Below is a screenshot of what a Two Options field looks like when it is being filled in by crm workflow.  You’ll notice that once Yes or No is selected, there seems to be no way to deselect one of them.  Read on and see how you can. 

1. First, make sure the field is selected by selecting one of the options (in this case Yes or No)
2. Then up to the top right, change the operator from “Set to” to “Clear”.  If this option is not available to you, see the note at the bottom of this blog

This will place a “clear” token in the problem field.  Now this features is typically used to actually clear a field using workflow.  We don’t want to do that.   We just want to NOT update it at all.  So, see step 3.

3. In the top right, change the Operator back to “Set to”

 Voila!  Now nothing is selected in the Two Options field. You have officially “released” the field from duty in this workflow.

 Note: If the Operator pick list is grayed out.  Map another two-option field into the problem field instead and then delete the mapping.  That will also clear the field.

Happy CRM’ing!

In Dynamics CRM, accounts can be associated with a primary contact and contact can have a parent customer defined. In other words, accounts are linked to contacts and vice versa. What would you do if you are migrating disparate accounts and contacts to Dynamics CRM and also have to link them?  Well, doing it manually would be too time consuming and not possible if there is large volume of data. In this case let us consider that the account and contact information is coming from the same source say a flat file.

The goal here is to highlight a cool feature of Scribe Insight which would make the life of the SSIS technician too simple. Having said that, I am not going to describe in detail how to set up the source and destination and steps in Scribe which is not the purpose of this article. My assumption would be that the source and destination is defined and steps configured and data fields mapped properly.

To meet our requirement, I suggest creating two destination steps with fields combined to create some type of composite primary key if there is none.

Step1: Update/Insert Account

Step2: Update/Insert Contact.

Now that we have source and destination defined, and the data mapped, let us first define a variable that we will use to store the accountid guid from step1. We will need the accountid to assign to the Parent Customer Field when we update/create a contact record.

Here is how you do it:  From the top menu, click on View User Variables.  You will get following dialog:

 Click on Add Target which will give you this dialog:

 Name the variable as AccountGUIDFromStep1 and the select Step as type and pick Step1 as Data Object/Step. In this case Step 1 is Adapter for Dynamics CRM 2011.account Update/Insert and select the field accountid. Now for each account record updated/created, the accountid guid will be assigned to this variable so that we can use it to assign it to the contact record next.

Now let us go to Step 2 and assign this variable value to the contacts parentcustomerid field.

As shown in the screen shot above, select step2 ( in this case Adapter for Dynamics CRM 2011.contact Update/Insert) and then highlight parentcustomerid field and click on Formula button. Once the Edit Formula dialog comes up, click on Show User Variables. This will open a Variables dialog. Pick the variable that we created earlier i.e. AccountGUIDGromStep1 and click Insert in Formula.

 You have finally assigned the accountid to the parentcustomerid field of the contact record. Now, that you have assigned the parentcustomerid field for contact record, we also have to set the parentcustomeridtype field to 1 indicating that the parentcustomerid field we just assigned is of type account. Now, I will show you how to update the Primary contact field of the account record updated/created in step1. Scribe has made it so easy to do it.

Go to step2 if you are not in already. Scroll down until you see a field named vfPrimary. This field, when set to true, would go back to the step1 and update the primarycontactid field of the account record with recently updated/created contact record GUID. To set this flag to true, select vfPrimary and then click Formula button and then type “Y” in the Edit Formula box and click OK and save the package.

 Now, we are done configuring the steps. Run the package. Accounts will be assigned the primary contact and contacts are assigned the parent customer as shown below:

 Wasn’t it so easy? Please comment how this works for you. 

Happy CRM’ing!

Ask what you don't know! Join the PowerObjects team for this 30-minute webinar which will cover how your organization can best utilize surveys with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You will learn multiple different ways to use surveys, and how to report on the metrics that you've gathered. You will also learn about why it is important to collect information in CRM specifically, and how to send out surveys in bulk emails.

This webinar is the first in a series of "CRM How-to" webinars that will be held every two weeks for the next couple of months. The 30 minute webinars will cover CRM ideas and topics, such as collecting information from customer surveys, email marketing tools, and different ways to use web forms. Each webinar will end with a question and answer session open to the attendees.

Learn new tips and tricks. Register for the first webinar in this series now!

When somebody fills out a web form on your webpage, you want them to know that you've received their information and in a timely manner! Who doesn't love to receive an email instantly, verifying that their submission has been received, and that someone will be in touch with them shortly? It simply reaffirms they made the right choice by filling out the form.

Combining the power Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-on, PowerWebForm, and a simple out-of-the-box CRM workflow, you can easily close the communication loop.

Let's say we have a "Contact Us" form that someone fills out when they need to connect with our organization. We've already created the web form, mapping our form fields to CRM fields and deciding we want to create a lead for every form that's submitted. We've also set our duplicate detection so that if a duplicate is found based on Last name and email (a web form activity will be appended to the existing lead, instead of creating a new one) so our CRM stays nice and de-duped.

(For instructions on how to create a web form, see the PowerWebForm user guide or visit the PowerWebForm website)

Notice: If you enter an email in the "Notify E-Mail" field, you will receive an email every time someone fills out a web form.

Now we're ready to create the simple CRM workflow that will email someone every time they fill out our "Contact Us" form.

1. Navigate to CRM and go to Settings > Development > Process Center > Processes > New

2. Name the Process à choose Entity – "Web Form Activity" and Category – "Workflow" à Click OK.

3. Change the Scope to "Organization". Then go further down the form, click "Add Step", choose "Check Condition", name the step and click below the description where it says "(click to configure)".

4. Set up the workflow so that, on the creation of a Web Form activity, it checks to see if it came from the "Contact us" Web Form. Click "Save and Close".

5. Click under the check condition, choose "Add Step" and add a "Send Email" step.

6. Click on Set Properties.

7. Use the "Dynamic Values" form assistant on the right hand side to put the {Regarding{Web Form Activity}} merge tag in the "To" and "Regarding" fields. Specify who the email is from, the subject of the email, and what you would like the email to say. Then, Save & Close.

Remember, it's always a good idea to test your web form and workflow to make sure everything's working like it should. Now, when someone fills out a PowerWebForm on your website, they will instantly receive an email thanking them for reaching out and ensuring them that they have been heard. That's the power of using a CRM workflow and PowerWebForm.

Happy CRM'ing!

Dear Joe CRM,

I need some more Mircosoft Dynamics CRM resources! Where should I turn? What are my options? I am very short on time.

Sincerely,

Need some time saving help in Spokane

Dear Spokane,

PowerObjects has a new resource called the CRM How-To Portal! http://crmhowto.powerobjects.com

With that said, you seem like you need the gift of time and might like to be introduced to its value rather than research it yourself. If so, please join us for a How-To Portal introduction webinar! In less than thirty minutes; you will learn how to access it, acquire a login, and what you should expect to gain from using it. The How-To Portal is plumb full of useful information! Don’t miss out! Register today as space is limited. 

Date: May 16^th

Time: 2PM (CST)

Happy CRM’ing!

You may encounter an issue configuring an Incoming Configuration Profile for a client that uses Office 365 (Exchange Online) and the Email Router for both Incoming and Outgoing Email Access type mail in CRM 2011. The issue seems to have come up recently, so if you had your email router working with an Incoming Configuration Profile and Office 365, you may want to test it.  There’s various information about this problem on the web; we thought we’d combine it in a blog post.

 Configuring the Incoming Configuration Profile

Your Email Server Type will be ExchangeOnline

If your Organization has configured the DNS settings to support AutoDiscover, you can check the box to use it, but the safer choice is to configure the location manually

Log into Office 365 and load Outlook to find your server name in your browser’s address bar. You will want to use the xxxxx.outlook.com part in place of the <server> part of the Location address. In my example, the address will be https://xxxxx.outlook.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx (Note the base profile uses http, change this to https)

While configuring the Incoming Configuration Profile, you will want to use an Office365 user account that has full access to the mailboxes in the account. If you’re able to grant it, the Global Administrator role will get you there. Enter these credentials in the user name and password fields

Tap the Advanced Tab and make sure your Network Port is set to 80.  We’ve seen documentation that uses port 995, this is not necessary per Microsoft Support

Exchange online CRM

Configure your CRM Deployment and select your new Office 365 incoming profile for the Incoming Configuration Profile.

Publish your Email Router Configuration by pressing the Publish button.

Go to the Users, Queues and Forward Mailboxes tab, select your CRM deployment in the drop down list and choose Load Data. If your CRM Deployment is configured correctly you will see a list of CRM users who have been configured and approved to use to the Email Router in their CRM User Record.

Locate a user in the list that has your new Incoming Profile listed for their Incoming Configuration Profile column. This indicates their CRM record is configured for Email Router for their Incoming Email Access Type in CRM.  Select the user and tap the Test Access button on the right.  This will test this user’s access to the Profiles they are configured to use.

If you get this error: 

Incoming Status: Failure – The remote Microsoft Exchange e-mail server returned the error “[401]Unauthorized”. Verify that you have permission to connect to the mailbox. The request failed with HTTP status 401 : Unauthorized. 

then you are likely experiencing the problem many others have encountered this spring.  You need to update your email router to Update Rollup 7, and then contact Microsoft CRM Support to obtain patch KB2702300.

Microsoft has shared with us that this patch will be part of a future email router update, but if you need to solve the problem now (and who doesn’t), you have to reach out to them directly for the patch.

After the patch is installed, you will need to reboot the server that runs your email router and then test your connection again. This time it should work! The clouds will clear out, the sun will shine down on you and you can bask in your success.

Happy CRM’ing!

Get the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Outlook Client directly from Microsoft.

What does going offline mean? When you go offline, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook copies a subset of the Microsoft CRM database to your machine.  While offline, you can perform almost all of the same functionality as you can online.

Before you go offline, we recommend these steps to prepare:

1. Check to make sure your entities are enabled to go offline

2.  Set the appropriate filters to take only the information you need

Going offline the first time could take a long time depending on the amount of data in your CRM system, which is why we recommend you prepare before going offline. While Microsoft Dynamics CRM is syncing with your local data, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not available.

1.  Make sure the entities you want to access are available Offline.  To check or to enable an entity for offline access, go to Settings > Customization > Customize the Solution > Entities > in the information section for the entity, towards the bottom of the screen will be a checkbox for offline access.  By default, custom entities are not ‘enabled’ for offline access.

2. Set filters to bring only the information you need Offline. (Note: Filters are a personal setting.)

To set filters in Outlook 2007, in the CRM menu select Offline Filters

In Outlook 2010

Go to File > CRM > Go Offline > Offline Filters

Filters can be reset every time that you go offline to give you flexibility to download only the data that you need.

To create a new filter:

• File > CRM > Go Offline > Click on Offline Filters
• Click New.  This allows you to define what records you want to bring offline.  By default CRM has out of the box filters, you can use or deactivate if they do not apply

Note: You can update Filters for all users using Script – Click here for more information Update users Outlook Filters via Script

Once filters are set, you are now ready to Go Offline.

There are 2 ways to get Microsoft CRM 2011 Outlook with Offline access:

1. During installation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook.
2. After installation has completed, a user can add offline capability by clicking Go Offline in Microsoft Outlook. 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Outlook 2007

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Outlook 2010

Clicking on Go Offline for the first time will install any additional required components and stores a copy of the user’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online data locally. Subsequent offline sessions require no additional installations, but may require updating the local copy of the user’s data.

A few points to remember while offline:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM applies all your additions and changes to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM server in the same order that you entered or updated it. If you made a change to a record while you are offline, and another user changes the same record during that time, when you go back online, your change will overwrite change made while you were offline.

Workflows- When you are working offline, workflow notifications are not generated until you go back online

Duplicate Detection- There is no duplicate detection while you are working offline. Duplicate detection is triggered automatically when you go back online or synchronize

Offline Security Permissions- You have the same security permissions and rights offline as when you are online

How has your experience been with the Outlook client for CRM? Please comment with the pro's and con's. 

Happy CRM’ing!

The Microsoft CRM 2011 Outlook client configuration troubleshooting wizard can be used to help find the most likely solution for an error in the Configuration Wizard. The wizard also helps you to identify and fix the problem that’s preventing the computer from connecting.

The wizard is really easy to use and is for both the CRM Online and On Premise environments.  The wizard contains screen shots and solutions for known configuration issues with the CRM client.

The wizard can be accessed with the following link — http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/online/5.0/outlook-troubleshooting.aspx

Here are some sample screenshots of the interface:

We are pretty excited about this here at PowerObjects. Let us know what think by commenting.

Happy CRM'ing!

Let's get started with a relevant example:

On an Account record, you may notice that the “Addresses” (or More Addresses), Cases or any available relationship is missing from the left navigation menu.

Getting those relationship items back in that list is very easy. Simply click “Customize” and then “Form” on a record.  In the Form, click the “Navigation” button. When you do that, you will see “relationship Explorer” on the right that contains all the other relationships that are not in the navigation menu but can be included there. Simply drag an item and drop it wherever you want, save the form and publish it, and boom! You will see that item on the form now!

Now, the relationship will show up on the form.

That's it. So easy your mother could do the work for you. If your mother isn't available, your can always reach out to our Microsoft Dynamics CRM experts for help.

Happy CRM'ing!

By combining the Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-ons PowerWebForm and PowerMailChimp, you can now automatically create a list of people to send your newsletter. 

How, you ask, can this be done?

Once you’ve built your web form in CRM and posted it to your web page (see PowerWebForm user guide for more details), you would create a dynamic marketing list that automatically pulls in all users who have filled out that particular web form. Every time someone fills out a web form, a web form activity is associated to that person in CRM, which makes it easy to pull together a list of those people. So, for example, everyone who has decided to subscribe to your newsletter using the “subscribe to newsletter” web form will automatically be pulled into this dynamic marketing list.

Note: The dynamic marketing list will automatically sync right before your PowerMailChimp blast (in this case a newsletter) is sent out. That way, no one is left out when your newsletter is sent out.

Navigate to your CRM, click on Marketing and Marketing Lists. Then click New. Set up your marketing list to be dynamic and select a MailChimp list to associate this marketing list to (see more details on how to set up your MailChimp account and user PowerMailChimp in the PowerMailChimp user guide).

Go to “Add Marketing List Members” and set up your query:

Save and Close.

Navigate to the PowerMailChimp section of your CRM. Click on PowerMailChimp Blast and New. Fill in the required fields at the top , associate the Newsletter marketing list you’ve created (along with the other marketing lists you’d like to send your newsletters to) to the blast, select your template, and your newsletter is ready to go!

That’s the combined power of PowerWebForm and PowerMailChimp!

Happy CRM’ing!