Microsoft to roll out new Outlook software from 6th January - Frequently Asked Questions.

Microsoft have recently announced their plans for a phased migration to a new version of their email software, Outlook, beginning on 6th January 2025. We have communicated with our customers about this, and you can read more about it here.

The new version of Outlook withdraws some technical features that Sage 200 and other applications use to email documents. Therefore, it may be necessary to take action to prevent any disruption to your email sending activities. Our original communication provides detailed information about the steps that you should take to address this situation. Below are a variety of frequently asked questions that you may find helpful:

At present, we are aware of compatibility issues relating to the following products:

• Sage 200
• Draycir Spindle Document Management
• Sicon Service and CRM modules
• Sage products that use Sage Report Designer, such as Sage 50 Payroll or Sage 50 Accounts

Pinnacle will update this article if the list of products changes.

At present, the migration to new Outlook is optional. However, the migration process is enabled, and you are opted in by default.

It is possible to disable the automatic migration by making some settings changes within your Microsoft 365 Application Admin Centre. The Pinnacle Managed IT Services team have prepared a short video which provides an overview of the required changes.

For further guidance or information about making these changes, please contact your Managed IT Services provider.

As part of the update to new Outlook, two technical features that are available in classic Outlook have been withdrawn. These are COM add-ins, and integration using Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI).

Eventually, Microsoft intend to replace COM add-ins with a different feature called Web add-ins, which is supported by new Outlook, but not by Sage 200 and other products.

The MAPI interface has now been deprecated by Microsoft. Microsoft have provided a feature comparison list between classic and new Outlook, which provides an overview of the changes between these products.

This article provides a feature comparison between Classic Outlook and New Outlook. This article provides further information about administering the new Outlook migration process and may be of particular interest to Managed IT Service providers.

Yes, this is possible but requires an Online Repair installation of Outlook to restore the technical features that are necessary for other applications to integrate with Outlook. Please contact your Managed IT Services provider for further guidance about this process.

This information has not yet been announced, but it is likely that changes would be introduced to future versions of each affected product.

We continue to work closely with Sage and other ISVs to confirm this information and will update our customers once this is known.

There are several solutions available for email sending within Sage 200:

• By continuing to use classic Outlook, rather than migrating to new Outlook, integration with Outlook client is still possible and there will be no loss of functionality.
• Rather than sending documents by integrating with Outlook, it is possible to configure documents for sending directly to your email server instead. This configuration change must be made on a per-document basis by editing the relevant report or layout using Sage Report Designer. There are some differences in email sending functionality by taking this approach. For example, sending directly to the email server does not provide the opportunity to preview the email before sending. If this option is of interest, please log a new case with us to discuss your requirements.
• For one-off document sending, it is still possible to generate a report or layout to PDF format, then attach that PDF to an email, before sending the email using Outlook.
• Spindle Document Management, a product from Draycir, offers enhanced document sending functionality beyond the features available in Sage 200. Please contact your Pinnacle Account Manager for further information about this product.

Draycir have explained that their product is partially affected by the migration to new Outlook, but there are a variety of approaches to avoiding any disruption to document sending:

• By continuing to use classic Outlook, there is no change to existing functionality, and there is no need for urgent action.
• If your Document Management system is already configured to send documents by integrating with either Exchange On-Premise or Exchange Online via SMTP, rather than with Outlook, there is no requirement for further action since the migration to new Outlook will not have an impact on this configuration.
• Spindle Document Management is a versatile product, which enables integration with email systems in a variety of ways. If your system is currently configured to send emails by integrating with Outlook, it is necessary to make a small change to your Document Management configuration to integrate with your Exchange server directly. This change needs to be made on each computer where Document Management is installed, but only takes a few moments. Draycir have published an article about how to make this change.
• Spindle Professional, which has since been updated to Spindle Document Management, is currently only compatible with classic Outlook. If you are using this product, please talk to your Account Manager about upgrading to a later version.

• If you have any questions about Sage 200, or any of the other products affected by compatibility issues with new Outlook, please log a case with our Sage 200 Support team.
• If Pinnacle are your Managed IT Services provider, and you have any questions about the migration to new Outlook, please log a case with our Managed IT Services team.
• If Pinnacle are not your Managed IT Services provider and you require further assistance with opting out of the automatic migration to new Outlook, or have any other technical or infrastructure questions, please contact your Managed IT Services Provider.
• If you do not currently use Draycir Document Management and would like to find out more about this product, please contact your Pinnacle Account Manager or Pinnacle Direct.