process for
appointment creation. Since this is intermittent, and instances of
problem have no unique characteristic or action occuring, testing is
not reliable. Leon, I know you are very knowledgeable with MSCRM, so
I am hoping that you could validate an idea I have:

So far what I have noticed is that when appointments are created in
CRM and sync to Outlook, the record in Outlook displays as an
"appointment" and the Outlook ribbon options match the "appointment"
ribbon (in Outlook, the "actions" area of the ribbon is different for
"appointments" versus "meetings"). If I click the scheduling
assistant on the appointment in Outlook (appointment created in CRM),
a contact (other than the user) does show up in the list. If you
create an appointment in Outlook and regard it to a contact in CRM,
only the user shows up in this list. So my thought is that if the
contact wasn't listed there, even if Outlook tried to send a
notification it would have no contact to send it to.

The contact showing in the scheduling list looks to be coming from the
"required" field in the CRM appointment record. Our users create the
appointments from within the contact record or a c360 console, so the
"required" auto-populates just as the "regrding" contact does. If I
create an appointment in CRM and delete the "required" contact before
saving the appointment, the contact does not show up in the scheduling
assistant screen, and the record is still regarded and linked to
CRM.

I am thinking we could have users delete the contact from the required
field when they are creating the appointment, or possibly change the
settings so it doesn't auto-populate in the first place (not sure if
this is possible or if there are other ramifications). This obviously
wouldn't solve the root problem, but hopefully would bypass it.

Any thoughts? Any problems or complications I haven't thought of?

Thanks!

Michele :)

LeonTribe

2010-10-01 10:33:15 UTC

I just heard yesterday of this happening with one of my 4.0
clients.. Appointments sending emails to the regarding contact, who
is outside of the company, and may not even know this sales rep, who
uses appointments as reminders to prospect for leads...
So, this is not limited to 3.0... I must say I was quite taken aback
when the client reported this, as I have never heard of this
before... Anybody??
Dave- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

I've heard that notifications can get generated if the appointment
details are changed in CRM, then syncing down to Outlook, although I
haven't verified it. I'd look at the modified on field of the
appointment in crm and see if it matches (within 15 minutes) the time
the reminders were sent out.
Leon Tribe
Want to hear me talk about all things CRM? Check out my bloghttp://leontribe.blogspot.com/
- Show quoted text -

I have been trying to think of things that would trigger a
notification, and a change makes sense. It's hard to tell, since
after the appointment the user addeds additional notes which changes
the modified date. However, the notifications are being sent to the
contact sometimes right before the appointment, when the sales person
is on the road, in their car, and does not have access to CRM and
really wouldn't be making any changes at that point.
Based on lack of information on this issue, I am feeling like I may
not find a solution and will have to find an alternative process for
appointment creation. Since this is intermittent, and instances of
problem have no unique characteristic or action occuring, testing is
not reliable. Leon, I know you are very knowledgeable with MSCRM, so
So far what I have noticed is that when appointments are created in
CRM and sync to Outlook, the record in Outlook displays as an
"appointment" and the Outlook ribbon options match the "appointment"
ribbon (in Outlook, the "actions" area of the ribbon is different for
"appointments" versus "meetings"). If I click the scheduling
assistant on the appointment in Outlook (appointment created in CRM),
a contact (other than the user) does show up in the list. If you
create an appointment in Outlook and regard it to a contact in CRM,
only the user shows up in this list. So my thought is that if the
contact wasn't listed there, even if Outlook tried to send a
notification it would have no contact to send it to.
The contact showing in the scheduling list looks to be coming from the
"required" field in the CRM appointment record. Our users create the
appointments from within the contact record or a c360 console, so the
"required" auto-populates just as the "regrding" contact does. If I
create an appointment in CRM and delete the "required" contact before
saving the appointment, the contact does not show up in the scheduling
assistant screen, and the record is still regarded and linked to
CRM.
I am thinking we could have users delete the contact from the required
field when they are creating the appointment, or possibly change the
settings so it doesn't auto-populate in the first place (not sure if
this is possible or if there are other ramifications). This obviously
wouldn't solve the root problem, but hopefully would bypass it.
Any thoughts? Any problems or complications I haven't thought of?
Thanks!
Michele :)- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Just to announce my conflict of interest, I do work for a sister
company to c360 but this being said the first port of call, for me,
would be to ensure the c360 add-on is compatible with Outlook 2010
(I'm assuming this is the version given you mentioned the ribbon).

In terms of your idea, it sounds fine. I actually didn't realise
Outlook had a concept of meeting and appointment until you told me :P

Leon Tribe
Want to hear me talk about all things CRM? Check out my blog
http://leontribe.blogspot.com/
or hear me tweet @leontribe