The Dynamics 365 App for Outlook was developed to replace the popular Plugin which was the first real attempt to integrate email functionality and Dynamics 365 in one place. However, Microsoft found this difficult to support as it as it was naturally slower and could interfear with 3rd party plugins. In addition, it could only work on the full Outlook 365 application so mobile wasn't a possibility. The new Outlook App supports all versions of Outlook, including the full client, outlook web access and mobile. The install is super easy, and is pushed out directly from within Dynamics 365. It's automatically available from all modern versions of your Outlook, with no local install on any of your devices!

What can the Dynamics 365 App do?

With Dynamics 365 App for Outlook, you can:

View information about Customer Engagement contacts and leads while you’re working in Outlook. You can view this info in the context of an email message, meeting, or appointment. For example, view phone numbers, company name, last and next activities, and recent records from Customer Engagement.
Link email messages, meetings, and appointments to a Customer Engagement record with a single click. For example, link an email message to a specific account, opportunity, or case. Dynamics 365 App for Outlook also supports custom entities.
Open Customer Engagement records directly to find or enter more detailed information.
Add a phone call, task, or appointment activity to Customer Engagement.
Create a new Customer Engagement record for any entity (record type), as long as the entity has been enabled for mobile and for multi-entity search.
Add email templates, knowledge articles, and sales literature when you create an email message or set up a meeting.
Track Outlook contacts in Customer Engagement.

Installing the Dynamics 365 App

It's fairly simple to install the app. Firstly you need to make sure you have the prerequisites. They are:

Your Customer Engagement system administrator can make Dynamics 365 App for Outlook available to your organisation or you can add it yourself if:

You have the Use Dynamics 365 App for Outlook security privilege.

Your organization synchronizes mailboxes with server-side synchronization.

After the prerequisites have been met, you can add the app directly from Customer Engagement.

1. Click the Settings button Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement apps web client Settings button, and then click Apps for Customer Engagement.

2. On the Apps for Customer Engagement page, under Dynamics 365 App for Outlook, click Dynamics 365 App for Outlook.

Using the App for the first time

To display Customer Engagement data after you’ve added the app:

Select an existing email message in your Inbox, or create a new email message or appointment.

On the ribbon, click the Customer Engagement button.

Dynamics 365 App for Outlook ribbon

-Or-

In Outlook on the web, click the Customer Engagement button in the email pane.

Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement apps button

The Customer Engagement pane appears on the right side of the screen and shows information about the recipients.

Dynamics 365 Outlook App. Better than the Plugin and will continue to improve.

At Serversys, we love the Outlook App. It helps end users be more productive and its easy to support. It just works. As its web based and is contained in its own space, it means it doesn't conflict with other applications which was a common problem with the Plugin. We think this will help Microsoft continue to improve it in the future, without the worry of how it interacts with other software.