In this webinar, our experts showcase a variety of demo use cases of how different components of the...
Out of the box, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 does NOT send meeting requests for Appointments that are created from CRM. This is handled very well from Microsoft Outlook, so the best practices are to create your Appointment from Outlook and track it in CRM using the CRM toolbar. Let's learn more about the Dynamics CRM send meeting request functionality.
However, on rare occasion, there is a requirement to send a meeting request from CRM. That may be if you want Appointments created from workflow, or in the case that PowerObjects tackled recently, you want a meeting request sent to a shared calendar or resource in Microsoft Exchange.
The problem with getting an Appointment from CRM to display on a shared calendar is that Appointments do not synchronize between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Outlook through the sending of meeting requests. Appointments synchronize through the Outlook Client being installed on the user's machine. Therefore, in order to synchronize Appointment to a shared calendar, you would have to set up the Active Directory user as a CRM user, and then set up a workstation with Microsoft Outlook and install the Outlook Client for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. All this would be JUST so that it can sit there synchronize appointments. That would be a big pain!
If you were to be able to create Appointments in CRM and have CRM send meeting requests, you probably would not want ALL appointments to automatically be sent as meeting requests. That is why PowerObjects created a plug-in for Microsoft Dynamics CRM which allows you to specify in a configuration area which Email addresses should be sent a meeting request.
Whether the Appointment is being scheduled for an Account, Contact, Facility/Equipment, Lead, or User, the plug-in looks at the E-mail address on the record. If the E-mail address matches one in the configuration area, a meeting request is sent for that Appointment.
Another variation of this plug-in is the addition of a checkbox to the Appointment indicating that a meeting request should be sent to all required participants that are not users (since presumably users have the Outlook Client for synchronizing Appointments). Even though Microsoft Outlook would still be the preferential way to send meeting requests manually, this field could be checked via workflow, if needed, and it might even be hidden from the user.
While this is not complete XRM development, it does give you a good idea how extensible this solution can be! Please let us know if you are looking for help with custom crm screens, hosted Microsoft crm, xrm development, or anything to do with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Will the meeting request that gets sent be to all intents and purposes an Outlook type meeting request, i.e. will it appear to the recipient as a meeting request that they can 'accept', 'decline', 'propose new time' and that when accepted, will be added to their Outlook calendar (if they are using Outlook as their mail client)?
Hi Ben,
Correct. That's the exact behaviour. A user can accept/decline/propose new time just like any other meeting.
i have a customer that would like to use the appointments for tracking what their salespeople are doing. They don't want to create a meeting invite to the contact/account. How can i get this plug-in; can i purchase from you?
Unfortunately this is not a component we have available in marketplace. But email us we can sell you the source code.
I also have a customer who would like to create meeting requests within CRM and send them automatically to the users. I did spend a lot of time looking for a solution for this and would be very happy if you could send me the source code too. Or do you plan a solution in the near future?
Thx and kind regards,
Thomas
Hi Thomas - currently our solution only works for on premises or partner hosted crm system. We are researching a method for crm online. Once we find it we will look into turning it into a component OR add this feature into one of our existing components such as powerEmail. https://powerobjects.com/blog/add-on-subscriptions/powerpack/
We are interested in getting information to purchase the "Sending Meeting Requests with Microsoft Dynamics CRM" plugin. Had left a message since last week. Can somebody please follow up with the pricing information? Thanks!
Hi There, Can you please share a link to download plugin which send out a meeting invitation on creation of an appointment.
Do you have this for CRM 2011? Or is the CRM 4.0 plugin and/or source code available for download since CRM 4 is now moved to extended service by Microsoft?
HI Jason - we now have a version of this for CRM 2015. THis still only works on premises and partner hosted, and NOT crm online.