Cloud Edition Release Version 2 is designed to bring a variety of enhancements to the core sync engine and new features that bring additional end user productivity. The following release notes detail the changes that are in effect with the Version 2 Release. For step by step instructions, please refer to the User Guide. If you have questions about your LinkPoint Connect subscription, please contact your Account Executive.
A Note About Software Upgrades
Cloud Edition is upgraded to the latest Version for all user accounts during each release deployment. Version releases may result in an interruption in service or web portal access. Users can review the Cloud Edition Status online for updates on downtime and maintenance windows. Upgrades should not override existing sync configuration. Depending on settings created by an Admin, end users may or may not have access to all of the features listed within the Release Notes. In this case, please contact your Administrator.
Release Overview Video
Getting Started
Remember Me Checkbox Removed from Login Window
Previous Functionality: Users could select a Remember Me checkbox during the web portal login process, causing the browser to retain user login credentials.
Enhanced Functionality: The Remember Me checkbox has been removed to ensure additional layers of security for end users.
Session Timeout Implemented
Previous Functionality: Users could log into Cloud Edition web portal and remain logged in indefinitely.
Enhanced Functionality: User sessions will time out after 30 minutes of inactivity. Admins can configure the session timeout range to a minimum value of 15 minutes and a maximum value of 60 minutes at the Subscription level.
Home Link Added to Site Navigation
Previous Functionality: Users clicked the LinkPoint Connect logo to navigate to the home screen.
Enhanced Functionality: A Home option has been added to the main site navigation to make it easier for users to access the home screen resources.
Help Link Added to Site Footer
Previous Functionality: Users clicked a Knowledge Base button on the home screen to navigate to help articles.
Enhanced Functionality: A Help button has been added to the main site footer to make it easier for users to access help articles from any page within the web portal.
Additional Resources: Learn more in the Logging In and Out of Cloud Edition section of this User Guide.
Scheduled Maintenance Message
New Functionality: A message is displayed in the header of the web portal to all users informing them of upcoming scheduled maintenance. This message is displayed once per day to each user once it is dismissed.
Connecting Hosts
Clear Exchange Credentials After Host Disconnect
Previous Functionality: After disconnecting from the Exchange host, a user’s password was cleared from the Password field but the username field was automatically populated again with the user’s email address.
Enhanced Functionality: Both the Username and Password fields for the Exchange host are cleared after a user disconnects. Users must reenter both values in order to establish a connection with Exchange.
End User Notification for Host Disconnect
New Functionality: An email notification is sent to a user when one or both of their Hosts is disconnected. The email prompts the user to log into the web portal and enter their credentials to reestablish the connection and resume syncing.
Syncing Emails
Deleted Emails Noted within Email Sync History
Previous Functionality: Emails that are displayed in the Email Sync History following a sync but were then deleted by the user in Salesforce displayed a link implying that the user could click to view the email. Upon clicking, the user encountered a Salesforce error message indicating that the email had been removed.
Enhanced Functionality: Previously synced emails that have been deleted are listed in the Email Sync History under the Synced Tab. The word “Deleted” is added to the end of the Subject line, and the hyperlink to Salesforce to view the synced email has been removed. This indicates to the end user that the email did successfully sync but has since been deleted from the CRM. Items that are deleted in both Exchange and Salesforce are removed from the Sync History.
Additional Resources: Learn more in the Reviewing Email Sync History section of this User Guide.
Syncing Tasks
Custom Task Status Overwrite Prevented
Previous Functionality: Tasks with a custom status in Salesforce that synced to Exchange lost their custom status where there was no matching status in Exchange. When the item synced back to Salesforce, the original custom status was overwritten.
Enhanced Functionality: Tasks with a custom status in Salesforce that sync to Exchange are displayed with the Exchange default status of “Not Started”. When the item syncs back to Salesforce, the default Exchange value is ignored, and the task in Salesforce retains the original custom status. To change the status of a task that included a custom status from Salesforce, users must update the status field in Salesforce.
Task Sync History
New Functionality: Users can now review the Task Sync History for a complete audit of items that are unresolved, synced, or excluded as part of the Task Sync, based on the selected sync rules. The Task Sync History displays 30 days of data per user and includes sortable columns and a search field.
Syncing Contacts
Contact Sync History
New Functionality: Users can now review the Contact Sync History for a complete audit of items that are unresolved or synced as part of the Contact Sync, based on the selected sync rules. The Contact Sync History displays 30 days of data per user and includes sortable columns and a search field.
Additional Resources: Learn more in the Learn more in the Configuring Contact Sync Jobs section of this User Guide.
Syncing with Smart Address
Smart Address Folder Rebuild
Previous Functionality: Smart Addresses were deleted and recreated each time the Smart Address Sync initiated, causing the user’s Deleted folder in Exchange to include multiple deleted instances of each Smart Address Contact.
Enhanced Functionality: Smart Addresses are managed as a true sync, where only items that should be removed (i.e they no longer meet the criteria to be a Smart Address) are deleted from the Smart Address folder. Items that are new are newly generated as Smart Addresses. Items with no change remain in the Smart Address folder and are not regenerated.
Smart Address Generation Logic Change
Previous Functionality: Smart Addresses were created for each Salesforce object per end user based on:
1. The record appears in the Salesforce Recently Viewed table for the user
AND
2. The record must be owned by the current user.
AND
3. The object must have a standard OwnerID field and Tasks as a child relationship for items to be recorded to.
Items with a status of “Closed” were excluded as Smart Addresses by default. Items that changed to a “Closed” status were removed as Smart Addresses during the next scheduled sync.
Enhanced Functionality: Smart Addresses are now created for each Salesforce object per end user based on:
1. The record appears in the Salesforce Recently Viewed table for the user (regardless of whether the user owns the record)
OR
2. The record is owned by the current user (does not need to appear on the Recently Viewed table)
AND
3. The object must have a standard OwnerID field and Tasks as a child relationship for items to be recorded to.
Items with a status of “Closed” are no longer excluded by default. Customer can request filtering on the Status for applicable Salesforce objects (i.e. Opportunities, Cases).
Recording Attachments
Recording Attachments
New Functionality: Users can enable the Email Sync option to Automatically Record All Attachments. This will sync all attachments on the email to the Files Object (and Notes & Attachments section, where enabled) in Salesforce. Admins can enable, disable and/or lock this option based on workflow need. The name(s) of the recorded files will be listed as plain text within the body of the recorded email. The ability to record attachments is off by default.
Smart Tags from Attachments
New Functionality: Users with Smart Address enabled can include a Record Attachments Smart Tag to one-off record all of the attachments on an email when syncing the email. Users can also include a Do Not Record Attachments Smart Tag to one-off exclude the attachments on an email from recording if the option to Automatically Record All Attachments has been enabled for Email Sync.
Ignore Attachment List
New Functionality: Users can maintain an Ignore Attachment List to exclude files from recording to Salesforce based on exact file name match or file extension type. File names and extensions can be added or removed by users or managed at the Subscription and Profile levels by Admins. Users can access the Ignore Attachment List via the Ignore Files button within the Sync Jobs section of Subscription, Profile, and User screens. Each account is preconfigured with a default list of excluded file extensions which can be added to or overridden by the Admin and includes: .html, .htt,.mht,.svg, .swf, .thtml, .xhtml, .exe, .bat, .cmd, .reg.
Excluding Email Addresses and Domains
Ignore List Access
Previous Functionality: Users accessed the Ignore List via a text link in the Sync Jobs section of the Subscription, Profile, and My Settings pages.
Enhanced Functionality: Users can access the Ignore List via the Ignore List button located within the Sync Jobs section of the Subscription, Profile, and My Settings pages.
Ignore List Works with a Mix of Valid and Invalid Line Items
Previous Functionality: Users entered a mix of valid and invalid items within the Ignore List. When saving changes, the valid items were added to the Ignore List, but the invalid items were not clearly noted or retained for the user to adjust.
Enhanced Functionality: When a mix of valid and invalid line items are entered in the Ignore List, the valid items are saved to the Ignore List and the invalid items remain in the text box. An error message is presented prompting the user to adjust the entries and try again.
Working with Hierarchy and Permissions
Lock Icon Alignment
Previous Functionality: The icon enabling Admins to lock settings for users at the Organization, Subscription, and Profile levels were presented inconsistently throughout the sync configuration screens.
Enhanced Functionality: The icon enabling Admins to lock settings for users at the Organization, Subscription, and Profile levels are presented to the left of each applicable configuration setting.
Remove Admin Access to Change End User Exchange Credentials
Previous Functionality: Admins were able to view and edit the Username, Password, Web Service URL, and Exchange Version field values for an end user’s Exchange Host configuration.
Enhanced Functionality: For security reasons, Admins are no longer able to edit any end user Exchange credentials. Values are displayed as read-only for Username, Web Service URL and Exchange Version.
Configuring Organization Settings
Remove Edit Option for Organization Details
Previous Functionality: Organization Details presented a single value for Organization Name, which cannot be edited by any end user.
Enhanced Functionality: The Edit option for Organization Details has been removed to limit confusion for customers. Admins can contact their Account Executive for assistance in changing Organization Details.
Configuring Profiles
Allow Admins to Change Profile for End Users
Previous Functionality: Admins were unable to change the Profile assigned to any end user once their initial Profile was set as part of the import process.
Enhanced Functionality: Admins can now change the Profile for an end user within the Edit User Details screen for a particular user.
Indicate Active Profiles
Previous Functionality: Admins could view a list of all Profiles for an Organization but could not determine whether a Profile was active unless editing a specific Profile.
Enhanced Functionality: The Profiles table now indicates whether a Profile is Active along with a listing of the Profile’s Subscription for easier use and navigation.
Configuring Users
Remove Hyperlinks from Email Addresses
Previous Functionality: Email addresses included throughout the web portal, including the User Details and Edit User Details pages, were presented as hyperlinks.
Enhanced Functionality: Email addresses are now presented as plain text field values throughout the web portal, rather than as hyperlinks.
Present Locked Configuration Settings to Users
Previous Functionality: Settings established by an Admin and then locked to prevent end user changes were hidden from end user view. While the settings took effect as desired, end users were unable to view the enforced settings to have a better understanding of how the sync was configured.
Enhanced Functionality: Settings established by an Admin and then locked are displayed to end users within the related sync configuration screens. End users are not able to edit these settings but can view the preset values for reference.
Improved Search for Importing Users
Previous Functionality: Admins could search for Salesforce users to import using full name (i.e. First Name Last Name) to import end users, but partial searches (i.e. First Name) did not present results.
Enhanced Functionality: Admins can search full or partial names of Salesforce users in order to locate and import specific users to Cloud Edition.
General Sync Enhancements
Sync Job Next Run Date Changed to Sync Frequency
Previous Functionality: Sync Job tables throughout the web portal included a Next Run Date column that would project the approximate date and time of the next scheduled sync, per sync type.
Enhanced Functionality: The Next Run Date column has been replaced with a Sync Frequency column. This summarizes the configuration selection for each sync type including days of the week, time range, and frequency in minutes.
Fields Validated for Salesforce Max Length on Sync
Previous Functionality: During all sync jobs, all fields that are created or updated in Salesforce which exceeded the maximum length requirements caused an error and prevented the item from syncing.
Enhanced Functionality: During all sync jobs, all fields (excluding Body and Subject fields) that are created or updated in Salesforce are validated for maximum length requirements and truncated according to Salesforce limits.
Modal Windows Indicate Hierarchy Level and Name Details
Previous Functionality: Sync Job Edit and Host Edit modal windows displayed all relevant configuration settings but did not indicate to the user which level of the hierarchy or host they were reviewing.
Enhanced Functionality: Sync Job Edit and Host Edit modal windows include the name of the specific hierarchy level (i.e. Example Company [Subscription]) to clarify which settings are being reviewed or changed.
Initial Sync Forced When Sync Jobs Enabled
Previous Functionality: Enabled Sync Jobs were added to the sync queue and completed the next time the sync was slated to process.
Enhanced Functionality: Enabled Sync Jobs are processed immediately after being enabled by a user.
Using CRM Category After Initial Sync Allows Items to Sync
Previous Functionality: The sync option to Sync Items Only When Designated excluded items that did not have designation (i.e. CRM category) during the initial sync. Items that were marked with a CRM category at a later time were not included in subsequent syncs. These items were marked as Excluded in the Sync History and were not reconsidered based on an updated designation status. This applied to Calendar and Task sync.
Enhanced Functionality: The sync option to Sync Items Only When Designated will correctly exclude items that do not have a designation (i.e. CRM category). However, items that are designated at a later time will be included in subsequent syncs if the sync criteria are met.
Changing Prevention Operations Selections Allows Items to Sync
Previous Functionality: The Prevent Operations options for each sync type prevented items from being created, updated, or deleted in Exchange and/or Salesforce based on user selection. Items processed during a sync with any of the Prevent Operations selections enabled were excluded from the sync, as designed. However, if the Prevent Operations selections were altered or deselected, the items were excluded from syncing in subsequent syncs. This applied to Calendar, Contact, and Task sync.
Enhanced Functionality: Items previously excluded by an enabled Prevent Operations setting are now included in subsequent syncs when the Prevent Operations are removed (and if the sync criteria are met).
Download: Access the complete LinkPoint Connect: Cloud Edition (Exchange + Salesforce) User Guide in .pdf format. Get the User Guide
