Working with the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in for Microsoft 365

By using the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in for Microsoft 365, you can save emails and attachments directly to Laserfiche Cloud and self-hosted repositories. Available for use with Office 365 accounts, the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in can archive correspondence along with their metadata to start Laserfiche workflows or processes.

Note: The Laserfiche Outlook Add-in for Microsoft 365 is a separate offering from the Outlook COM add-in included with Laserfiche Office Integration. The Laserfiche Outlook Add-in for Microsoft 365 and the Laserfiche Office Integration can both be installed at the same time and can coexist side-by-side.

Administrator Guide

Prerequisites

Provision the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in in a Laserfiche Cloud account

  1. Provision the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in application in a Laserfiche Cloud account.
  2. Install the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in manifest for Laserfiche Cloud accounts.
  3. Grant Microsoft tenant-wide admin consent.
  4. Follow the User Guide to verify the Add-in in Outlook.

Provision the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in with access to Laserfiche Repository Server

Additional prerequisites
  • Internet access
  • Laserfiche 11 or later
  • Laserfiche Repository Web Client
  • Laserfiche API Server 2.0.2604.16 or later
  • Laserfiche Directory Server STS
  • HTTPS connectivity to Laserfiche Repository Web Client, Laserfiche API Server, Laserfiche Directory Server STS

    • Note: If Internet access is required from the Outlook client, it's recommended to install the above services in a DMZ.

  1. Enabling access to Laserfiche Repository Server.
  2. To optionally enable access to Laserfiche Cloud repositories, provision the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in application in the Laserfiche Cloud account.
  3. Use the configurations from step 1 to generate and install the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in manifest for Laserfiche self-hosted.
  4. Grant Microsoft tenant-wide admin consent.
  5. Follow the User Guide to verify the Add-in in Outlook.

Configuration

Provisioning the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in application in a Laserfiche Cloud account

The Laserfiche Outlook Add-in application needs to be granted access to the Laserfiche Account by registering it using the Laserfiche Developer Console.

  1. Download the manifest.json file.
  2. Sign in to your Laserfiche Cloud account. From the app picker, select Developer Console. To sign in to the developer console, you must have the Developer Console Administrator access right. Learn how to configure access rights.
  3. Follow the instructions under "Create an Application from a Manifest" in the Import and Export Application Manifest How To Guide using the manifest.json file downloaded in step 1.

Note: Do not change the value of clientId or redirectUris, or the sign-in flow will fail.

Enabling access to Laserfiche Repository Server

Follow the documentation Installing and Configuring the API Server to enable the "Laserfiche Directory Server (authorization_code) login flow".

Add the following URI to WhitelistedRedirectUris

  • From United States Data Center: https://app.laserfiche.com/officeapps/outlook/v1/#oauthloginwrapper
  • From Canadian Data Center: https://app.laserfiche.ca/officeapps/outlook/v1/#oauthloginwrapper
  • Form European Data Center: https://app.eu.laserfiche.com/officeapps/outlook/v1/#oauthloginwrapper

Configuring repository-wide default options

Administrators can configure a default location for the imported emails, as well as template and field information and settings for attachment handling. The name, location, and field information can also draw from properties of the email itself. For instance, you can store the time the email was received in a field value, or you could dynamically store the emails in a folder named after the email's sender.

  1. If you are not already in the repository administration section of Laserfiche, click your user name in the upper right corner and select Repository Administration.
  2. On the left, select Integrations.

    Note: You must have the Manage Repository Configuration privilege to access this page.

  3. Select Outlook Import.
  4. In the Default behavior option, determine how attachments will be handled. You can leave them in the email, remove them and file them as a separate document, or store them both within the original email and as a separate document.
  5. If you have chosen to store attachments separately, select Apply email fields to attachments to give the attachments the same template and fields as the parent email.
  6. In the Field associations option, select a template that will be applied to imported emails by default. The Email template has already been added and configured for you, but you can select another template, or modify which properties are stored in which fields.
  7. In the Default email import folder option, specify the repository location where emails will be stored by default. A path has been configured for you, but you can modify this path to store emails elsewhere. You can use the token dropdown to dynamically file emails. (For instance, in the pre-configured path, the sender name token is used to automatically store emails in a folder corresponding to their sender.)
  8. If you would like to return to the default options, click the Clear button under Reset.
  9. When you are finished configuring import options, click the Save button at the top.

Troubleshooting

If the user does not see their add-in in their Outlook ribbon

  • Verify that the user is using the Outlook 365 desktop client or Outlook on the Web
  • Verify that the user's mailbox is in Exchange Online
  • Verify that the add-in has been deployed to the correct user or user group

To ensure smooth use of the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in with with a shared Outlook mailbox or folder for all users in your Azure organization, the Azure administrator of your organization needs to grant consent to allow the Laserfiche for Outlook app to add the category "Saved to Laserfiche" to the email via Microsoft Graph API.

  1. Replace the placeholder <Azure tenant ID> with the tenant ID of your organization in the following URI:

    https://login.microsoftonline.com/<Azure tenant ID>/adminconsent?client_id=3a208052-b7b7-4566-b6e8-830cd36634b8&scope=user.read%20offline_access%20openid%20profile%20Mail.ReadWrite.Shared&redirect_uri=https://app.laserfiche.com/officeapps/outlook/v1/

  2. Copy the modified URI to your browser.
  3. Follow the Microsoft steps to sign in with your admin account and grant permissions. If successful, you will see the redirect page.

    Example of a successful redirect page
  4. To verify or revoke permissions,
    1. Within the Azure admin center, browse to Azure Enterprise applications, and view the the app Laserfiche for Outlook client ID 3a208052-b7b7-4566-b6e8-830cd36634b8 .
    2. Go to Security / Permissions, then Admin consent.

      Example configuration in Azure admin center

Configuring the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in for Shared Outlook Mailboxes or Folders

The following steps are required to ensure smooth use of the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in with a shared Outlook mailbox or folder.

Create an Outlook category named "Saved to Laserfiche" in the shared mailbox

To display a Outlook category tag labeled "Saved to Laserfiche" on an email after it is saved to your Laserfiche repository, you must first create the category "Saved to Laserfiche" in the shared mailbox and assign it your preferred color. If this category is not created, the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in will apply a gray tag to the email saved to your repository.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Laserfiche Outlook Add-in is not visible in a shared Outlook mailbox or folder

Resolution:

  • Update the add-in to version 1.0.1 or later.

Issue: In a shared folder, the category tag "Saved to Laserfiche" is not applied to the email after it is saved to the Laserfiche repository

Resolution:

  • Verify that users' shared folder permissions include:
    • Read: Full details
    • Write: Edit all
    • Other: Folder visible

Issue: "Saved to Laserfiche" category tag color is gray in a shared folder

Resolution:

  • Verify that the category "Saved to Laserfiche" exists in the owner's mailbox under Categories and that a color is assigned to the category.
  • Note: The color category tag only appears in the owner's mailbox. Users who have access to the shared folder will only see a gray category tag applied by the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in.

Installing the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in manifest

Laserfiche Outlook Add-in is installed through the use of an XML manifest file.

Centralized deployment through the Microsoft 365 admin center

See Microsoft's documentation for how to deploy an add-in through the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Acquiring the manifest:

For Laserfiche Cloud accounts

For Laserfiche self-hosted

Install individually for an Outlook user account

For Laserfiche Cloud accounts

For Laserfiche self-hosted

Updating the Add-in

The add-in manifest may need to be updated and redeployed to access new features.

  • When an admin selected an add-in from Microsoft Marketplace and then the developer updated the manifest in Microsoft Marketplace, the admin doesn't have to take any action.
  • If the add-in is installed using the other installation methods, the manifest file hosted in the above locations will be updated and need to be re-deployed.

User Guide

Laserfiche Outlook Add-in for Microsoft 365 enables you to:

  • Save emails and attachments directly to Laserfiche Repositories.
  • Attach documents from a Laserfiche repository to an email.
  • Automatically save sent email and attachments to Laserfiche.

Navigating the Laserfiche Outlook Add-in

Under the Home ribbon, use the Save to Laserfiche button to view Laserfiche Outlook Add-in.

Save to Laserfiche button in the Outlook ribbon

Choose where to save the selected email as well as assign template and field information. If the selected email contains attachments, there will be additional import options for each attachment.

Laserfiche settings

Configuring Default Options

  1. View the Options page in Web Client.
  2. Click on the New Document tab on the left.
  3. Make your changes under the Import Email section and click Save.