Method Community

It’s time for us to get started with the beta for the updated Outlook Plug-In for Method.  Version 2.0 is packed with a bunch of very cool tools and abilities that make using Method CRM even easier.  I personally use this tool daily and have found it to make my day more productive and doing less double entry.  I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback on this tool.  Here are a couple of important points I wanted to make before getting started.

• Version 2.0 of the Method Outlook Plug-In will only work with Outlook version 2007.  We wanted to take advantage of some of the features available in Outlook 2007 that aren’t available in 2003 to make this plug-in awesome.  It wasn’t an easy choice for us but with 2010 around the corner, 2003 will soon become a thing of the past.  Once Outlook 2010 comes out, we will test to make sure it also works with this version of Outlook.
• As updates come out for the Outlook Plug-In during the beta process, we will post a note in the forum letting everyone know.

Steps for getting started with Method Outlook Plug-In 2.0

1. Make sure your running Outlook 2007.  If you’re not, please don’t attempt to install this plug-in cause it won’t work.
2. Make sure that Outlook is closed on your computer.
3. Click the following link and save the download to your desktop, or a destination you will remember.
   http://www.methodintegration.com/MethodOutlookAddIn/MethodOutlookAddIn.exe 
4. Once downloaded run through the install steps.
5. Once completed, open Outlook and you should see the Outlook toolbar at the top of your screen.

Method User Account Information

 Very interesting thing happened. When I used Mozilla to download and run the installer it would not work. When I used IE it did. Anyone else have a problem with Mozilla? I have the most recent version and have run all Mozilla updates.

Joe Woodard:

 Very interesting thing happened. When I used Mozilla to download and run the installer it would not work. When I used IE it did. Anyone else have a problem with Mozilla? I have the most recent version and have run all Mozilla updates.

Hi Joe,

I suspect this might have to do with how the installer works and unzips itself.  It uses an Unzip tool to run the install and probably gets stored in a different location with FireFox.  In all honesty the installer is going to need to be updated properly since it doesn't install/reinstall the way it should.  For now, the only way to install the latest version is to uninstall and reinstall.  

Hopefully once we get a proper installation working, we won't run into this.

I successfuly installed the latest version (after uninstalling and then reinstalling). By default the install used IE even though I use Mozilla for everything else.

No appointments syncronized, I am sure because they are all old (I am terribly behind on calls). Can't wait to change the settings to further in the past and see what updates.

What Outlook tools does this new tool offer, tasks, appointments, etc? My preference would be tasks, as I control the actual appointments directly in Outlook.

Joe,

I just used FF 3.5.8 to download --- worked perfectly. Now we'll see if I can get it to run on my MacBook Pro, runnng Windows 7 -- 64 bit and Ooutlook 2010!! (smile)

gll

Laura Madeira:

I successfuly installed the latest version (after uninstalling and then reinstalling). By default the install used IE even though I use Mozilla for everything else.

No appointments syncronized, I am sure because they are all old (I am terribly behind on calls). Can't wait to change the settings to further in the past and see what updates.

What Outlook tools does this new tool offer, tasks, appointments, etc? My preference would be tasks, as I control the actual appointments directly in Outlook.

Hi Laura,

The Outlook plug-in does not sync with Outlook tasks.  In all fairness a task does not have the same meaning as an activity in Method.  We don't have any intentions of syncing with tasks at this point in time.  The ability for the calendar to sync with activities and appointments really eliminates the need to sync tasks.  Here are a list of some features in the new add-in.

- New - Create a new customer, vendor, lead or contact (new!) directly from Outlook and have it instantly appear in Method and QuickBooks. 

- New – Set a priority for follow up appointments added to Method directly from Outlook. 

- New – New & Reply email window now supports emails being added directly to Method and sent in a single click! 

- New – Address lookup added to the new & reply email window support the ability to look up addresses directly from Method and auto insert into the To, CC and BCC. No need to switch windows to lookup an email address! Can’t find the address you’re looking for? Add it directly from the Address window. 

- New – Send any email from Outlook directly into Method using the “Add to Method” button located at the bottom of every email window. 

- New – Send Outlooks Contacts to Method as a new Customer, Vendor, Lead or Contact. 

- New – Bi-directional sync of Outlook Calendar appointments with Method CRM based on the amount of days you specify for the past and future OR sync only a specific appointment with Method from Outlook. 

- New – Setup your categories in Outlook’s calendar to sync with Method CRM’s Activity Types and Activity Status. 

- Improved – Search capabilities when adding a new activity for a customer, vendor, lead or contact. 

glafollette:

Joe,

I just used FF 3.5.8 to download --- worked perfectly. Now we'll see if I can get it to run on my MacBook Pro, runnng Windows 7 -- 64 bit and Ooutlook 2010!! (smile)

gll

I'd love to know how that turns out, especially with Outlook 2010.  Keep us posted!

Danny

Using both Mozilla and IE, I've tried downloading and installing the Outlook plugin. An initial private beta install worked and showed up in Outlook. Up/downloaded info between Method and Outlook. 

Since then, after 2 weeks the plugin disappeared from Outlook.  Using the newly released public beta 2.0, A reinstall, repair, uninstall, reinstall, restart hasn't brought the plugin back. 

Looking for help from Method. An initial troubleshooting session with the Method team hasn't fixed this bug.

I know you said that the initial install work but when it stopped working, did this happen without you uninstalling or removing it?

If it disappeared without you removing it, I suspect it might have to do with Outlook disabling the plug-in.  You can check this by going to Help > Disabled Items.  

Also, what version of Outlook are you using?  Please remember that it only works with 2007.  If you were using 2003, the first version of the plug-in would work as it supported this version.   

I found the plug-in and installed it with no problems.   I can select an email from a known customer and create a note for the user - very nice.   But I selected a new email from a potential customer - a contact if you will.  I tried adding it but it first wanted me to find an existing customer/contact/etc.   Is this really the intention of the plugin - to now add new contacts?

I meant "Is this really the intention of the plugin - to not add new contacts?"

Hey Bill,

The first step when using the Outlook Plug-In is to search for the client, of course if this is  new lead, you won’t find them. That is when you can select the "New Contact / Lead / Customer / Vendor.." button located in the top right section of the search screen.

You can choose to enter in leads, customers, vendor, or contacts by selecting the appropriate radio button.
Hope that helps.

Also take a look at the Outlook Plug-In webinar, you can find it here.

 Joe,

 How did it go with 2010?   I am thinking of upgrading before I do the Plug-In.  Thank you, Beth

Beth Heffernan:

 Joe,

 How did it go with 2010?   I am thinking of upgrading before I do the Plug-In.  Thank you, Beth

Hi Beth,

I am running Outlook 2010 now on my Windows 7 64 bit machine and it works great!

I am running Outlook 2010 and loaded the plug-in and it showed up but don't get any real connection into outlook. The fill that is loaded mscoree.dll. Is the the correct file for plug-in 2.0 and if not where can I get the correct one.

Thanks,

David