Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Enterprise: Syncing Contacts

Clio's integration with Microsoft Office 365 allows you to sync the contacts that you have in your Clio account with those in your Outlook for Office 365 account. 

To use this integration, you need to be a member of an Office 365 account that includes Outlook contacts. Office 365 Business Standard includes Outlook contacts, but non-standard Office 365 does not.

How It Works

When you sync your Clio contacts with your contacts in Microsoft 365, the sync will be bi-directional for creations and edits. This means that any contacts not already in Clio will be added to Clio from Microsoft 365 and vice versa. 

Contacts deleted in Microsoft 365 will not be deleted in Clio. This is to ensure that contacts in Clio that have related content, like bills or communications are not deleted. However, Contacts deleted in Clio Manage will be deleted in Microsoft 365. 

The integration will also compare your contacts in Clio and Microsoft 365 to find any that match. Matched contacts must have an identical first name, last name, and email address. When a match is found, the contact cards in Clio and Microsoft 365 will be linked automatically.

Limitations

Microsoft 365 limits the contact information that can be synced. This means that only a certain number of contact details can be synced. For example, if a contact in Clio has 3 business phone numbers, the most recent non-primary phone number will not sync to Microsoft 365. The following is a list of data limits set by Microsoft for a contact sync:

• First name and last name
• Business Phones - maximum 2
• Home Phones - maximum 2
• Email Address - maximum 3
• IM address - maximum 3
• Mobile Phone - maximum 1
• Home address - maximum 1
• Business address - maximum 1
• Other address - maximum 1
• Website - maximum 1

Microsoft 365 does not recognize the “Primary” tag in Clio that is used for phone numbers and email addresses. This means that a phone number or email address tagged as “Primary” in Clio will not be tagged as “Primary” in Microsoft 365. Similarly, a phone number or email address synced from Microsoft 365 to Clio will not have a “Primary” tag. You will need to manually edit the Contact in Clio and select “Primary.”

 

 

Setting Up the Office 365 Contact Sync

To set up the Office 365 contact sync: 

1. Go to Settings.
2. Click Contact and Calendar Sync under the Personal column.

3.) Click Set up sync next to Office 365 contacts and calendars.
Note: If a sync connection already exists (a contact sync or a Microsoft 365 sync) the button will say “Configure”. If a sync has not yet been set up, the button will say “Set up sync”.

 

Next click on the "Authorize Office 365 Access" button. You will be prompted to log in to your Office 365 account (if you are not already signed in) and enable the sync.

Once you have successfully connected Clio to Microsoft 365, the Microsoft 365 sync settings screen will provide you with options for setting up a bi-directional sync of your contacts.

To begin the contact sync

1. Click Sync next to Clio Contacts.
2. You will see a preview of the number of contacts that will be added to Clio, the number of contacts added to Microsoft 365, and the number of contacts that will be merged or linked. If the preview numbers seem appropriate, click Start Sync. 

 

You will see a preview of the number of contacts that will be added to Clio, the number added to Office 365, and the number that will be merged (or linked). If the preview numbers seem appropriate, click the "Start Sync" button.