Configuring the Abacus to Outlook Syncing Tool

Index

1. Setup
2. Names
3. Events
4. Set Outlook Sync to Only Sync Your Events
5.  Run Full Sync
6. One-Way Sync
7. Bidirectional Sync

On the menu bar, navigate to File > Synchronize > Outlook Sync > Setup to access Outlook Sync settings.

For a video demonstration of these steps, see this video.

Setup

On the first tab (Setup), you can control when Outlook Sync runs. Of special consideration:

1. Sync every – this is how frequently Abacus attempts to sync with Outlook. It is not recommended to set this lower than 10 minutes, especially if your names or events databases include a large amount of data.
2. Sync whether Abacus is running or not – If this is checked, and you click Set up System Timer, it will prompt you to enter your Windows credentials. Abacus will then attempt to register a Windows task to run the sync at the interval specified above, even when Abacus is closed. Note that your workstation will still need to be on for the sync to occur.

Only administrator accounts in Windows can set up this function. This option also cannot be set up on most terminal server environments, including Abacus Private Cloud.

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Names

The second tab (Names) controls settings for syncing Names to your Contacts list in Outlook. Of special consideration:

1. Synchronize changes both directions – any contacts added or changed in Outlook (or that are not in AbacusLaw at the time of the first sync) will sync to AbacusLaw.
   • Deletions do not sync between AbacusLaw and Outlook, even if this option is selected.
2. Only transfer from Abacus to Outlook – names will be transferred from AbacusLaw to Outlook, but any contacts added or changed in Outlook will not sync to AbacusLaw. If you have contact records in Outlook that you do not want to appear in AbacusLaw, this is the best option.
3. Include Outlook Personal, Private, and Confidential contacts in sync* – by default, any contacts marked as Private in Outlook will not sync to Abacus. Check this to change that.
   • These records will NOT be private in AbacusLaw.
4. Names query – this controls which contacts sync from AbacusLaw to your Outlook contacts book. By default, it syncs all names marked as Active. For more information on how to set up queries, see the Overview of the Query Manager section of the manual.
5. Items marked with an asterisk are only relevant if Synchronize changes both directions is set as the sync method.
   
   

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Events

The third tab (Events) controls settings for syncing Events to your Calendar in Outlook. This will sync event records in Abacus with your Outlook calendar. Of special consideration:

1. Sychronize changes both directions – any events added or changed in Outlook (or that are not in AbacusLaw at the time of the first sync) will sync to AbacusLaw.
   • Deletions do not sync between AbacusLaw and Outlook, even if this option is selected.
2. Only transfer from Abacus to Outlook – events will be transferred from AbacusLaw to Outlook, but any events added or changed in Outlook will not sync to AbacusLaw. If you have events in Outlook that you do not want to appear in AbacusLaw, this is the best option.
3. Include Outlook Personal, Private, and Confidential events in sync* – by default, any events marked as Private in Outlook will not sync to AbacusLaw. Check this to change that.
   • These records will NOT be private in AbacusLaw.
4. Who code for new Events/TO-DOs* – this determines who is assigned to any new events that are synced from Outlook. Typically, this would be your WHO code.
5. Events query – this controls which events sync to the Outlook calendar. The default query (SYN_EVNT) syncs all events that do not have their status set to D (Done) or OFF (Off Calendar) that are calendared anywhere between 90 days in the past and a year and a half in the future. For more information on how to set up queries, see the Overview of the Query Manager section of the manual.
6. TO-DOs query – this allows you to handle which to-do events sync to Outlook differently than other events. The default query (SYN_TODO) has the same parameters as with the main Events query.
   • If you have set your events query to only sync your events and want to do the same with to-dos (see below), you will need to set that query here as well.
7. Items marked with an asterisk are only relevant if Synchronize changes both directions is set as the sync method.
   
   

If you would like to only sync appointments, and no reminders or to-dos, follow this guide: How to Sync Appointments Only, without Reminders or To-Dos

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Set Outlook Sync to Only Sync Your Events

See this guide to learn how to ensure that Outlook Sync only syncs events assigned to you (or the users that you would like to sync).

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Run Full Sync

When you run your first Outlook sync, it will run a full sync, meaning that all data between Abacus and Outlook is synced. This sync may take several minutes or more (future syncs are incremental, and typically much faster). Depending upon whether you have set AbacusLaw to synchronize changes both directions, or only from Abacus to Outlook, your options when running a full sync will look different.

One-Way Sync

If you set AbacusLaw to Only transfer from Abacus to Outlook on both Names and Events, you will be asked:

• Keep It – any existing records in Outlook will be retained. This is the best option if little or none of the records in Outlook are also in Abacus.

While this option will not change any Abacus data, we do recommend backing up your Outlook data, in-case substantial duplication occurs. Follow the instructions here to backup your Outlook data: Export or backup email, contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file

• Delete It – this will delete all contact and/or calendar records in Outlook before syncing the AbacusLaw data. This is the best option if all of the data entered in Abacus already appears in Outlook, or if you do not wish to retain the data that isn’t in Abacus already.

Bidirectional Sync

If you set AbacusLaw to Synchronize changes both directions on either (or both) Names and Events, you will be asked:

• Merge it into Abacus – this merges existing data from Outlook into Abacus. This is best used if you have not yet entered much data into Abacus, and you would like your contacts and events from Outlook to appear in Abacus. Note that, while AbacusLaw attempts to detect records that are duplicated in both Abacuslaw and Outlook already and skip them, this option still poses a risk of duplicating records in both programs! If AbacusLaw detects potential duplicates, it may also stop the sync and require manual cleanup of those duplicates before it allows sync to continue.

We STRONGLY recommend performing an Abacus backup by navigating to File > Utilities > Backup > Backup before performing this type of sync! You may also want to backup your Outlook data. Follow the instructions here to backup your Outlook data: Export or backup email, contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file

Note that, if you see this prompt and either Names or Events are set to Only transfer from Abacus to Outlook, those records will still not sync from Outlook, and this option acts as the equivalent of the “Keep It" option seen above.

• Delete and Replace – this will delete all contact and/or calendar records in Outlook before syncing the AbacusLaw data. This is the best option if all of the data entered in Outlook already appears in AbacusLaw, or if you do not wish to retain the data that isn’t in AbacusLaw already.

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