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InterAction+™ AI Answer Center

InterAction+™ AI Calendar Sync: Microsoft® Exchange Online

  • Updated

InterAction+™ Calendar Sync automatically transfers calendar events from Microsoft® Exchange Online into InterAction+™, creating appointments for upcoming events and activities for past ones. This one-way sync updates appointment details if changes occur in Outlook®, helping improve your firm's relationship and engagement tracking while reducing manual data entry. Configuration is available to Professional and Strategic tier users through Firm Settings.

Firms with Microsoft® Exchange Online can use the InterAction+™ Calendar Sync to automatically add calendar events to InterAction+, rather than relying on users to manually add them themselves. This is a one-way sync from Outlook® to InterAction+. These calendar items are stored in InterAction+ as appointments when they're upcoming and as activities after they've occurred. These appointments/activities are then automatically updated, or synced, in InterAction+ if the corresponding calendar event changes (i.e., when the Subject, Description, Date, or Attendees change, or when the calendar event is canceled) within the sync period.

Configuring the Outlook® Calendar Synchronization is available to Professional and Strategic tier users.

Synced events will appear in:

  • (Client Insights Module) Activity searches, activity grid in contacts and companies, and alerts

These appointments are displayed in InterAction+ as the CalendarSyncMeeting_System activity type by default. You can change the display name of these appointments under Firm Settings > Outlook® Sync > Calendar Configuration.

Benefits

By automating the creation of InterAction+ appointments, you'll capture more intelligence and data in InterAction+. Your firm's engagement and relationship scoring will improve, thus supporting your firm's marketing and business development goals.

Firms with InterAction+ for Microsoft 365 

The Client Insights Calendar Sync works with InterAction+ for Microsoft 365.

If your firm uses the Client Insights Calendar Sync, you may still use InterAction+ for Microsoft 365 in some situations.
For example, you can continue using InterAction+ for Microsoft 365 to add external calendar items to InterAction+, since the Client Insights Calendar Sync does not currently sync externally created calendar items.

InterAction+ for Microsoft 365 and the Client Insights Calendar Sync are not integrated with each other.

Before You Begin—Important Information

  • Once the sync is enabled, it can't be disabled. However:
    • Administrators can enable or disable individual users at any time.
    • Users can also enable/disable their calendar sync themselves
    • Once an administrator enables calendar sync at the firm level, individual users can enable/disable and configure their sync settings themselves on the Outlook® Sync > User Preferences screen.
    • Users can prevent a meeting from syncing by marking it as Private.
  • If you use Online Calendar Sync, only newly-created events will be synced and updated.
  • This is a one-way sync from Outlook® to InterAction+.
  • An event can be edited only by the event owner.
  • If a user edits a synced past-dated Activity in InterAction+ within the syncing period configured in the Outlook® Admin Setting, the event will be unlinked and no updates to that event will be synced from Outlook® to InterAction+ (with the exceptions of Opportunities and Initiatives, which can be edited without breaking the sync). If you edit an event within the syncing period, you'll see this warning message.
  • The following aren't supported:
    • External calendar items (i.e., those organized by people with non-firm email domains) You can use InterAction+ for Microsoft 365 to add external calendar items to InterAction+.
    • Recurring meetings
    • Private meetings
    • Email distribution lists
    • Syncing of meeting attachments
    • Only Modern Authentication is supported for Microsoft® Exchange Online.
  • Compatible with MS Exchange Online 2016 and 2019
  • Compatible with databases IA_70_Patch_Release_18_001.sql above or IADB_Patch_Release_22_08.sql or above

Administrators: Enable and Configure Client Insights Calendar Sync for Firm

Go to Firm Settings > Outlook® Sync.

You'll have access to three settings screens:

  • Configuration
  • Users
  • Exchange Server

Step A: Calendar Configuration Screen

On the Calendar Configuration screen, you can enable appointment syncing, set default activity types, and select which contact types should prompt the creation of appointments in InterAction+.

  1. Enable new Appointment Sync with Outlook® Calendar: Toggle this on to enable the Calendar Sync. Once the sync is enabled, it can't be disabled.
  2. Synchronize past-dated Outlook® Calendar Items ___ day(s): Type the number of days after the event that you want the sync to continue to run (between 1 and 90). 
    If a user edits an Activity in InterAction+ before this sync period is over, the sync will be broken (with the exceptions of Opportunities and Initiatives, which can be edited without breaking the sync).
  3. Checkboxes
    • Exclude 'Our Personnel' and 'Our Consultants' from appointment: This option is selected by default. If you want your firm's personnel and consultants included as contacts in the InterAction+ appointment, clear this check box.
    • Include text from the appointment body: This option is selected by default. If you don't want the calendar event description included in the InterAction+ appointment, clear this check box.
  4. (Optional) Rename the display type of synced appointments.

  5. Contact Types: Select the contact types whose association with a calendar item will create an InterAction+ event. If at least one selected contact type is invited as an attendee, it will sync to InterAction+. Calendar items that include only unselected Contact Types won't automatically create corresponding InterAction+ appointments. (But users can manually create InterAction+ appointments for these Contact Types if they want to).

    The available Contact Types are pulled from the InterAction+ Administrator.

    Events with private contacts won't be synced.

  6. Click Save.

Step B: Exchange Server Screen

On the Exchange Server screen, you can add and remove servers to be used for the Calendar Sync. You must have certain Administrative privileges in Exchange Mailboxes to set this up.

To add an Online Server (one that is authenticated online through the service provided by Microsoft®)

  1. First see Microsoft's documentation for steps to take before setting up the server.
  2. Click Add Online Server.
  3. When you've completed all fields, click Save.

Add API Permissions to the Registered InterAction Calendar Sync Application

User needs to have Cloud Application Administrator role to grant permission:

  1. In the Manage tab, click API permissions > Add a permission.
  2. Under Microsoft APIs, select Microsoft Graph.
  3. Click Application Permissions.

  4. Select the appropriate permissions required and click Add permissions.

    API/Permissions Type Description Admin Consent Requested
    Contacts.Read Application Read Contacts in All Mailboxes Yes
    User.Read.All Application Sign in and read users full profile Yes
    Calendars.Read Application Read Calendar in all mailboxes Yes
  5. Click Grant admin consent, then click Yes to confirm.

Step C: Users Screen

On the Users screen is a list of your organization's InterAction+ end users. From here, you enable/disable the Calendar Sync for and assign an Exchange server to individual users.

  1. Verify the users you're configuring have their email address listed. (The email address listed here corresponds to the email Type you chose on Configuration tab). If a user doesn't have an email address of this type listed here, add one to their InterAction+ profile.
  2. Assign an Exchange server to each user:
    1. Select the check box next to each user, or select the Select All check box on the top left.
    2. Click Actions > Assign Exchange Server.
    3. In the pop-up window, select the server you want to assign and click Save.
  3. Enable calendar sync for each user:
    1. Select the check box next to each user, or select the Select All check box on the top left.
    2. Click Actions > Enable Sync.

Once an administrator enables calendar sync at the firm level, individual users can enable/disable and configure their sync settings themselves on the Outlook® Sync > User Preferences screen.

Last Automatic Sync: The Last Automatic Sync time indicates when the most recent event change was detected on the Outlook Calendar. Administrators can see the day and time of all users' Last Automatic Sync on the Firm Settings > Outlook Calendar Sync > Users screen. Users can see their own Last Automatic Sync on the Settings > Outlook® Calendar Sync > User Preferences screen.

How to Sync Calendar Events in Outlook with Exchange Online

Exchange Online users have several options for syncing their calendar events with Outlook. The process may differ slightly based on whether you are using Manual, Automatic, or a combination of both sync options. 

 On-premise Exchange is not supported. 

Syncing Options

Syncing Option Description When to Use/Limitations Additional Notes
Automatic Sync Automatically syncs events based on the Contact Type. Default sync option used in many setups. Post-upgrade changes include removal of the e-mail address field and categorization of events for improved synchronization.
Manual Sync Requires you to check a box in Outlook to bring in an event manually. Limitations: Does not support using contact types; only the meeting organizer can mark an event for sync. None
Combined (Auto and Manual Sync) Applies both automatic syncing and manual syncing. Events automatically sync based on Contact Type, and unsynced events can be added manually. Use this option if you want the advantages of both approaches. None

Manually Calendar Sync: Adding or Editing an Activity 

Before using Manual Calendar Sync, ensure that all of the following conditions are met:

  • Firm Administrator Settings
    • Calendar Sync is enabled.
    • Manual Calendar Sync or Combined (Auto and Manual Sync) is enabled.
    • An Online Exchange Server has been created.
  • User Settings: You are enabled for Calendar Sync.
  • Event Conditions:
    • The event is not marked as private.
    • The event is not recurring.
    • You are the organizer of the event.
    • The event falls within the time span established by your Firm Admin.

Enabling Calendar Sync

  • Requirement: Calendar Sync must be enabled to add events.

  • What You See:
    If Manual Calendar Sync is disabled, you will see a prompt requesting you to enable Calendar Sync.

    A screenshot of a calendar sync AI-generated content may be incorrect.

  • Steps to Enable:
    1. Click the Enable Calendar Sync button when prompted.
    2. Go to Settings and click on the slider to turn on either Manual Calendar Sync or Combined (Auto and Manual Sync).

Adding a New Event

  1. Using the Add Activity Button: Click the Add Activity button to create a new event.

     A screenshot of a phone AI-generated content may be incorrect.

  2. Use Calendar Sync While Composing: When composing a new event, you can enable Calendar Sync, ensuring the event is immediately created in InterAction+.

Editing an Event

When editing an existing event, you can send the event to InterAction via Calendar Sync. When you click the checkbox labeled Add this Event to InterAction, a category is applied

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 This category is only visible to the Outlook user.

  1. For Event Organizers:
    • Either create a new event or open an existing one.
    • If you are the organizer, you can check or uncheck the sync option based on your preference.
  2. For Events Sent by Coworkers:
    • You will see only the Add Activity option.
    • The absence of a sync checkbox is expected behavior for events you did not organize.

Unsyncing an Event

Uncheck the Add this Event to InterAction checkbox.

  • The applied category is removed.
  • The event will be deleted from InterAction if unsynced.

All updates made via Calendar Sync are continuously synced with InterAction.

Handling Common Issues

Issue: User is not enabled for Calendar Sync. 

  • Symptom: You are prompted to enable Calendar Sync.
  • Solution: If the firm or user is not enabled for Manual Sync, syncing an event will not be possible. Go to your Settings and activate calendar sync to allow events to be sent through.

Issue: Private/Recurring Events Not Syncing

  • Symptom: Private events or recurring events are not syncing to the system.
  • Solution: Private events cannot sync over to respect user privacy. Recurring events are also restricted; a message will inform you that recurring events cannot be synced.

Issue: Event Not Marking for Sync

  • Symptom: An event is created but is not marked for sync, or the checkbox option is missing.
  • Solution: Only the organizer can mark an event for sync. If you appear as an invitee, the option will not be available.

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