RingCentral Integrated with RealNex CRM
For those who use RingCentral to power their business phone line, RealNex CRM now offers a built-in integration that allows you to better capture phone call and text message interactions in your RealNex CRM account.
The RingCentral App in RealNex CRM allows you to click-to-dial and click-to-text straight from your computer, capturing and noting your outgoing interactions as History records for your Contacts.
If you still have not activated the RingCentral App, we have resources available within your account that will walk you through setting up and using the RingCentral app in RealNex CRM.
To open our RingCentral App Integration resource menu in your RealNex account, click here.
The remainder of this article will answer questions you may have about this new feature - look through to find your question, or read through it to understand the feature as a whole!
General Questions (Click question to expand/collapse)
1. What is the RingCentral Integration?
As mentioned above, the RingCentral App in RealNex CRM allows you to click-to-dial and click-to-text straight from your computer.
Through the RingCentral Integration, you do not have to worry about manually logging phone calls and texts with your Contacts - RealNex CRM captures phone numbers and attaches phone calls and texts as History records to the respective Contact (assuming, of course, that the phone number is saved as a Contact record in your CRM database).
2. What is the benefit to the RingCentral Integration vs general click-to-dial?
There are two main benefits to using the RingCentral Integration vs click-to-dial.
For starters, click-to-dial only records a History record for outgoing phone calls that you initiate from your RealNex CRM account at your computer. So long as your RingCentral connection is established and RealNex CRM is open on your browser, the RingCentral Integration captures outgoing AND incoming calls.
Additionally, the RingCentral Integration also allows for click-to-text, the only option currently available for that capability from your computer. As with click-to-dial, so long as your RingCentral connection is established and RealNex CRM is open on your browser, outgoing AND incoming text messages are captured and saved as History records for associated Contacts in your CRM database.
3. I already have RingCentral as my click-to-dial default, do I still need to activate the integration?
In short, it depends on your needs.
If click-to-dial is more than enough and is meeting your business needs, there is no need to activate the RingCentral Integration.
If you are looking for the previously mentioned capabilities between your RingCentral and RealNex CRM accounts, proceeding with activating the integration may be in you and your business' best interest.
If you are still unsure, read through the rest of this FAQ to learn more about the integration and decide afterwards! You can activate and deactivate the integration whenever and however many times you would like, all at no additional cost!
4. How do I set up my RingCentral Integration?
Setting up your RingCentral Integration is pretty straightforward! All you need to do is activate the application from within RealNex, then follow the on-screen instructions to sign into your RingCentral account and grant access.
For step-by-step guidance, click here to open the RingCentral Integration Setup walkthrough (within your account) in a new tab.
5. My RingCentral Button/Icon changes colors, what does that mean?
The RingCentral Button/Icon serves to let you know what the RingCentral App connection status is.
Each color indicates a different connection status, with each color indicating:
- Orange: RingCentral is connected with RealNex CRM and can be used for incoming or outgoing calls and texts
-
Gray: RingCentral is currently disconnected from RealNex CRM
- If the button/icon is gray for longer than about 10 seconds, it is likely that the connection needs to be reestablished - click the button/icon and follow the on-screen instructions to reestablish the connection
- Gray and Blue (pulsing): Connection is being attempted - give it a moment to reconnect
- Red: When a call comes in - or if you are dialing out - clicking the red button/icon will hang up the call you are currently in
6. What does the number in the corner of the RingCentral Button/Icon indicate?
The red bubble with a number in it (seen directly above) indicates you have missing text messages, with the number indicating how many text messages are unread from within RealNex CRM.
Clicking the button/icon when it has the missed texts icon will display the earliest missed text, allowing you to work through your missed text messages from your RealNex CRM.
7. Does RealNex CRM log calls and texts that I receive/send from the RingCentral desktop or mobile app?
RealNex CRM will only log calls and texts that you interact with from within your RealNex CRM account.
Let's think of it this way:
RealNex CRM is the middle-man between you and your RingCentral phone line.
- If you bypass the middle-man to take or make a call/text straight from your RingCentral desktop or mobile app, how can RealNex CRM know you had a phone call or text interaction?
Usage Questions (Click question to expand/collapse)
1. Does a Contact record have to exist in my RealNex CRM database to log a call or text?
A Contact record does not have to exist in your RealNex CRM database to log a call or text.
If you receive a call or text from a phone number that is not in your RealNex CRM database, the History record will not be attached to a Contact record, meaning:
- The History records containing the call/text will live in the "Dashboard" table, under "History":
- The Caller ID information will therefore be saved in the History record within the Subject line
- Use the "Types" filter to specify and only view Incoming SMS, Missed Incoming Call, and/or Incoming Call
Once you find the text or call History record, click into it to read any details and make edits, allowing you to link it to the correct Contact record.
2. I'm unable to send texts and receive errors when clicking the 'text' icon after clicking on a number, why is that?
If you are receiving errors when attempting to send texts from the RingCentral App in RealNex CRM, you likely need to register your business phone number(s) with The Campaign Registry (TCR) to comply with texting laws and regulations.
Luckily, RingCentral streamlines the TCR registration process within your RingCentral Admin Portal.
To learn more about TCR, read RingCentral's support article, Registering your business to send and receive SMS.
3. What if my RingCentral integration is established, but not showing as connected? (RingCentral button/icon remains gray)
If you have set up your RingCentral integration with RealNex CRM and your RingCentral button/icon remains gray, you may be experiencing connection issues.
Troubleshoot your issue by exploring the following steps (in order):
- Refresh your page
- Once refreshed, wait at least 10 seconds to view if your connection gets reestablished
- If it is still gray after 10 seconds, proceed by...
- Click the gray RingCentral button/icon
- You may need to reauthorize and grant RealNex CRM access to your RingCentral account. This is likely to happen if you have not opened your RealNex CRM account in a few days
- Once reauthorized and granted, wait a few moments for your connection to be reestablished
4. What’s the purpose of the Dismiss button vs the Close button?
The "Dismiss" button is available as an option to indicate calls that you need to take, but cannot for some reason (For Example: If you are in an important meeting and cannot answer any phone calls).
Therefore, using the dismiss button will:
- Log the call History record with the "Incoming Call" Event Type, indicating the that you dismissed the call in the Subject line with "Incoming Call - Dismissed":
This differs from using the "Close" button, which will:
- Log the call History record with the "Missed Incoming Call" Event type, indicating so in the Subject line as well with "Incoming call - Missed"
5. While on the phone, I clicked into a different table (Properties, Projects, Company, etc.) and my call/connection dropped - why?
Anytime you take an action within your RealNex account that causes your browser tab to load in some way, the connection with RingCentral needs to be reestablished (this is done automatically - if it takes longer than about 10-15 seconds, visit Usage Question #3).
Therefore, whenever you are on a call in RealNex CRM, feel free to take action within the table you are currently in, but do not click into a different table within the same browser tab.
For example, if you are on a call from the Contacts table:
-
DO feel free to use filters, click into other Contact records, generate Contact reports, use Keyword search to look for other Contacts in your database (picture below), etc.
- Do not navigate to a different table in the same browser tab, and
- Do not use Global Search to look for other Contacts in your database
6. I’m on a call from my Contacts table/record, but need to take notes on a Property (or another table), how can I make sure my RingCentral connection isn’t dropped?
To keep your call connected, open the table you are needing in a new tab.
From the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click the table you need to visit and click "Open link in new tab":
(Opening the Properties table in a new tab)
As long as the browser tab that contains your phone call stays open and undisturbed, you can continue on with taking notes, linking records, or anything else you need to do from your new tab.
7. I clicked into another table (Contacts, Properties, etc.), but the RingCentral button/icon is showing gray, what do I do?
Give it a few seconds to reestablish the connection between RingCentral and RealNex CRM, it shouldn't take more than 10-15 seconds to reconnect (the button/icon turns orange again).
If it is taking longer than 10-15 seconds, you may need to take the steps mentioned in Usage Question #3.
8. Do incoming calls get recorded to the CRM Contact if I miss the call?
Yes, BUT only if:
- You are logged into RealNex CRM,
- RealNex CRM is open and fully loaded in your browser, and
- Your RingCentral App is active and connected
Meaning, the incoming call WILL NOTE be logged as a History record if:
- You are logged into your RealNex CRM account, but your computer is asleep,
- You are logged into your RealNex CRM account, but it is not open nor loaded in your browser, or
- You are logged into your RealNex CRM account, but your RingCentral App is not active or not connected