Autodesk Construction Cloud for Outlook

Tracking RFIs and Submittals from Your Inbox

A construction project manager receives dozens of emails daily related to active projects. Many of these emails contain questions about RFIs, submittals, and document approvals that live in Autodesk Construction Cloud. The manager needs to cross-reference each email with the corresponding ACC record.

The challenge: The manager reads an email about a submittal, then opens a browser tab to log into Autodesk Construction Cloud, navigates to the right project, and searches for the submittal. This context switching happens 20-30 times per day, eating into time that should be spent on project coordination.

How ACC for Outlook helps:

• Direct ACC access from Outlook: View and interact with Autodesk Construction Cloud data without leaving Outlook. The manager sees project documents, RFIs, and submittals right alongside their email conversations.
• Email-to-project linking: Connect incoming emails to the relevant ACC project items. When a subcontractor emails about a submittal, the manager links it directly to the ACC record for a complete audit trail.
• Quick document preview: Preview ACC documents attached to or referenced in emails without downloading them or switching to a browser.

The result: The manager saves over an hour per day by eliminating repetitive tab switching. RFI response times improve because the manager can review and respond from one interface.

Field Team Communication with Office Staff

A general contractor has field superintendents who communicate with the office through email and phone calls. When field teams report issues - weather delays, material shortages, safety observations - the office team needs to log these in Autodesk Construction Cloud for official tracking.

The challenge: Field teams send emails describing issues, but the office team must manually re-enter this information into ACC. Details get lost or altered during the re-entry process. Field photos sent as email attachments are not connected to the corresponding ACC issues.

How ACC for Outlook helps:

• Issue creation from email: Office staff can create ACC issues directly from field team emails, preserving the original description and attaching photos without manual re-entry.
• Status updates via Outlook: When an ACC issue status changes, the office team can notify the field superintendent directly from Outlook with the updated status and any required actions.
• Document sharing: Share ACC drawings and documents with field teams through Outlook without downloading and re-uploading files.

The result: Issue logging accuracy improves because the original field report is preserved. Field teams get faster responses because the office staff can process requests without switching between email and ACC.

Subcontractor Coordination Without ACC Licenses

A project team works with 15 subcontractors. Most subcontractors do not have Autodesk Construction Cloud accounts and communicate entirely through email. The project manager needs to share ACC documents with subcontractors and capture their responses back into ACC.

The challenge: Sharing ACC documents with external subcontractors requires either giving them ACC access or downloading documents and attaching them to emails. Responses from subcontractors come back as email attachments that then need to be manually uploaded to ACC.

How ACC for Outlook helps:

• Streamlined document sharing: Share ACC documents with subcontractors directly from Outlook. The subcontractor receives the document in their email without needing an ACC login.
• Response capture: When subcontractors reply with comments or revised documents, the project manager can push these responses back into ACC from Outlook, maintaining the project record.
• Notification management: Set up automated email notifications when ACC documents are updated, keeping subcontractors informed without manual outreach.

The result: Subcontractor communication is 50% faster because neither party switches between platforms. The project record in ACC stays complete even though subcontractors never log into ACC directly.