Exchange Support

Out of curiosity, why does CommitCRM not support Exchange activesync? We're IT providers, we all use Exchange and the current Outlook sync is a joke. My techs live in Outlook/Exchange, it syncs with their phones, desktop, laptop, etc... sure would be nice if I didn't hear them cursing CommitCRM because an appointment or contact didn't sync up.

...or because the sync pops up when you are in the middle of a remote support session, typing a Word document, or any other random thing...

I agree. We didn't buy the outlook connector because if it seems half-baked.

Good question. We have this request already for quite some time. Open RangerMSP client on your server, set it to Auto-Sync for other employees and it'll sync their calendars stored on Exchange on the server side without you seeing the message (as you won't be using this client yourself but it'll rather be running on the server).
For what it worth it doesn't consume a RangerMSP license when you do that. No, it's not perfect but it works and will sync with your Exchange behind the scenes. We are always looking at this but tend to develop other stuff that is simply more popular of non-existing in comparison to a not-perfect yet somewhat workable solution.

I hope that we will get to it in the future.
Thanks,
Dina

Interesting. I'll give that a try.

I assume this means we need Outlook installed on the server as I'm getting a class error?

I assumed correctly. You need to also add all the mailboxes to the account. Would be nicer if there was an actual Exchange Sync service :)

not exactly outlook sync but there's a third party solution with apps for windows, iphoney and doid based phones that allows folks to use CommitCRM directly... not sure if the calendars show up in that interface but it's worth a look-see... someone else with a memory can chime in and let us know what that 3rd party app/connector is.

I've been hoping for a self contained service based exchange sync for a while... thought that's what I was getting when we purchased the outlook sync stuff but as it it (has to run as an app and outlook needs to be intstalled on the server, etc.) is, it's not something we use. I fact, we don't use the dispatcher at all because of this failure to properly integrate with exchange... (!)

cheers --

//ray

Hey Commit, I am not understanding fully how this works. Can you please provide a step-by-step guide for this? I have CommitCRM running on our server, outlook 2010 installed on same server, both open, now where do i setup so CommitCRM will sync all users. i cant point CommitCRM sync to each user with it open on 1 user... thoughts?

First step would be that all users will log into their RangerMSP and select the Exchange folder to sync with (Tools > Options > Outlook). They should also select the option to allow other users to sync their data.
Then, log into the server using a Windows user that has All access rights and All privileges to access All other employees Exchange folders. Actually you should verify this once by opening Outlook, navigating to each of the other employees Calendar folders and add/edit/delete a "dummy" appointment.
The last step would be to log into RangerMSP and select Tools > Synchronize Outlook > Auto Sync > Sync to Others > (select the sync interval).
This will start syncing other employees data.

I hope this helps.
Dina

Commit,

We cant afford to keep buying SQL licenses! Because of the web interface and labtech we now only have the ability to have 3 users logged in at a time, so we are looking at purchasing another round of SQL licenses. The problem I see with leaving something running on the server is yet another license being used... I really think that an exchange solution would be the answer... Connectwise and Autotask both have them... Come on!

Austin Speer
Onward ITC

Correct, using services, clients, third-parties etc. that integrates or uses RangerMSP do consume SQL database connections...
Adding a pack of 5 SQL connections is currently $299 (for all 5). One time. Perpetual. For AT and CW you will be paying a lot more $$$$$...

In any case, your vote for been added and we appreciate it.

Thanks!

how do we keep each users account from syncing on their local stations, so that only the server syncs the users mailboxes?

I'm not sure that I'm 100% following you here but I'll try to provide some relevant info - users can sync from their client PC in parallel. While you cannot block it there is no reason that I see that you should block it. If they want to sync Now let them sync. As we're looking at central databases (Exchange and RangerMSP) data that has been synced once (on the client or server) will not be synced again unless the Calendar data has been updated since the last sync.

I hope this makes sense and helps.

it does, but we have 2 front station computers we use also that we do not want to setup for sync. they do not have outlook configured so these computers will not sync, but we still want the server running the sync.

we basically want ONLY the server to sync, not the users' desktops.

i would like to turn off autosync for all users, and leave on the autosync for other users on the server where my account is used to login with, i dont want it popping up on mine too. my computer keeps trying to sync for all users basically

As you'll be using the same user on the server on your PC they will share the same settings.
While you cannot block it you can manually disable auto-sync for all users while logging into their RangerMSP user accounts and asking them not to enable it. In regards to your account, you can disable auto-syncing too and when logging into the server manually activate the auto-sync for this session.

is this the best way to achieve real-time (or close to it) syncing of tech calendars? i guess it may be best to create a new user dedicated to syncing, but that would again cost us 1 additional CommitCRM license since there would be a dedicated user to sync...

Yes, this is the closest option to real-time.
Thanks.

I have been looking at CommitCRM CRM on and off for three years, waiting to move to Exchange and another CRM from Goldmine. Every time I read up on the Outlook / Exchange integration with CommitCRM I end up deciding to wait another six months. CommitCRM I hope you get it together, the other PSA's are way way too expensive. I like the pricing model, but this one most basic function seems to be lacking, maybe because it drives your web licence sales you hold back? Anyhow, I pass again for now and will take another look in six months, hopefully you will have done something with Exchange, with Office365 now everyone can afford it and CommitCRM needs to catch up. Whats the big deal with 'run as a service'?

racassel, thank you for your post. I believe that RangerMSP has so much more to offer... Even if you prefer to have a direct back-end server side Exchange sync instead of syncing with Exchange trough Outlook I still believe that you can really benefit from all of the other options. Anyway, thanks for your feedback.

also, just to add to the discussion... I'm not sure there would be a way to make direct exchange integration work with hosted Exchange unless you can modify the permissions on mailboxes with your hosted exchange provider. Right?

the whole CommitCRM exchange sync process would need to be re-written in a way to account for this (hosted exchange). We have not implemented certain features in CommitCRM because of the sync issues... in other words, we only use the contacts sync. Basically what we do is have certain workstations (that are usually on all day with CommitCRM running) sync the contacts to a (contacts) public folder. This public folder is mountable as an address book directly in Outlook (and usable in OWA). We then have implemented a 3rd party application (add2exchange or epicenter) to sync the public folder contacts to a special user mailbox which is then mountable as a secondary address in Windows 7 phones (or iphons or android...). This is ONLY a one way sync as I firmly beleive doing bi-directional sync has the potential for corruption and data lost... (!) We do the sync this way simply because it's the easiest way to get the contacts shared everywhere we need without serverly hacking outlook and exchange...

//ray

CommitCRM Dev Team: Why not just go with Active-Sync as your Exchange connection? Then it doesn't matter where the Exchange server it hosted, requires no special Exchange configuration and no plug-in or extension to Exchange itself. Native, fast and secure. It works for our mobile phones, it works for many other CRM products, it even works for your competition (ConnectWise & AutoTask). Exchange Active-Sync connection is the ONLY way CommitCRM should even CONSIDER implementing Exchange into it's product line.

+10,000 from me!

We concur: direct sync between CommitCRM and Exchange is needed. We cannot use the CommitCRM calendar because most of our users are laptop, mobile & remote users who need to be in/out in short timeframe. Short of keeping an Outlook instance online constantly for each and every user, CommitCRM currently offers no good way of syncing CommitCRM Calendar with users' Exchange calendars.

We would like to see CommitCRM put development efforts toward this (as would many other CommitCRM exchange users).

Thank you for all you do - please seriously consider this.

We don't use dispatch for this reason.

To understand this correctly, CommitCRM would need to be logged in, and running on the server? It won't work with SBS, because you cannot (should not) run Outlook on the same server as Exchange due to Mapi issues. Keeping the application open and running in the server is also an additional security concern. Any possibility of using the tool instsrv.exe and srvany.exe to get around this: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/8327...-as-a-service?

Good question. Though we haven't tried that it seems like it will not work because RangerMSP client requires the user to manually log in - in other words a user interface is involved and services by nature are not designed for GUI apps (though there are some exceptions).

+1 from us again on a true Exchange sync withCommitCRM.

CommitCRM team: What is the development status / road map for Exchange sync feature?

The current work-around is troublesome. I will echo many others here: we use Exchange. CommitCRM needs to make a real sync service.

Thanks again, we definitely see that this feature is getting more attention lately and we will consider how to approach this, sooner than later. Just need to juggle with all the other requests, and this is not a small one...

Your votes mean a lot to us, thank you for helping us build a better product for our users.

Any updates or further solutions on this? With two new versions of CommitCRM out recently (5.6/7), I'm hoping 5.8 has tackled this issue.

Has anyone had any success using any work arounds to keep calendars synced when employees aren't in the office?

Hi exbabylon,
Thank you for asking. the latest RangerMSP versions include many enhancements to existing functionality and many new features. The Exchange sync hasn't been implemented yet, though we are aware of its importance to our users.

I can tell you that many of our users work with the workaround of running a single application on the server and having it auto-sync for all users. This requires initial setup phase but then works well.

As mentioned, this is definitely something which has high priority on our list, together with some other stuff :-)

Sheli

We are running the sync process on a separate server but it often pops up a box warning that another user is syncing. That stops the process and negates the advantage of an "unattended" sync process. How can we prevent this pop-up from suspending the update process until someone checks on why appointments are being synced with users' Outlook accounts?

When the Auto-Sync feature is enabled on the server side we recommend that users won't sync manually at the same time to prevent such conflicts. Unfortunately there isn't a work-around for this available.

HTH

The users are not syncing manually (they use the web interface only, and aren't even aware of this functionality). Can you detail how their accounts should be configured regarding syncing (specifically, line by line, for appointment syncs), so I can be sure they are configured correctly to avoid any conflicts with our "server" sync process.

It sounds like there is another client running somewhere on your network (which is OK) and they have the auto-sync defined as active.

To check this, log in with all the users that run clients on your network, and check the following:

1. Tools > Synchronize Outlook > Auto-Sync - this option should be set to "Auto Sync - Not Active".

2. If it is set to Active, turn it to "Off" via this menu.

3. Save these settings via Tools > Synchronize Outlook > Auto-Sync > Save Auto-Sync settings. This will save the settings for future sessions

4. Note that if you use the same user who runs on the server also for other sessions, you should still set the auto-sync to "Off" and remember to turn it on only when logging in via the server. Do not save the settings when turning it on. This will prevent the auto sync from automatically running for the user that logs into the system on your LAN.

I hope this will solve the issue.

Thanks. I'll check the settings for all account. I appreciate your providing the specific instructions I needed.

So to get this right you want Outlook and the CommitCRM client running on the server? So, if a update is done on the server someone needs to remember to log in to the server to start back up the two programs? I don't know why you wouldn't use Active-Sync for Exchange? This solution is not really thought out with all that can go wrong or cause problems on the server and since it is a server it is not being looked at everyday. And you really shouldn't run an email client on a server for security reasons.

Your feedback is noted. Thank you. As you already know, RangerMSP client should be open at this time in order to sync data for all users.

You can find a server side iCloud Calender sync for CommitCRM on my webpage http://itognet.dk - later on it will support Google Calender and Exchange.

IMAP is a good answer to these questions. Hope to see it implemented some day. FYI, the bigger PSA companies don't have activesync support.

any update? now version 11 is out and still nothing about a reliable way to sync Outlook calendars...

Nope, there are no updates on this front. We have received the feedback, understand it and it's all clear. The change is huge and we consider it among other alternatives. Thanks for asking.