Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online: Designed for Integration

By integrating an Office 365 subscription with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, businesses can leverage the power of two programs designed to work together.

"People are already paying for these products. Often, the products can do everything they want," especially when they work together, says Kyle Welliver, inside sales representative with Power Objects, an HCL company and a Dynamics CRM partner. Welliver hosted the recent MSDynamicsWorld webinar, Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics CRM: Introduction to Out-of-the-Box Integrations.

The key, of course, is knowing how to make the integrations happen. In an interview following the webinar, Welliver noted that over the past few years, Microsoft has made a point of getting its internal departments to work together. That's helped to streamline integrations between the solutions within Office 365 and Dynamics CRM.

In the webinar, Welliver focused on three applications within Office 365: Outlook, SharePoint and Skype for Business. He reviewed the benefits and mechanics of integrating each with Dynamics CRM.

Outlook

Welliver used a hypothetical account, Blue Yonder Airlines, to show how an integration between CRM and Outlook can make many tasks related to working with a client easier to complete. From within the CRM solution, he opened the Blue Yonder Airlines account. Because the CRM was integrated with Outlook, it was possible to see activities like emails, calendar appointments, and phone calls.

Welliver then launched the Outlook web app. Because he'd also downloaded the CRM app, he was able to get information, such as business opportunities available with the account, ...