Riva Introduces "SmartConvert Drop Folders" for GroupWise CRM Integration

How many of you enjoy creating new accounts, contacts, opportunities, support incidents (cases) or quotes in your CRM or help desk support software? Probably not many! Read more about how Omni Technology Solutions' Riva CRM Integration for GroupWise has introduced "SmartConvert Drop Folders" to automatically convert a GroupWise email into a new contact, account, opportunity, support incident (case) or quote in your CRM for SugarCRM, info@hand, Microsoft CRM and Salesforce.


Successful CRM Deployment and GroupWise Integration Criteria

A successful CRM implementation and GroupWise Integration project (or, for that matter, any new software or business process implementation) must ensure that it:

• makes people's lives easier

• works the way people want it to work

• integrates into existing systems and processes

• has a short learning curve

• is easy to use

• makes a big difference in people's efficiency

• gives people back time in their day to focus on their priorities

• satisfy management's directive to continue to do more with less

• builds on individual efficiency

• creates company process, reporting and forecasting efficiencies and accuracy

Interestingly enough, these criteria apply to all technology projects, not just CRM and GroupWise integration projects. Increased efficiency, decreased costs and increased revenue and service levels are the mantra we hear more and more during these increasingly difficult economic times. And as referred to in a previous Omni article related to CIO IT priorities, difficult economic times often help focus priorities. For many companies, CRMs and integrated solutions are at the top of the list of priorities.

Why All the Excitement about Riva SmartConvert Drop Folders?

While it's one thing to talk about developing software that works the way people want it to work, it's often another thing for companies to deliver on that mandate. Riva's SmartConvert Drop Folders do just that. Based on feedback from customers, Omni developed a process that allows a user to drag an email into a SmartConvert Drop Folder and have that email be converted into a CRM archived email, opportunity, quote or case. Sounds pretty straight forward, right?

Where it gets exciting is that, if the email sender does not match an existing account or company email address in your CRM, Riva automatically creates the contact, AND the company; creates the opportunity, quote or case; AND synchronizes the opportunity, quote or case back to your GroupWise account AND allows you to manage it directly from within GroupWise!

Riva SmartConvert Drop Folders are compatible with all GroupWise clients, including mobile clients and GroupWise WebAccess.

How Does GroupWise Email to CRM SmartConvert Work?

When you enable Riva SmartConvert Drop Folders, Riva creates a folder structure that is specific to the object types that are supported by the target CRM. SmartConvert is available for SugarCRM, info@hand, Microsoft CRM and Salesforce. For the rest of this article, I will refer to how SmartConvert works with SugarCRM and info@hand. For SugarCRM and info@hand, SmartConvert creates the following GroupWise folder structure:

     CRM Content
            Smart Convert to …
                 --> Email
                 --> Quote
                 --> Opportunity
                 --> Quote
				 

Note: SmartConvert Drop Folders are not required for appointments, tasks and notes because these message types are handled by Riva's transparent CRM synchronisation.

When you select an email and "drag and drop it" or right-click and "drag and Link to" the appropriate SmartConvert folders, the following process occurs:

1. Riva's SmartConvert process extracts the email address and account information from the To:, From:, CC: and BCC: fields.

• It checks the CRM to see whether the email address(es) exist in the CRM.

• If the email addresses exist, Smart Convert will automatically create the email, quote, opportunity or case and assign it to the correct email addresses and companies.

• If the email addresses don't exist in the CRM, Smart Convert checks whether the companies exist using the email domain name as the comparison field.

• If the companies don't exist, Smart Convert creates the companies (using the domain name as the company name), creates the contacts (using the first and last names and email address) and associates the contacts with the appropriate companies.

• Smart Convert then creates the archived email, quote, opportunity or case and assigns it to the newly created contacts and/or companies.

• It then synchronizes the archived email, quote, opportunity or case back to your GroupWise account so it can be managed directly from within GroupWise.

• Because Smart Convert uses the domain name in the Company web site to determine whether a company exists, to prevent duplicates, it is critical to ensure the company web site information be entered for all Company accounts.

By allowing you to automatically convert an email into CRM contacts, companies, emails, quotes, opportunities and cases, we have overcome one of the major CRM adoption inhibitors -- having to create or cut and paste content into the CRM. SmartConvert takes away the "Cut and Paste" pain and automatically creates the content for you. All that's left is for you to update the newly created information!

More Information about Riva CRM Integration for GroupWise

• Register for a web seminar to learn more about Omni's Riva CRM Integration for GroupWise and Riva SmartConvert Drop Folders

• Learn more about how Riva Managed Policies provide administrators with the ability to automate GroupWise account management for managed rules, folders, calendars, address books and more

• Riva Managed Applications deliver Secure Distribution Lists, Managed Distribtuion Lists and Managed Signatures for GroupWise.

• Riva CRM Integration for GroupWise delivers transparent, server-side integration for SugarCRM, inof@hand, Microsoft CRM and Salesforce. Turn GroupWise into the ultimate CRM client!