Cloud Edition offers users the flexibility to customize how Calendar Sync moves data between Microsoft Exchange and Salesforce. When getting started, users may experience outcomes that do not match their expectations for the sync functionally. In this section, you will review some common scenarios to help with troubleshooting Calendar Sync and to guide you as you configure your settings.
Click the images throughout the Knowledge Base to see full size versions of screen captures.
Troubleshooting Calendar Sync Scenarios
Recurring Meetings
Calendar Sync will work with recurring meetings. However, each instance of the recurring calendar item will sync as a separate meeting, rather than handling the recurring meeting as a single item. This will not affect how the calendar item appears in Exchange or Salesforce. However, users may see multiple instances of a recurring meeting listed in the Calendar Sync History screens when reviewing Unresolved Events or Synced Events.
Cloud Edition supports syncing items sent or received from Salesforce Lead records. However, Salesforce limits items to sync only to a single Lead Record. A calendar item sent to a single lead can sync to the matching Salesforce Lead Record. However, a calendar item sent to two or more leads can sync only to a single Salesforce Lead Record. In these instances, Cloud Edition will sync the item to the first Lead Record match listed in the To or From field (depending on whether the item is inbound or outbound).
There are also Salesforce limitations when working with a mix of Lead and Contact Records. A calendar item sent to multiple Contacts and Leads with matching Salesforce Records will sync to the matching Contact Records. The item will not sync to the Lead Record(s) since Salesforce prevents working with a mix of Contacts and Leads. Cloud Edition gives priority to the Contact Records in the To or From fields (depending on whether the item is inbound or outbound).
Appointments
Calendar items that you create with no invitees are considered Appointments (as opposed to Meetings which have invitees). All Appointments created in Salesforce will sync to Exchange regardless of sync mode. However, Appointments behave differently when created in Exchange.
If you want Appointments to sync to Salesforce from Exchange, ensure that your own email address and/or domain are not included in the Ignore List (this setting is off by default). Appointments include your own email address behind the scenes as the only related contact in Exchange. Ignoring your own email address will exclude Appointments from syncing.
Note that Appointments will not sync in Match mode for Calendar Sync, regardless of your Ignore List settings. This mode requires a matching Salesforce Contact or Lead record and does not match with Salesforce User records.
Additional Resources: Learn more about excluding items from syncing in the Configuring the Ignore List section of this User Guide.
Private Calendar Items
Setting an item to Private on either your Exchange or Salesforce calendar will exclude the item from syncing between systems. However, Private items will not appear in the Calendar Sync History Excluded tab since the system completely ignores those items. Organizations that require Private calendar items to sync must contact their Account Executive and request a customization for their account.
Associations in Salesforce
Calendar items that sync from Salesforce to Exchange will retain any existing relationships established for the item in Salesforce. For example, a calendar item related to an Account remains related to the Account when syncing. However, you will not see the related information when viewing the calendar item in Exchange. This is a limitation of the Exchange interface. If your sync settings permit updates from Exchange to Salesforce, those updates will be applied when syncing and will not affect or overwrite any associations for the item in Salesforce.
Ignore List
Placing an email address or a domain on the Ignore List for Calendar Sync will prevent the item from syncing to any Salesforce records with a matching email address or domain. However, this does not prevent the item from syncing.
If you use the Sync All or Designate mode for Calendar Sync, the calendar item will sync regardless of whether a sender/recipient is on the ignore list. These two modes do not require Salesforce matching records in order to sync the item.
If you use the Match mode for Calendar Sync, the item will require a matching Salesforce record to sync. If all sender(s)/recipient(s) on the item are on the Ignore List, the item will not sync and will be listed as Unresolved. (For this to happen, you will need your own email address or domain to be on the Ignore List as well). If there is a combination of Salesforce matches and non-matches, the Ignore List items will be excluded as sync matches, and Cloud Edition will determine if any of the remaining sender/recipient(s) are Salesforce matches, and proceed with the sync behavior as designed.
Additional Resources: Learn more about excluding items from syncing in the Configuring the Ignore List section of this User Guide.
Updating Calendar Body/Description Content
Changes made to update calendar items in Exchange or Salesforce will sync to update the item in both systems unless you have enabled the Prevent Operations option to prevent updates. However, changes made to the Description field in Salesforce will not sync to Exchange or overwrite the content in the body of the Exchange item. This setting is in place to ensure that Exchange remains the master for a user’s calendar since other Salesforce users may be able to inadvertently update or alter a calendar event.
Download: Access the complete LinkPoint Connect: Cloud Edition (Exchange + Salesforce) User Guide in .pdf format. Get the User Guide
Download: Access the complete LinkPoint Connect: Cloud Edition (Exchange + Salesforce) User Guide in .pdf format. Get the User Guide