One of the great features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is its integration with Outlook, which allows users to sync multiple fields from a contact record within Outlook to the related CRM record. This is a robust feature and it’s useful in managing client/contact relationships. However, instances may occur when the user wishes to store private notes to be available for his or her viewing only. So what’s a user to do then? For those utilizing CRM 2015, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 ‘Private Notes’ enhancement is the answer!
The Private Notes Problem
In earlier Dynamics CRM versions, if a user updated one of their Outlook contact details with additional notes then that information would sync up with the corresponding CRM record when the user Synchronized their contacts from Outlook to the Microsoft CRM server.
This resulted in information being shared with all users within the organization, regardless of role, and who-so-ever downloaded contacts from CRM to their Outlook client could view other user’s personal notes that had been saved for that specific contact.
The Private Notes Solution
To overcome this limitation and to make it more logical to store personal information with associated contacts in Outlook, Microsoft developed the ‘Private Notes’ feature for CRM 2015. This feature allows the user to restrict synchronizing the Notes field in the contact form in the Outlook client to CRM by adjusting their personal settings via CRM. And as an added bonus for the user, modifying the synchronization fields are also a cinch to adjust.
How to Change Your Notes Synchronization Settings
For each field in the contact record, you can modify the sync direction so that the fields sync both ways, sync one way, or do not sync at all. This is currently an Organization-level setting that’s setup in the Settings area of CRM.
To change your sync directions, follow these steps:
- Navigate to your Personal Options via CRM
- Select Synchronization
- Select Synchronization Fields
- Select the Entity Type you wish to modify
- From here you can adjust the fields you do or do not want synchronizing with CRM (notes, contact information, etc.)
By utilizing the ‘Private Notes’ enhancement, other users will only be able to see CRM-specific information as needed, and users can avoid sharing their private and personal notes on a contact with the entire organization. This will allow the user to keep and store pertinent information they need access to without compromising the integrity and validity of the CRM record.
If you are interested in learning more about CRM 2015, check out our PowerObjects Blog to stay up-to-date with tips and tricks for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015.
Happy CRM’ing!