Orion Email Assistant

Microsoft Exchange has been encouraging developers into using an API models to MS Exchange Online and discouraging direct integration with Outlook. The reason for this is tied to mobility products such as thin clients, iPads, Smart Phones, BYOPC's and Outlook Web Services. The increase in remote work by employees have also brought this issue front and center, as users often work where Outlook is not installed. Orion has adopted this model for it's clients, however it has a side effect. When creating an email using the API model, we cannot "bring the email" to the screen or pop up the email up to the end user automatically. This often causes the user to think the email creation did not occur when it's actually residing in the users Outlook Drafts folder.

The Orion Email Assistant serves a single purpose. It monitors the users Outlook Drafts folder for any emails coming from Orion and automatically brings it up to screen. This is an optional installation for end users, and does not impact the operation of Orion, but one that provides a nice quality of life features.

To Install the Orion Email Assistant

1. Download the Orion Email Assistant here.

2. Close Outlook

3. Launch the Orion Email Assistant installer. Choose Install and Finish if prompted.

4. Reopen Outlook

At this time, you should be able to go to Orion Desktop and send an email. You can do this from the right click menu in the Contacts screen, or choose Email from any given report. After the data has been pulled, the email should appear in Outlook and be brought directly to your screen. You may also expand the Drafts folder in Outlook and review it there.

You may also script this installation using Group Policy or other third-party tools. No transform files are necessary.