Smokeball features several powerful integrations with Microsoft products to enhance your productivity. Keeping track of all these options can be challenging, so we have written this article to provide you with an overview to help you get started.Â
Microsoft products available and supported plans
Refer to the following table for a quick summary of Microsoft products and their compatibility with Smokeball Grow and Prosper+.
Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 explained
Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 are two different ways to pay for Microsoft applications.
Microsoft Office is a traditional suite of applications installed directly to your computer's hard drive and requires the purchase of a conventional software license.
Microsoft 365 provides access to the same applications through a paid subscription model. The subscription provides regular feature updates and additional benefits such as cloud computing storage. Microsoft 365 applications can be installed directly on your hard drive or accessed through your web browser.Â
Using Microsoft integrations
Regardless of your choice to use Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365, our recommendation is to run the classic version of Outlook and the desktop version of Word. The Smokeball software you use for Grow and Prosper+ works best with these versions and ensures that you can take advantage of important automation tools such as document automation, AutoTime, email saving, and calendar sync.Â
Outlook Email and Smokeball
"Classic" Outlook and "New" Outlook Explained
"Classic" Outlook refers to the version which traditionally has been included in the Microsoft Office suite or Microsoft 365. This version must be installed locally to your hard drive, and it will be supported by Microsoft through 2029.
Outlook for Windows, also known as the "New Outlook", is an updated version. Developed as a web app, it is designed to replace Classic Outlook and the defunct Calendar and People Windows apps. Although New Outlook is also installed locally on your hard drive, its functionality and interface is very similar to Outlook on the web. The new version is also only available to Microsoft 365 users.Â
As a Grow/Prosper+ user, you can access Outlook through Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office. The former option will give you the option to use the classic version of Outlook or the new version; the latter option is restricted to the classic version.
Read this article if you need help determining which version of Outlook you currently use.
Why use Classic Outlook over New Outlook?
At this point in time, using the new version of Outlook does not give you access to the full range of Smokeball features:Â
- You cannot draft an email directly from Smokeball if you are using the new version of Outlook.
- You cannot right-click on a document in Smokeball and immediately email it using the new version of Outlook.
- You cannot send a template via body text in the new version of Outlook.
- Activity tracking and AutoTime will not work in the new version of Outlook.
- You can connect third party email apps, such as Gmail or Yahoo, to both the classic version and new version of Outlook. However, this will only work for paid Microsoft 365 accounts and will not be supported in the classic version of Outlook in the future.
- The new version of Outlook does not support Microsoft 365 accounts hosted on GoDaddy. If GoDaddy is your email provider, then you should use the classic version of Outlook.Â
Therefore, for Smokeball Grow/Prosper+ firms, we recommend using the classic version of Outlook or downgrading from New Outlook back to Classic to access a wider range of features, until we build out feature parity in the New Outlook integration.
The hallmark of the classic integration is the Smokeball toolbar that allows you to quickly assign emails to your matters.
How do I get the Smokeball toolbar?
Smokeball’s toolbar for the classic version of Outlook should automatically be included with your Smokeball installation. If this toolbar is missing or not working, please contact our support team for assistance.
New Outlook for Smokeball Grow and Prosper+
If you only have the new version of Outlook or you have decided not to rollback to classic Outlook, despite the limitations listed above, you can connect to the New Outlook integration (which is currently in beta). Here, the Smokeball toolbar is an app that you pin to the right-hand side of your screen.
Learn more about the new version of Outlook and Smokeball.Â
Outlook calendar and Smokeball
Aside from emails, Smokeball also syncs with Microsoft 365 Outlook calendars. This two-way sync allows you to manage your events either in Outlook or within Smokeball.
Once you have synced your Smokeball user account with your Outlook calendar, you will be able to set up meetings and events in any Smokeball matter or within your Outlook calendar view and have them automatically sync so your calendar stays consistent across both platforms.
Any changes to calendar events will also update in Smokeball and Outlook.
You can also view and create events in the Smokeball Web App.