CRM Audio is Good for your Health

CRM Audio is good for Health

I have three issues. One is that I enjoy going for long walks but like you probably need to keep the mind engaged with something useful. Secondly I'm in love with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and where it is going. The third issue is there are petabytes of information regarding CRM out there and I struggle to fish the pearls out of it.

Now there is CRM Audio and that has solved both of my problems at once.

The experts (who know it all), Joel Lindstorm, George Doubinski and the other MVP's discuss the most current points of interest in the Dynamics CRM world.

If you have not been listening to these podcasts , it is a MUST!

Also don't forget your CRM Tip of the Day.

Happy Listening!

CRM 2015Tablet App Load Errors

When you install the latest CRM Tablet App on the IPAD it may give you configuration errors if the security role permissions are missing.

You need to enable the following permission in the Business Management Tab:

Also You need the following permission in the Customization Tab:

otherwise you will get this error.

"You do not have sufficient permissions on the server to load the application".

CRM2015 - Cannot see the 'Hierarchy View' icon or options

If your account has upgraded to CRM 2015 and you can't see the Hierarchy View Icons, it is most probably because the permission below is missing in the security roles assigned to you. You need Read access to the 'Hierarchy Rule' permission under Customization.

CRM 2015 Features Demo List

I have put together a list that will be useful in a CRM 2015 Demo

Users

Topic	Details
Global Search /Quick Find Search	Features Uses quick find views to determine the fields to search across Can search activities and notes as well First 3 fields in the Quick Find View are what are displayed in the tiles that are displayed Search from anywhere in CRM using the search icon on the global navigation bar Filter Option Limitations ·         Maximum of 10 entities can be configured for search (System Settings -> General -> Setup Quick Find Records)
Advanced Find	·         On Global Toolbar ·         Under/Not Under operator (User Entity - relating to parent/manger). Also for Account Hierarchy etc. ·         More operators under ‘Owner field’
Model and Visualize data	Users can now visualize a hierarchy of accounts, products or users from a new view
Improved CRM App for Tablets	·         When working offline use drafts to create new CRM records & synchronize the changes ·         Build an app home page personalized with pinned records & dashboard views

Administrators

Topic	Details
Disable Navigation Tour	Settings -> Administration -> System Settings -> General -> Set whether users see navigation tour
Field Level Security for standard Fields	Settings -> Security -> Field Security Profiles In addition to custom fields, CRM 2015 includes options for database administrators to restrict access to out of the box fields.
Model and Visualise hierarchical Data	·         Set in Entity Customizations -> ·         Uses ‘Account Hierarchy Tile Form’ ·         Displays a hierarchy symbol in record has child records as per the Entity hierarchy definitions setting.
Security Model for hierarchical data
Calculated & Rollup Fields	Two new fields are being introduced to help some of the more common calculations done in CRM now; Calculated fields and Rollup Fields. Rollup fields and calculated fields can be used independently or complementary to each other. In field definition, there is a new ‘Field Type’  which can be set to ‘Simple’/’Calculated/Rollup Roll-ups operate on the asynchronous process, and the roll-up is performed every hour. However, you can also trigger them via pressing the “refresh” icon in the actual roll-up field on the form’
Rollup Fields	The benefits and capabilities of rollup fields include the following: ·         Visual editing is easy. You can create rollup fields by using the Field Editor, just like you do when you create a regular field. ·         Wide selection of aggregate functions. You can aggregate data by using functions, such, as SUM, COUNT, MIN, or MAX. ·         Full filter support for aggregation. You can set various filters for the source entity or related entity while setting multiple conditions. ·         Seamless integration with the user interface. You can include the rollup fields in forms, views, charts and reports. ·         Rollup fields are solution components. You can easily transport the rollup fields as components between organizations and distribute them in solutions. ·         Rollup fields and the calculated fields are complementary to each other. You can use a rollup field as a part of the calculated field, and vice versa. Some examples of rollup fields include: ·         Total estimated revenue of open opportunities of an account ·         Total estimated revenue of open opportunities across all accounts in a hierarchy ·         Total estimated revenue of an opportunity including child opportunities ·         Total estimated value of qualified leads generated by a campaign ·         Number of high priority open cases across all accounts in a hierarchy ·         Earliest created time of all high priority open cases for an account Each Rollup field creates two accessory fields with _date and _state suffix pattern. The _date field is of the Datetime data type and _state field is of the integer data type
Complex Branching in Business Process Flows	Enables more complex flows to be defined including sales qualification processes which can split into two branches based on field values. For example, a sales process flow can be branched based on expected close time enabling a separate branch for opportunities due to close immediately.
Business Rules enhancements	Set default values and use SHOW / HIDE field business rules to personalize displays when new records are created to prefill data, &/or remove selected fields ·         Support for enriched business logic including if / else ·         Combining expressions using and / or conditional rules ·         Using Rules to set default field values ·         Synchronous server side Business Rule logic execution (scope set to Entity will fire with synchronous workflows) ·         Visual editing
Product Catalog configuration	·         Bundle products with tailored price lists to simplify opportunity / quote creation ·          Increase cross-selling by getting recommendations for add-on & complimentary products / services on the opportunity form ·         Set product attributes including 'updatable', 'read-only' & 'hidden' to control how individual products are used by a sales team in opportunities, quotes & orders
Social Listening	Now available for CRM on premise.
Set Dashboards for Mobile Users
Customizable Help
Calculated Fields	·         Automated field calculations can now easily be run in CRM thanks to a new field type. ·         Calculated fields can be configured for multiple CRM entities and will reference other fields in the same entity, or fields in related entities.
Social Profile	‘Social Profile’ form

Administrators - Outlook

Topic	Details
Control field sync between CRM and Outlook/Exchange	·         Set in System Settings -> Synchronization. ·         Additional contacts & task fields ·         Assigned tasks ·         Appointment attachments
CRM for Outlook Configuration Wizard Multi-Factor authentication
New Outlook Configuration Wizard	The CRM for Outlook Configuration Wizard has been redesigned making it easier to configure CRM for Outlook. The new Configuration Wizard also makes it easy to add and manage additional CRM organizations.

Mobile Client Application (MoCA)

Topic

Details

Control field sync between CRM and Outlook/Exchange

Offline Drafts: Users will now have the ability to create and update records while offline. The create/edit mobile experience will use the Quick Create Form defined for the entity A Draft button will appear in the sitemap while offline, taking the user to the Draft Page (+ icon that appears on lists will do the same) The Draft Page will display a count of draft records on the Site Map Users can discard or update drafts while offline Drafts are deleted when the user signs out of MoCA for security reasons (warning displayed first) No lookups / party list support while offline:  However, there’s a workaround to populate lookups while offline by starting at the parent entity and creating a child record from the parent (e.g., creating an Opportunity from a Contact defaults the Contact lookup for the new Opportunity) Microsoft now allows you to have any and as many dashboards on your tablet (system or personal).  Previously you were able to just have the one “Sales Dashboard” on the Tablet Client, but now Microsoft allows administrators to configure multiple.  Dashboards A new “Enable For Tablets” checkbox has been added to dashboards to allow it to show up in MoCA. There’s a new “Dashboards” Site Map entry that you’ll notice when clicking around the Tablet Client.  Also, the default dashboard users see when initially logging onto the tablet client (prior to personalizing their experience) is defined and configurable by the Site Map XML. When on a Dashboard, users can: Set as Home:  when users click the Home icon, this dashboard will show Pin to Win 8 Start Pin to Home:  you can pin Dashboards to your Home Dashboard similar to how you pin records – this means you could have a Home Dashboard be one dashboard, and have other dashboards pinned on it for easy access. Select Dashboard to select a different Dashboard

CRM2013 Spring 13 Update expands Command Bar to list 7 items

Since the CRM2013 Spring Update the command bard now displays 7 items. A small but important improvement.

CRM2011 Update Rollup 12 Released

CRM2011 Update Rollup 12 Download

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Q4 2011 Service Update New Features

With the Q4 Service Update of CRM2011 there are some notable enhancements. Check out the following videos at this Link.

Update Rollup 16 Released

Microsoft CRM Update rollup 16 has been released.

Looks like Micorosft CRM 2011 has RTMed for On Premise & Partner hosted. See here for details of press release.

CRM 2011 CTP-4 Released

Goods news! CRM 5 /2011 CTP-4 has been released for download.

Auto Refreshing Reports

I have a customer who required a monitor screen to refresh at an interval to serve as a montor for changing data. After considering may options I found the easiest way was to create a CRM Report and place the following command within the rdp file.

<autorefresh>30</autorefresh>

This will refresh the report every 30 seconds and is a very simple way of doing it. It will also pick up any data changes.

Customer Care Accelerator released

The Customer Care Accelerator focuses on delivering contact center enabling functionality, such as the ability to create a unified desktop by combining data elements from disparate line of business applications and displaying it in a single user interface.
The core Customer Care business scenarios highlighted by this accelerator include the following:

Integrated desktop: Customers can aggregate information from diverse business applications into an integrated desktop providing employees with a 360° view of the customer interactions. Customer service representatives have immediate access to business critical information to serve customers quickly and efficiently, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Duplicate Data Entry. Organizations can streamline business processes by creating desktop automation workflows. Process automation eliminates the need for agents to re-enter the same data in multiple applications. Minimizing duplication helps to reduce human error and ensures a consistent customer service experience.
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI): Organizations are provided with a consistent framework to connect CTI systems with key lines of business.
Activity Reporting: Contact center managers have swift access to agent desktop transaction reporting, helping them to identify process bottlenecks. This capability is currently addressed by ICC Accelerator AIF component.

Download at
http://crmaccelerators.codeplex.com/

User Interface Integration SDK for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

The User Interfce Design SDK is for developers and system customisers that want to build and deploy composite desktop applications base on Microsoft CRM.

Read more and Download at User Interface Design SDK.

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Update Rollup 10

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 10 for Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Update Rollup 7 is a pre-requisite for the Outlook Client.

Microsoft announces CTP3 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM5.

See Press Release for more information.

Update Rollup 8

CRM4 Update Rollup 8 has been released. The major change seems to be support for Exchange Server 2010 plus minor fixes.
The download link is http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c53b2916-6b93-4092-bdd3-a394c96ca000

CRM/xRM - 1 Million Seats!

Microsoft crosses the 1 millionth seat Mark . Read the article on http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/jul09/07-13xRMInitiativePR.mspx

Update Rollup 5 Released

Microsoft CRM Update Rollup file has been released. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970141

CRM Quick Campaign Email Sitting in 'Pending Send' with outlook client open

I was tearing my hair out with quick campaigns not sending emails. The Outlook clients were open with the correct user settings both in Outlook and the CRM user settings on the server. But the emails remained in a 'pending send' state. Restarted the Async service didn't resolve it either.
Finally, by chance, I deleted any quick campaigns that had emails with the 'failed status' and all the emails came to life and were 'sent'.

Strange but true.

Update Rollup 4 for MSCRM Released

I see the 8 weekly update for Rollup for is on time.

See Microsoft Downloads for more details.