Introduction

If you have a Microsoft Teams account, you can set up some initial connections by adding webhooks in Lofty. The webhooks need to be set up in Microsoft Teams first and then connected to Lofty. This article outlines how the connection works (via webhooks) between Lofty and Microsoft Teams. 

*IMPORTANT: This connection is set up at the team level. Only the Team Owner/Admin and those with the "Manage Team" permission (see Team Permissions) can set up the integration. All users, regardless of permission, will have the option to Share Leads from Lofty to Microsoft Teams.

Summary

• Microsoft Teams Incoming Webhook Setup
• Webhook Settings in Lofty
• Share Leads from Lofty to Microsoft Teams
• Share Announcements from Lofty to Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams Incoming Webhook Setup

First, log into your Microsoft Teams account. In this example, we are going to use a team under "test1" and a channel called "Lofty", but you will apply these steps to the channel you want to use:

Click on the three dots and then search for "Incoming Webhook":

Click on the button to "Add to a team":

Now, you will search for and select the channel that you would like to receive information from Lofty:

Once you have selected the channel, click on the "Set up a connector" button in the bottom-right:

You will then add a connector by adding a webhook name and image. We suggest you give it a name like "Lofty CRM" and then use the Lofty logo as the connector image. Click on "Create" when you have done both.

Here is the Lofty logo if you would like to use this one (right-click and save the image to your computer for upload to Microsoft Teams):

After adding the name and image for the connector and saving, it should provide you with a webhook URL. Copy that URL for your notes because it will NOT be accessible after clicking "Done" and it will be used in the next step within Lofty.

Webhook Settings in Lofty

Now that you have followed the steps to set up the webhook URL on Microsoft Teams, you can set it up with the actions in Lofty. Navigate to Settings > Features > Integrations > MS Teams Webhook:

There are two sections that are currently available, Share Lead and Share Announcement and how to use them is described in the following sections. Click on the "+ Add New" to add a channel under each section where you plan to use the features. 

Share Leads from Lofty to Microsoft Teams

*Note that this will only work if you have added a channel under this section within the settings in Lofty (see steps above). All users, regardless of permission, will have access to this feature if it is set up.

Once the connection is set up, there is now an option under each lead profile on the People page to share the lead to Microsoft Teams and a specific channel. To find the option, open up a lead profile, click the three dots for "more" and choose the option to "Send to MS Teams":

You will then select the channel that you want to share it to (you can only choose one each time you do this):

After sharing to a Microsoft Teams channel, this is what it will look like below. The link to "Open ___ In Browser" will allow you to open the lead in Lofty as well. Keep in mind that access to the lead on the Lofty side will still depend on lead privacy permissions (see Lead Privacy: Team Leads vs. Private Leads).

Share Announcements from Lofty to Microsoft Teams

*Note that this will only work if you have added a channel under this section within the settings in Lofty (see steps above). Only the Team Owner/Admin and those with the "Manage Team" permission will have access to share announcements to Microsoft Teams.

With the Announcement Board available on the Lofty Dashboard (see Dashboard Announcement Board) you can also share announcements to Microsoft Teams one by one.

To share an announcement, click on the "Share" option and choose the button to "Share to Microsoft Teams" as seen here:

You will then select the channel that you want it to appear in using the available options. Your message will then be sent to the destination channel in Microsoft Teams and appear like this:

Please note that the message image and sender name (Lofty CRM in this case) is from the incoming webhook settings (see above). The card image is from the profile image of whoever shared the announcement.

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@lofty.com>, by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557, or by chat with us through your Lofty CRM.