Updating custom fields on synced outlook contacts in crm2011

CRM2011 does not support synching custom fields between CRM2011 and synced Outlook Contacts.
You can’t even select the fields to sync between CRM and Outlook. The add-in will update the custom fields between synced Outlook contacts with CRM2011.

Software Requirements:

This solution is tested on windows 7 and outlook 2010 only.

Solution components:

The solution consists of 2 components.

• UpdateContactAddin_1_0_managed.zip (CRM2011 Managed solution)
• OutlookAddin.zip (Outlook Addin)

1. UpdateContactAddin_1_0_managed.zip :

Download the file and import the solution. The solution creates a custom entity called “syncmapping”. The entity contains two main fields “CRM Field” and “Outlook Field”. The entity will map the fields needed to be updated between CRM2011 Contacts and Outlook Contacts. Before you add any data into the entity, go to the default solution and customize the entity to display in workplace or settings area.

For e.g. In above screen “accountrolecode” (Display Name Role) field in contact entity will update the User1 field or “User Field 1” in Outlook.

You can choose multiple fields to update/synced Outlook Contacts as shown in the screen shot below

Note: The display name in both in Outlook and CRM2011 are different than the names used in the code. We need the “Name” field of the CRM2011. To get the proper name of the Outlook field please follow this link http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.office.interop.outlook.contactitem_properties.aspx
For e.g. The name of “User Field 1” field is User1. “User Field 1” is just a display name. If the field does not exist in Outlook, the solution will create a new user defined field in Outlook.

2. OutlookAddin.zip

Extract the OutlookAddin.zip file and run the SetupUpdateContact exe. It will add a custom tab to the ribbon as shown in the following screen shot.

When the user clicks on “Update Contact”, it will display a following dialog. Enter all the values and press Update.

The above screen shot displays the values for CRM Online.

The above screen shot displays the values for on-premise CRM Deployment.
At the end of the process, the system will display a following message

Facts:
This solution updates text fields in outlook only. If you pick an optionset from CRM2011, the solution will get the text value of the field and update the field in Outlook.
The solution uses the update method to update the individual contacts. The solution does not have any automatic or scheduled syncing mechanism.
This solution is smart enough to update the contacts for the selected organization. If you are synced contacts from different organization. The system will update the contacts of the organization selected in a addin dialog.

Tips:

• Setup the sync fields in syncmapping entity before pressing the update button
• Please sync your outlook contacts before trying this solution.

Download this solution.