How MS Exchange items are synchronized

Calendar items

During the initial synchronization after the item is created, all original information (time and detail) is transferred. All Autotask calendar items are transferred to Exchange as appointments. The title, date, time, and location (of service calls) are transferred to Exchange, and information from Autotask fields that cannot be accommodated in the calendar item is converted to a text file in the Details area of the appointment.

Exchange appointments are transferred to Autotask as follows:

  • For public appointments, both the Title and Details are transferred
  • For private appointments, the Title is simply "Appointment", and no details are transferred

After the original synchronization, date and time changes always transfer both ways for appointments and to-dos, but detail changes (i.e. changing the meeting name) do not transfer when the appointment was originally created in Autotask and is modified in Exchange. And for service calls, changes made in MS Exchange do not transfer back to Autotask, but a hyperlink is provided in the body of the Exchange calendar item to edit the Service Call.

NOTE   All converted Autotask calendar items contain an ExecuteCommand hyperlink that when clicked on a PC workstation will open the original calendar item in Autotask. If you are not logged into Autotask, it will bring you to your Autotask log in page. Note that ExecuteCommand is not supported on Autotask LiveMobile.

Items created in Autotask Type of Change made in Exchange Change Reflected in Autotask?
Appointments Date or time change
Appointments Modify subject/name, details/description, delete item  
To-Do Date or time change
To-Do Modify subject/name, details/description, delete item  
Service Calls Any  
Items created in Exchange Type of Change made in Autotask Change Reflected in Exchange?
Appointments Date or time change
Appointments Modify subject/name, details/description, delete item  

NOTE  If you make changes to items in the system they were created in, they are always synchronized to the other system.

IMPORTANT  Deleted appointments from Autotask will remain visible in Outlook unless you remove them. Access the application's Deleted Items folder and ensure that it is empty before the next synchronization occurs. Autotask PSA monitors the Deleted Items folder and knows which appointments to remove.

Contacts

Your Autotask Administrator can select one of the following options for contact synchronization:

  • Transfer contacts for whom you are the account manager or opportunity owner to your personal contact folder in Outlook

NOTE  Exchange does not sync (transfer) contacts to account Team members; it only syncs contacts to users who are the account manager or the owner of an Autotask opportunity associated with the account.

  • Transfer all contacts to a public contact folder (this is not an option for hosted MS Exchange)
  • Transfer no contacts to MS Exchange

NOTE   Inactive contacts are not synchronized.

You can also choose to create an Autotask personal folder for your Autotask contacts, by selecting the Synchronize Autotask contacts in a separate personal folder check box on your User Profile MS Exchange configuration settings. Refer to The MS Exchange tab.

The MS Exchange Extension will check the following information before creating a contact to ensure that a duplicate record is not created: contact first name, contact last name, organization name, and email address. If one of these fields does not match between Autotask and Outlook, a new contact will be created in Outlook. If the first three fields match but the email field is blank, the existing contact record will be updated.

NOTE  If you have already synchronized contacts to your personal contacts folder and then switch to synchronizing to the Autotask Contact folder, it is recommended that you drag and drop the contacts from the original file location to the new Autotask Contacts folder. Only new and updated contacts will be moved to the Autotask Contact folder.