Last year, I was super excited when we released version 1.0 of our Outlook plug-in tool.   Now, less than a year later, I am thrilled to announce version 2.0 is officially open for public beta.  

Caution – please sit down if you’re not already, as you may experience higher than normal levels of excitement when reading through the list of new features this plug-in has to offer.    Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

New features for our Outlook Plug-In 2.0 

• Create new QuickBooks customers, vendors, leads and contacts directly from Outlook and have it instantly appear in Method and QuickBooks.   This means you will be able to create new contacts on the fly without flipping screens to QuickBooks or Method.
   
• Bi-directional sync of calendar appointments from Method CRM to Outlook or Outlook to Method CRM.  Choose the amount of days you would like to sync, or a specific day and your activities/appointments will appear in both calendars. 
   
• Categories in Outlook can be linked with Method CRM’s Activity Type and Activity Status fields.   Why is this useful?  Say for example, I set my green category in Outlook to match my Method Activity Status “Completed”.   Now when I finish an appointment, in Outlook I can assign the category like I normally would and the next time I sync, that activity would be marked as completed in Method CRM.  
   
• Priority levels can now be assigned to follow-up appointments.  This way your most important activities get the attention they need.  
   
• All email screens now support the ability to send emails directly to Method in a single click!
• Lookup email addresses from Method CRM on any email screen using the “Address” button.  Once the address is located, it is automatically inserted into the To, CC and BCC fields.  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.  How sweet is that?
• Turn your Outlook Contact into a new QuickBooks customer/vendor/lead/contact in less than two clicks.
• Step-by-step activity submission allows you to quickly see if the activity being added from Outlook to Method CRM has any open Cases or Opportunities that the activity might be associated with or require updating.  
   

The new plug-in packs a lot of punch and a ton of value since its free for all Method users.  A few things to keep in mind though: 

1. During the beta, all questions need to be posted on the forum.  Here is the link for your reference:
   http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/19.aspx 
2. This plug-in only works with Outlook 2007 and higher.  But if you’re using an older version of Outlook, you can still use our older version of the plug-in.  
3. Unfortunately, the plug-in is a desktop app, so it doesn’t have the same flexibility you’re used to with Method to customize it as your heart desires.   See what happens when you get spoiled with the Method mentality?

Now that we are done with all the official business of what it can do and how to get help, click the link below to be taken to the forum post with instructions on getting setup.

http://www.methodintegration.com/cs/forums/p/628/2096.aspx#2096

Once you get the plug-in working for you, please comment on your favorite new features!  

Cheers,

Danny Do Couto
Method Integration