Today, I was researching CRM E-mail router implementation in reference to Microsoft Exchange and CRM 2011 Online. As I was clicking through links and reviewing the available information, I quickly realized that this was great stuff and I wanted to keep it for future reference.
One of the best methods I have for keeping resource information front and center is to create a blog article for reference. This is a win/win as I can reference it whenever needed while sharing it with the community.
Here’s my list of helpful CRM Online E-mail Router links. I hope they help you. Feel free to share any additional links you’ve found helpful in the Comments section below.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to these great resources!
Donna Edwards 
Great blog!
Thank you, glad you like the content.
Hey Donna,
Does Microsoft have an email router in the CLOUD? I have a client that is new to CRM Online and Office 365. They have no infrastructure to support a CRM Email router installation.
Thanks as always,
Robert
Hi Robert,
I just completed an e-mail router installation for CRM Online & Exchange Online (BPOS, client is not upgraded to Office 365 yet). I don’t know if the process is going to change for Office 365 but if not, then you can install the e-mail router on a machine at the client location. I am not aware of “cloud” e-mail router option. I plan to blog about the e-mail router setup with Exchange Online as soon as I can find some time. I hope this helps
Dear Donna,
On top of Robert’s question above, is it possible to install the email router in Windows Azure? My customer has purchased a Windows Azure account.
Hi Steve,
I’m not sure I understand the question. Unfortunately, I’m not that familar with what a Windows Azure Account offers and how it interacts with CRM Online and Exchange Online. The e-mail router is used specifically to manage mail communication between CRM and Exchange or a Pop3 account. Not sure if that helps.
Hi Donna,
Your blog is great. A question….
We have about 20 users on CRM 2011 Online, all of whom use Outlook. Everyone will be doing their own direct emailing out to their leads, contacts, etc.
However, Marketing would like to be able to do mass emails from a generic marketing@company email address. Would the best way be to just have a CRM User (and outlook box) with that email address, and just send from there? Bear in mind that there probably could be thousands of emails sent from this box per month. Or would this require the Router to be installed and used?
One confusing thing that I read in the documentation is that the Router is not required in CRM Online instances? Why not?
Thanks,
Rick
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the comment on the blog, I appreciate it. There is no requirement to install the e-mail router to manage mail. Using CRM Online with Outlook, you have the option to allow CRM to use Outlook to send email. The one thing to keep in mind is that Outlook must be open to process the CRM mail. Some use the Router because they don’t want to be dependent on having Outlook open to send mail. If it were me and I had the choice, I would probably try using Outlook without the email router and see how that goes. If for some reason it doesn’t work for you then you can implement the email router.
I hope this helps.