Yes it seems there is a way to do this with Gmail and a way to do this with a traditional email client, such as Outlook.
Here is the info from the Help & Training section of Salesforce (the link is https://na6.salesforce.com/help/doc/user_ed.jsp?lo
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To enable or disable Email to Salesforce: | “Modify All Data” |
If you use a company-provided or third-party email account, you can use Email to Salesforce to assign emails to the Activity History related list on lead, contact, opportunity, and other records in Salesforce.com. When composing, forwarding, or replying to email, simply enter your Email to Salesforce address in the BCC field. Salesforce.com receives a copy of the email and, depending on your configuration, adds it to the Activity History related list of the matching records.
- You can use Email to Salesforce with email client applications such as IBM® Lotus Notes® and Microsoft® Outlook®, as well as webmail such as Gmail™ and Yahoo! Mail™.
- Email to Salesforce discards email attachments.
- The email addresses you use to send Email to Salesforce must be configured in the My Acceptable Email Addresses field in the My Email to Salesforce setup page.
- If Email to Salesforce matches an email address to multiple lead or contact records in Salesforce.com, you can choose to associate the email with all matching records, the oldest record, or the record with the most activity.
- If Email to Salesforce matches an email to multiple opportunity records in Salesforce.com, the email is included in the activity history on all matching open records.
- If you use Gmail, see Using Gmail in Salesforce.com to learn about the additional Gmail features that Salesforce.com offers.
- Email to Salesforce can create a maximum of 50 email activities for each email it receives.
- Email text and HTML is automatically truncated to 32 KB.
- Click .
- Click Edit.
- Select the Active checkbox.
- Optionally, select the Advanced Email Security Settings checkbox to configure Email to Salesforce to verify the legitimacy
of the sending server before processing a message. Email to Salesforce
uses the following authentication protocols to verify the
sender's legitimacy:
- SPF
- SenderId
- DomainKeys
Before selecting
the Advanced Email Security Settings checkbox,
ensure that the senders you expect to use Email to Salesforce support
at least one of the authentication protocols listed above. - Click Save.
- Optionally, click Send Notification Email to notify users that Email to Salesforce is activated, or click Skip This Step.
Now using Gmail (here is the link; https://na6.salesforce.com/help/doc/user_ed.jsp?lo
And what the page says:
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| Activating Gmail in Salesforce.com: | “Customize Application” |
Once you activate a Google Apps service
in Salesforce.com, it
is visible to all users in your organization. To use these services,
your users must have Google Apps accounts
on your domain. For more information, see Getting Started with Salesforce and Google Apps.Gmail to Salesforce.com
Gmail to Salesforce.com allows you to automatically log emails and chats you send from your Gmail account as activities on lead, contact, opportunity, and other records that support activity history in Salesforce.com.
Gmail to Salesforce.com is based on the Email to Salesforce feature. To activate Gmail to Salesforce.com for your organization, follow the instructions in Enabling Email to Salesforce. To configure your personal Gmail to Salesforce.com setup, follow the instructions in Using My Email to Salesforce Address.
Gmail Buttons and Links
Gmail Buttons and Links adds Gmail links next to email fields on all records and adds Compose Gmail buttons in Activity History related lists on leads and contacts. When you click a Gmail link or the Compose Gmail button, Salesforce.com automatically logs you into your Gmail account and automatically populates the To field. If Gmail to Salesforce.com is activated, Salesforce.com also populates the BCC field with your Email to Salesforce address.
- Click .
- In the Activate Google Apps Services list, click Edit next to Gmail Buttons and Links.
- Select the Active checkbox to activate Gmail Buttons and Links for your organization.
- Select the Gmail Links checkbox to add Gmail links next to all email fields (except email fields on pages under Setup).
- Select the Gmail Buttons checkbox to add Compose Gmail buttons in Activity History related lists on leads and contacts.
- Read the Terms of Use, and select the checkbox indicating you have read and agree to them.
- Click Save.
Implementation Notes
- If your organization enables Gmail Buttons and Links but does not enable Gmail to Salesforce.com, you can still use the Gmail links on contact and lead records; however, Salesforce.com does not log emails you send from your Gmail account, or automatically populate the BCC field on the Compose Mail screen with an Email to Salesforce address.
- For information about Gmail, refer to Google's online help.
