Outreach API Call Usage Overview

Purpose:

The purpose of this article is to provide information to Outreach Admins regarding API and Outreach.

Notes: 

• API Call Limits are not applicable to Microsoft Dynamics. 

Outreach uses API calls to communicate and sync records to and from Salesforce. The number of API calls used varies depending on the following factors:

1. Is the data coming inbound from Salesforce into Outreach?
2. Is the data being sent outbound from Outreach to Salesforce?
3. Do the records being synced also have relationships that have not been previously synced?

Inbound Sync (Syncing Data from a CRM to Outreach)

• Outreach can detect up to 2,000 unique CRM records in one API call.
• Outreach can import up to 200 records in one API call.
• By default Outreach sets polling to every 10 minutes; however, polling can be configured to satisfy your workflow demand to intervals of greater than or equal to two minute intervals. 
• The number of records brought into Outreach in a single API call can vary depending on the number of updates that have been made in the CRM.
  Example: If 2000 Lead objects are created in Salesforce, only 1 API call will be consumed to detect all 2000 Lead objects, and then 10 API calls will be used to bring this data into Outreach in batches of 200 records at a time, for a total of 11 API calls used.

Outbound Sync (Syncing data from Outreach to a CRM)

• One API call is made to the CRM to update a corresponding record when that record is updated in Outreach.
• If a record is updated multiple times in quick succession, those updates are batched into a single API call.
  Example: If 100 tasks are completed within Outreach, 100 API calls will be used to synchronize this data with the CRM.

Synchronizing Relationships Between Records

Outreach supports syncing relationships between records in real time. If at any time during the inbound or outbound sync process, a relationship is encountered that does not exist in either system, one additional API call is made to ensure that relationship has been synchronized.

Example: If 100 Contact objects are created in Salesforce that are also associated with Account objects that are not in Outreach, 1 API call will bring in all 100 Contacts, and 100 additional API calls are used to bring in all the associated Account objects. Total: 101 API calls.

Global API Call Threshold & Outreach-Specific API Call Threshold

Outreach and Salesforce communicate with each other using API calls with various actions requiring different numbers of API calls to complete. The plugin allows Outreach admins to set limits that control how many API calls Outreach is permitted to use. 

Global API Call Threshold

The Global API Call Threshold tells Outreach when to stop using Salesforce API calls based on how many total API calls have been used by all apps that are connected to the Salesforce instance. 

Using the above image as an example, the numbers represent the following: 

• 1st Number Set (22603): Total number of API calls that have been used by all applications connected to this Salesforce instance. 
• 2nd Number Set (1431500): Global API call limit. Outreach will stop consuming API calls once this limit is reached. 
• 3rd Number Set (2130000): Total number of API calls available for use in this Salesforce instance. This is the hard limit of how many calls can be used globally. If you would like to increase the number of API Calls available, contact Salesforce support. 

Setting Global API Call Limits reduces the chance of using all available Salesforce API Calls, effectively reserving a number of API calls for apps other than Outreach to communicate with Salesforce. 

Once the limit is reached, Outreach will pause until the next rolling 24 hour block of API Calls is available. 

Outreach-Specific API Call Threshold

The Outreach-Specific API Call Threshold tells Outreach how many API calls it is permitted to use per day. This limit does not take into consideration the usage from any other application connected to the Salesforce instance. 

Using the above image as an example, the numbers represent the following:

• 1st Number Set (14392): Total number of API calls that have been used by Outreach only. 
• 2nd Number Set (613500): Total number of API calls Outreach is permitted to use daily.
• 3rd Number Set (2130000): Total number of API calls available for use in this Salesforce instance. This is the hard limit for how many calls can be used globally. If you would like to increase the number of API Calls available, contact Salesforce support. 

Outreach-Specific API Call Threshold limits should be set to limit the number of calls Outreach specifically is using daily. If this is not configured, Outreach will use the last available API call limits as applicable. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is my Global Usage much higher than my Outreach-specific usage? 
A: Other apps connected to the Salesforce instance, outside of Outreach, are using a large number of API calls.  

Q: How many API calls am I already using?
A: After connecting Outreach to a CRM, an Administrator will be able to see how many total API calls have been used on that day in the Limits section of the CRM plugin. 

Q: How do I check my API Call Usage?
A: To View API Call Usage in Outreach:

1. Access the CRM Plugin Settings.
2. Click Limits.
   
   The Global API call usage: tells you how many API calls are used by all apps connected to the CRM that require API calls.
   
   The Outreach-specific API call usage: illustrates how many API calls are being used specifically by Outreach.
   

Q: How do I limit Outreach's API Call Usage?
A: An Outreach Admin can set the maximum number of API calls Outreach can perform per day by designating the Outreach-specific or Global API call threshold. When the API call threshold is met, the Outreach plugin will no longer push updates to the CRM or pull updates into Outreach. 

For more information on how to limit API call usage, refer to the Reducing API Call Usage article.

Q: How can I view API Call Usage in Salesforce?
A: To view the API Call Usage in:
Salesforce Enterprise/Unlimited Editions:

1. Access the Salesforce Instance.
2. Click Reports.
3. Click Administrative Reports.
4. Select API Usage - Last 7 Days.
   

For Professional Edition:

1. Access the Salesforce Instance.
2. Click Setup.
3. Click Monitor.
4. Click System Overview.
5. Click API Usage.
   

Q: How do I get more API calls?
A: API calls are purchased through Salesforce. If you'd like to increase the amount of API calls available to your org, reach out to your Salesforce Account Executive to discuss your options. If you increase the number of API calls available for use, the change will be reflected in Outreach under your Salesforce limits as previously illustrated.

Q: My Activities (Calls/Emails) are not pushing to Salesforce.
A: Check your API call limits. If activities are not pushing to the CRM from Outreach, review the API limits to determine if the org has used all allotted API calls for the day, or if the threshold has been met. In either scenario, Outreach will not be able to push or pull new information such as activities.

Q: What if I have reached my API limit for the day?
A: If you have reached your API limit, you'll need to wait until API call space frees up and then manually push the calls/emails to Salesforce. The total API call usage is based on a rolling 24-hour time frame so users can retroactively push activities within a day of hitting API limits.

Note: This GIF illustrates how to push a record to Salesforce, activities associated with this Prospect are not pushed with this action. 

Note: When the tasks are retroactively pushed, they will still reflect the time they were completed in Outreach.

Example: A call task is completed on February 25th that is  retroactively pushed on March 30th will still have a “Due Date” of February 25th in your CRM.

Additionally, confirm completed activities satisfy task object conditions. Within each advanced task object are Outbound Create conditions to ensure the right data is syncing between Outreach and Salesforce.

If the conditions aren't met, activities can fail to sync. 

Additional Resources: 

Outreach Advanced Task Mapping FAQs