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Step-by-Step Guide: Outlook Add-In
Step-by-Step Guide: Outlook Add-In

Ensure that contacts, tasks and conversations won’t fall through the cracks by bringing BenchmarkONE directly to the Outlook inbox.

Support Team avatar
Written by Support Team
Updated over a week ago

Effortlessly connect Outlook and your BenchmarkONE database with our Microsoft add-in for Outlook. Now you can ensure that contacts, tasks and conversations won’t fall through the cracks by bringing the power of BenchmarkONE directly to the Outlook inbox.

Important Note: The add-in is available for Office Exchange users only. If you do not see the add-in option within your Office email client, this feature may not be available to you. Please view our Troubleshooting section for more information.

Article Contents:

Install & Access the Add-In for the Installed Version —

1) Save the BenchmarkONE Add-in File

Access the XML file below. A new browser tab will open, and on that page you will right click to select "Save as" from the list of options. Name the file accordingly and save it somewhere you can easily find later.

2) Get Add-ins

Open Outlook on your computer and click on the Get Add-ins button.

Select the My add-ins option in the left-hand column.

Scroll to the bottom of the page. Under Custom add-ins select + Add a custom add-in and choose Add from File.

Select the file you saved in step 1 and then click Open.

In the usage warning dialog that appears, select Install.

Verify that the install completed and that you see it on the My add-ins page under Custom add-ins. Close the Add-ins window.

3) Log into the BenchmarkONE Add-in

Notice the BenchmarkONE Add-in now appears in the home page ribbon. Clicking the BenchmarkONE button will open the add-in in a side panel. Note that you must have any email opened in order for the panel to appear after selecting the button.

💡Tip: To keep the BenchmarkONE Add-in panel open, pin it by clicking the pushpin icon in the upper right-hand corner.

Enter your credentials to log into your BenchmarkONE account and set up is complete! You will now have access to your BenchmarkONE account within your Outlook inbox.

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Install & Access the Add-In for the Web Version —

1) Save the BenchmarkONE Add-in File

Access the XML file below. A new browser tab will open, and on that page you will right click to select "Save as" from the list of options. Name the file accordingly and save it somewhere you can easily find later.

2) Get Add-ins

Log into your Outlook account online. Click into any email and use the three dots in the upper right of the email preview to access the option to Get Add-ins from the dropdown.

Select the My add-ins option in the left-hand column.

Scroll to the bottom of the page. Under Custom add-ins select + Add a custom add-in and choose Add from File.

Select the file you saved in step 1 and then click Open.

In the usage warning dialog that appears, select Install.

Verify that the install completed and that you see it on the My add-ins page under Custom add-ins. Close the Add-ins window.

3) Customize and Log In

Now that the add-in is installed, you will click the three dots in the upper right of any email and select the BenchmarkONE Add-in from the dropdown.

You will see the add-in open in the side panel. To pin the add-in to your messages and toolbar, select the Settings icon.

Select Customize actions and then select the checkbox next to BenchmarkONE under the Message surface and Toolbar headers. Choose Save and close the settings window. Your selections will be reflected in the inbox.

Last, enter your credentials to log into your BenchmarkONE account and set up is complete! You will now have access to your BenchmarkONE account within your Outlook web inbox.

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Using the Add-in —

Main View

The main view of the add-in provides a few functions:

  • Click on your initials to log out.

  • Add a new contact to your database with just a few clicks.

  • Use the magnifying glass to search the contact database.

  • Quickly access contacts that have been most recently contacted or updated. The recent contacts list will display per BenchmarkONE account user permissions.
    -- If the user is restricted from viewing other users’ contacts, the list will display the user's 10 most recent contacts.
    -- If the user is not restricted from viewing other users’ contacts, the list will display the account’s 10 most recent contacts.

Tracking Sent/Opens

The BenchmarkONE add-in can add a tracking pixel to outbound messages in order to track when the email is sent and when the email is opened by the recipient, providing you with greater insight into your contact's engagement.

Compose a new message or reply to an email in your inbox. If your BenchmarkONE panel is pinned in the inbox, you will see a notification that a tracking pixel is automatically added to your new email composition.

Actions will show in the BenchmarkONE app on the Activity Feed tab as email activity via Plugin.

To turn tracking on or off, simply click the E-mail Tracking icon in the toolbar and the message will reflect the selection.

Finding or Creating a New Contact

Once the email address is entered into the email draft, the BenchmarkONE add-in will populate one of two ways --

1) If the email address does not exist in the account, you will have the option to create a new contact.

2) If the email does exist in the account, the contact's record will appear, providing you insight into their contact information, recent activity, notes and tasks.

Managing a Contact Record

Use the pencil icons on the contact's record to quickly add or edit Profile information.

The Activity feed will provide an overview of actions that have occurred on the contact's record.

Quickly view or add Notes to the record.

View and complete Tasks.

Access the contact record in the web app by clicking the icon in the top right of the profile.

Viewing Activity in the Web App

Emails sent and opened using the Outlook Add-in will appear in the contact's record under their Activity Feed. The activity will be noted with "via Plugin" at the end of the subject line.

Accessing the email subject line will open a modal box for a recap of the conversation and the included recipients.

Email Security

Only the user of the sending email address can view the email content and recipients of Outlook Add-in activity. Clicking into the subject line of an email sent through another user's address will result in the following popup:

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Troubleshooting —

I don’t have the “Get Add-In” button.

Email administrators can turn off user-installed apps for their organization as a whole. In this case, you will not see the "Get Add-ins" button and there will not be a "Manage Add-in" area via info > account info. To request that add-ins are enabled within your email client, please reach out to your administrator.

Additionally, BenchmarkONE's Office Add-in for Outlook is only supported by back end Office Exchange accounts. If using another email provider (i.e. Google) within an Outlook application, the add-in will not be available to you.

My add-in panel disappears after every reboot.

To keep the BenchmarkONE Add-in panel open in the Outlook installed version, pin it by clicking the pushpin icon in the upper right-hand corner. You will need to pin the panel in the inbox and email composition windows.

To pin the add-in to your messages and toolbar in the Outlook web version, select the Settings icon. Select Customize actions and then select the checkbox next to BenchmarkONE under the Message surface and Toolbar headers. Choose Save and close the settings window. Your selections will be reflected in the inbox.

To remove BenchmarkONE add-in

  • Go to 'Get Add-ins' icon in the upper right corner of your Outlook navigation bar.

  • Click the My add-ins on the left column

  • Scroll to custom addins at the bottom

  • Click the ... Manage Add-in, in the lower right corner

  • Click remove

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