Moving from the Office Suite Plugin to the Outlook Add-in

Last updated
Save as PDF

If you're currently using the Office Suite plugin and planning to transition to the Outlook add-in, this guide will help you understand the key differences, improvements, and what to expect in terms of feature changes. The Outlook add-in is built on the latest Microsoft technology, offering a more stable, secure, and seamless experience.

Benefits of the Outlook Add-in over the Plugin

The Outlook add-in brings multiple advantages over the legacy plugin, ensuring better performance, security, and ease of management. Below is a comparison highlighting the benefits of the add-in.

Feature	Plugin	Add-in
Technology	Uses COM plugin technology, which Microsoft plans to deprecate in the future. (Learn more on the Microsoft website)	Built on modern web-based technology, providing a more stable and secure experience. (Learn More on the Microsoft website)
Deployment, Updates & Management	Requires installation and manual updates on each user's machine.	Allows centralized deployment, which reduces individual installations. This enhances security and ensures that all users are on the latest version without manual updates. The admin settings also include choosing to enable or disable documents, appointments, and tasks individually.
Compatible Outlook Versions	Compatible with Classic Outlook only.	Compatible with both Classic and New Outlook.
Document Management	Adding and managing documents, emails, and attachments to matters.	Same as the plugin, with additional enhancements such as: Capturing email/document metadata Allowing renaming of duplicate files on-the-fly Version management, including checking documents in and out Viewing the document or folder in a new TeamConnect browser tab Auto-detecting attachments for upload in the selected email Please refer to the next section for best practices regarding document management through the add-in in New Outlook.
Appointments	Creating, reading, updating, and deleting appointments in Outlook, syncing with TeamConnect, and vice versa	Same as the plugin.
Tasks	Creating, reading, updating, and deleting tasks in Outlook, syncing with TeamConnect, and vice versa	Same as the plugin, plus the updates now sync to “Microsoft To-do” in New Outlook.
Matter Creation	Creating matters in Outlook, respecting security groups, permissions, validation rules, and approval workflows	Same as the plugin.
Matter Search	Searching a matter by name or number	Same as the plugin.
Search Views	Allowing “Search Views” through the "Integration" checkbox in the Setup	Same as the plugin.
Error Logging	Logging errors within the application	Same as the plugin.
Localization	No localization available.	Localization provides the ability to extend TeamConnect's settings for multi-language support & field-label consistency

Best Practices When Adopting New Outlook and the Add-in

As Microsoft has evolved its technology, the add-in experience has been updated to align with modern workflows. The following changes reflect the way document and email management now function in Outlook.

Feature	Plugin	Add-in
File Management in Word, Excel, PowerPoint	The office plugin supports managing documents directly from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint	Offers check-in and check-out of documents directly within the Outlook add-in.
Email Upload Formats	Emails could be uploaded and viewed in both .eml and .msg formats.	Continues to allow users to view .eml and .msg files already in the system. However, emails are uploaded in the .eml format only. The .eml standard is more compatible with a wider range of email clients and is a simpler, open-source format.
Uploading Attachments to Matters	Drag and drop emails and documents into the plugin.	Automatically detects the selected email and attachments for upload within the add-in.
Duplicate Filenames During Upload	Option to automatically rename duplicate filenames.	Duplicate filenames are automatically detected and the user is given an option to rename those on-the-fly.
Previewing Documents	Preview documents directly within Outlook.	Not available in the add-in. Users must download the files to open.
Multiple Attachments	Allowed attaching multiple documents to outgoing emails.	Not available in the add-in. Users must attach files one at a time.

The ability to upload multiple attachments to matters, preview documents, and attach multiple files to outgoing emails is currently under evaluation for potential inclusion in the add-in. A decision on whether these capabilities will be added is expected by August 2025.

Migrating Appointments and Tasks from the Plugin to the Add-in

Detailed step-by-step guides are available to help migrate existing appointments and tasks from the plugin to the add-in. Please refer to the Appointment and Task migration guides for instructions.