Welcome back to another post from my series of what's new in business central. this feature is an extension from the existing outlook add-in for business central, specifically the ability to add email attachments to business central records.

throughout the years, we have come to love and hate Microsoft Outlook. as Microsoft continues to build seamless integrations between their Microsoft stack, they have added small features and functionalities that makes a big impact. Microsoft is taking a simple communication tool like outlook by adding a simple but powerful and impactful feature that allows a user to interact with Business Central, without leaving Outlook. Allowing the user to spend more time on more important things.

This new feature was originally available in business central as a public preview on February 1st 2022. As of recent, this is now generally available on April 1st 2022 for Business Central 2022 Wave 1 release.

From Microsoft documentation they find that the email inbox often serves as a source of incoming files that initiate or unblock workflows such as PDF invoices for payments, product catalog, photos, word documents, excel, etc. Utilizing Business Central add-in for Outlook, you can seamlessly and efficiently connect incoming files to Business Central without leaving Outlook. This new functionality allows the user to save time and reduce context switching by helping you quickly connect email attachments to the Business Central record they relate to.

This new feature within Business Central add-in, allows you top copy email attachments to the record displayed in the add-in. There is an option that allows you to “Attach from email” or “Upload file”. After attaching the file, coworkers/colleagues can instantly download and view the file from the Attachments FactBox in Business Central or from the Outlook Business Central add-in. They can also open the file in OneDrive to share and collaborate within their department.

This new feature is available for any business central records that use the Attachments FactBox, such as Vendor, Customer, Purchase Invoice, or Sales Order.