Outlook Integration Documentation

Download & Install

To download & install Outlook Integration, follow the instructions below:

1. Go to the product page
2. Click on the FREE TRIAL – NO REGISTRATION button, or purchase the add-in, by adding it to your cart
3. Run the package installer (it will install all the necessary pre-requisites, like .NET framework redistributable, and Microsoft VSTO)

NOTE: you can download the simple MSI installer, instead of the package installer, by scrolling down to the Additional Downloads section of the page. Here you can also find download links to the pre-requisites.

If you have problems with the installation, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or your IT administrator.

Authentication

All our MS Project add-ins come with an 8 day unregistered trial, which can be used to demo the full potential of each add-in. If you’ve already registered on Power2Plan, you can trial the software for an additional 30 days, for free.

After you’ve installed the add-in, and started MS Project for the first time, you will be prompted by an authentication dialog.

Here you can enter your Power2Plan credentials, to either authenticate your purchased Outlook Integration license, or authenticate a free 30 day trial.

Alternatively, you could opt for the 8 day unregistered trial, where we won’t ask for any of your information.

If you’ve started a free trial, and you’ve purchased a full license, you can authenticate the license without waiting for the trial period to end, by doing the following:

1. Go to the OUTLOOK ribbon tab in MS Project
2. Click on the Power2Plan button on the far left of the tab
3. Click Change Credentials

Enter the credentials for the Power2Plan account you used to purchase the licenses and click Authenticate

Save your project

In order to use the features of Outlook Integration, the project file that you have open in MS Project must be saved.

Introduce Email Addresses or import from Address Book

If you want to send out Outlook Tasks or Meeting Request to any of your resources, you need to be sure, that their email addresses are set up correctly in MS Project:

1. In Microsoft Project press the View ribbon

2. Click on the Resource Sheet, under the Resource Views tab

3. Insert a new column, by right clicking and select Insert Column

4. Select the Email Address column

5. Introduce the email addresses of your resources.

NOTE: If no email address is introduced, while trying to send the task to the resource, a message box will appear, letting you know that you have to introduce a valid email address for that specific resource.

NOTE: After you sent out a task to a resource, or saved an appointment to your Outlook calendar, Outlook Integration will automatically add the custom fields used by the add-in. Between these custom fields, you’ll find the Email address field as well, that’s in the Resource Sheet.

Alternatively you can import your Outlook contacts with the Address Book button (available in the OUTLOOK ribbon tab). You have to be on the Resource Sheet in order for this button to become enabled.

NOTE: If you import your Outlook contacts as resources, make sure that the Email address field contains a valid email address

Sending your first Outlook Task

In order to send a task to a resource as an Outlook Task, do as follows:

1. Open your project in Microsoft Project
2. After you have introduced the email addresses, go back to the Gantt chart
3. Assign the resources to the tasks
4. Right click on a single task and select Send Task To Resource

Outlook’s New Task window will appear, with the following fields pre-populated with the MS Project task data: Subject, Start Date, Due Date, and To (resource). 

After you’re done editing the task in Outlook, just hit the Send / Save & Close button, and after the Outlook window closes, you’re MS Project task will be updated with a Task Status (Text24 field) value and a new Task Type (Text29) value.

NOTE: While sending the task, your Outlook must be running.

NOTE: The resource can decline or accept the task sent by the Project Manager, by checking one of these options in Outlook.

NOTE:

• Empty tasks, external tasks and summary tasks cannot be sent
• Only one resource can be assigned to each task
• Project name of the task is the filename, unless you specify one in Text25 (Project Name) custom field

Sending multiple Outlook Tasks

You can send multiple tasks to Outlook, by highlighting the necessary tasks, right-clicking, and selecting the Send Task To Resource button in the right-click menu.

This will bring up the Send Multiple Outlook Tasks dialog, where you can add a common task note, in addition to the MS Project task notes that the tasks could have. You can also set up a reminder and the priority of the Outlook Task.

Sending progress report for Outlook Tasks

The resource can send progress reports back by doing the following:

1. Go to Outlook
2. In the task folder, select a task
3. Complete the fields Status, Priority and %Complete
4. Save the Outlook task

Receiving progress reports from the resources

Outlook Integration enables the project manager to get the percentage of work done on a task, changed start & finish dates, as well as task notes, back from the resources.

As a project manager, you have to be able to keep track of you resources progress. In order to do that, follow the steps: 

1. Go to Microsoft Project
2. In the OUTLOOK ribbon, select Update Tasks

If you want to have an automatic update, just set the Update Frequency to a value. In this way the resource’s progress will be updated automatically.

NOTE: In order to receive the updates, Microsoft Project and Outlook must be opened.

NOTE: If you somehow don’t get the updates in Microsoft Project, try clicking Send / Receive All Folders button in Outlook, to receive the status updates for the delegated tasks. This way, Outlook Integration will be able to find the most recent update to a task.

Open Outlook Task directly from MS Project

If you want to open the Outlook Task linked to a MS Project task, do the following:

1. Right-click a task that was already sent out via Outlook
2. Select Open Task in Outlook
3. Outlook’s task inspector window will appear, where you can view the Outlook Task.

Saving a task to an Outlook Calendar as a Calendar Appointment

Outlook Integration lets you save your tasks into one of your Outlook calendars. 

In order to save a task to an Outlook Calendar, do as follows:

1. Open your project in Microsoft Project
2. Right click on a task and select Save Task To Calendar

Outlook’s New Appointment window will appear, with the following fields pre-populated with the MS Project task data: Subject, Start time, End time and the message field, if the task had a Note.

After you’re done editing the calendar appointment in Outlook, just hit the Save & Close button, and after the Outlook window closes, you’re MS Project task will be updated with a Task Status (Text24 field) value and a new Task Type (Text29) value.

Your task will appear in the selected calendar. If you change the dates in Outlook, and press the Into MSP button that is located in the Outlook Calendar Sync group (in the OUTLOOK ribbon) it will change the MS Project task accordingly. It also works vice-versa, meaning that if you change your MS Project task, and click the From MSP button, it will update the Outlook calendar appointment with the new data.

Saving multiple tasks to an Outlook Calendar as Calendar Appointments

You can save multiple tasks to an Outlook Calendar, by highlighting the necessary tasks, right-clicking, and selecting the Save Task To Calendar button in the right-click menu.

This will bring up the Save Multiple Outlook Appointments dialog, where you can specify the following options:

• Send as Meeting Request: if any of the selected task has a resource with a valid email address assigned, then the task can be saved & sent as an Outlook Meeting Request
• Location: the location of the appointment
• Reminder: set up a reminder for the appointment
• All day event: Boolean value that specifies, whether the appointment is an all-day event
• Select Calendar: here you can select the Outlook Calendar, where the appointments should be saved
• High Importance / Low Importance: set the importance of the appointments (default is unselected)

Sending a task as an Outlook Meeting Request

While saving an MS Project task to an Outlook Calendar, you have to option to save & send it as a meeting request instead of just saving it as an appointment.

To do this, the task must have at least one resource assigned (with a valid email address specified in the Resource Sheet).

Sending out Meeting Request updates

After you’ve sent out an MS Project task as an Outlook Meeting Request, you can make changes to the task, and send out those changes to the attendees, directly from MS Project.

Simply press the From MSP button in the Outlook Calendar Sync group in the OUTLOOK ribbon, and the changes will be saved & sent to the meeting requests attendees.

Import Outlook contacts as Resources

After selecting the Resource Sheet view, clicking the Address Book button in the Outlook ribbon tab will bring up the native MSP functionality where you can import your existing Outlook contacts as MSP resources

Show Today

There's a built-in filtering button in the OUTLOOK ribbon, which when pressed once will show all the tasks that have to be done today.

Copy Outlook tasks

The Copy Outlook Tasks button lets you import your existing Outlook tasks as MS Project tasks. 

Sending out revisions for tasks

This feature is not supported in Outlook Integration. The delegation of tasks in Outlook does not allow the end-user, to change a task that has already been delegated to another Outlook user.

Sending multiple tasks

Just select multiple tasks, right-click again and select Send Task To Resource.

Summary tasks and empty lines are not sent.

Automatic Syncronization

You can select Automatic synchronization if you want your data updated every 5 minutes (if you don't want to click the Update Now button in the ribbon).

Multiple projects

Multiple projects in the same .mpp file is supported by default.

Project name is specified in Text25, if empty the project files name is used.

Task Status (Text24)

Status of the task.

Task Type (Text29)

Type of the task:

• Outlook Task (blue graphical indicator)
• Outlook Appointment (light blue graphical indicator)

Project Name (Text25)

Used to specify the Project Name for each individual task. 

Valid, when the Multiple Projects option is enabled in the project file.

Flag5, Flag16, Flag17, Flag18,

Text22, Text23, Text26, Text27, Text28

Used internally, please don't use them for other purposes.