Integration SharePoint & Outlook

Today, e-mail messages and their attachments are an important and extensive source of information, as they are part of organisations' digital memory. Because e-mails are usually stored in personal inboxes and folders, the information is personal and difficult to share.

SharePoint is a web-based application for sharing documents and other files. Through seamless integration with Outlook, Macroview DMF turns SharePoint into a user-friendly application for managing documents and e-mail messages within a recognisable environment.

Its recognisable interface and simplicity of use results in exceptionally high user acceptance and successful deployments of your SharePoint environment.

The entire document management environment in SharePoint is presented by Macroview DMF through an intuitive tree structure directly in Outlook (see image 'Interface'). In this way, Macroview DMF stays close to the user's experience and the threshold for using SharePoint is very low and simple.

All SharePoint functionalities available in one interface: Outlook

When a document library or folder is clicked in the tree structure, all e-mail messages and other files stored in it become visible.

Within a document library or folder, metadata columns can be sorted and there are various filtering options.

From any saved MSG, DOC, XLS, PPT or PDF file in SharePoint, the content is displayed directly in Outlook (see figure).

By clicking on a Site in the tree structure, a user can access a SharePoint site, it will be immediately visible in Outlook.

Save from Outlook 'Drag and drop' to SharePoint

Macroview DMF allows you to save one or more e-mail message(s) and/or attachment(s) to SharePoint within Outlook by simply dragging and dropping them into the tree structure.

Macroview DMF assigns a unique file name to each Outlook message when it is saved in SharePoint. By default, the file name is based on sender, sent date/time and subject.

When messages are saved in SharePoint, Macroview DMF automatically uses the characteristics of the Outlook message to store them as metadata in the document libraries, some examples of metadata fields are To, From and Date/Time.

Additionally, DMF Message will assist the user in populating organisation-specific metadata that apply in the relevant library. Macroview DMF supports multiple content types and all SharePoint column types, including Business Data columns.

Macroview DMF comes with a dedicated library template and an email view, enabling maximum user convenience with minimal set-up effort.

Efficient navigation through extensive SharePoint environments

The Macroview DMF tree structure makes navigating extensive SharePoint environments simple and efficient. It is easy to filter within site collections and site structures to access the right sites and libraries. Moreover, searches can be performed within the Macroview DMF tree structure to find the right site or library without knowing its exact location.

The SharePoint favourites feature in Macroview DMF supports so-called 'one click' navigation to frequently used document libraries and folders.

Powerful attachment support

Macroview DMF automatically saves Outlook messages as *.MSG files. Saved e-mail messages will open exactly as saved, including attachments.

Ever wanted to store an attachment to an e-mail message separately in SharePoint or attach a file from SharePoint to an outgoing e-mail? Without Macroview DMF, this often requires storing copies of files. Macroview DMF makes moving attachments to and from SharePoint very easy. Attachments in an Outlook message can also be added as a reference to save storage space.

When e-mail messages contain PDF files as attachments (e.g. from Smart Copiers), Macroview DMF PDF Save (optional module) ensures that these files (including metadata) can be saved in SharePoint via Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.

Searching for e-mail messages and other files in Sharepoint

Macroview DMF provides a search functionality for -email messages and other files fully integrated into Outlook (see figure 2). Searches can be metadata-based and/or keyword-based.

Search functionality uses the powerful SharePoint/FAST Search Engine and searches can be saved.

Performance SharePoint & Outlook

Storage and navigation performance via Macroview DMF is excellent and has proven itself in very large environments. By applying smart technologies (proprietary web service) and a sophisticated architecture, bandwidth requirements are kept to a minimum.

Working offline with Outlook

When a user in Outlook is offline or otherwise unable to connect to the SharePoint server, Macroview makes it possible to drag and drop e-mail messages and attachments to any document library in SharePoint. The actual saving to SharePoint and metadata capture takes place when the user is back online.

Macroview also supports the use of Outlook Rules and Outlook Web Access to save e-mail messages to SharePoint.