Archive for the 'Dynamics CRM 4.0' Category
I spent a few minutes this afternoon looking at a quick way to create a signature in an email without having to attach an email template everytime to get the effect that i was after. I basically just wanted to click a button instead and have CRM take care of adding it for me. I only spent about 30 minutes on this so it isn’t quite perfect but it is just a simple workflow that runs and creates the email sig for me in my emails.
There is 2 different ways that you could really implement this as well. You can have this happen everytime you create an email, or when you select a button or something else to trigger inserting the signature automatically. I chose the latter because i don’t want my info attached on every email especially some of the templates i send as well. With that said off to the example.
First make sure that the user you are testing with has the information filled out in their ‘users’ profile information in CRM because this is where we are going to pull the information from. Create a new attribute on the email form named “sti_insertsig” or something i make it a bit variable. Next, i just placed the variable on the email form (Near the Top) and named it Insert Signature and changed the formatting of the field to a checkbox (as shown in the image below).
Next, Just create a workflow. I named mine EmailSignature WF. After naming the workflow to whatever you wish make sure that you are creating a workflow for the “email” entity. Then select the workflow to start when “new record is created”, and “record attributes change” click the select box and then select the email attribute that you created earlier.
Next you just have to add your fields to the workflow in the body of the email that you want updated when the user clicks insert signature and then clicks save. I added firstname, lastname, email, etc. into the body of the email. (as in image below)
Now save and publish your changes. Now when you create a new email all your users have to do to insert their signature is click on the insert signature field and click save. Then they type whatever additional information they need in the email. This is also handy for getting a default signature template for the whole organization to use. Not super fancy, but like i said it was done in like 30 minutes or less.
Your overall effect should be something like the following, and you can get as elaborate as you wish with your email sig’s.
Ok. So we have seen the mobile express client for CRM 3 and we know it does an ok job, and we have seen it posted on Codplex. In case you haven’t the link is http://www.codeplex.com/crmmobileexpress
But i was asked the same question again for the zillionth time today at a new prospective client. Does Microsoft CRM 4 also have a version for the mobile? nd by the way….. “we mainly use blackberry’s in our office”. I know that there are 3rd party options such as cwr mobility, but honestly the customers normally don’t like the pricing.
I know that an edition will pop up soon maybe on codeplex or another site. As soon as i find it i will post it for everyone, and for archiving myself. Does anyone else have a clue when it will be released?
So as the latest edition of Microsoft CRM is making its way into the hearts of its customers how does it compare with its previous release of version 3? If you haven’t been introduced to Microsoft CRM 4 you should check out the feature list that is available now. It is really shaping up to becoming a great business platform. So what makes it so special?
Typically software has certain limitations. CRM breaks the typical mold of a business application because it can not only stores information on your customers but provides features not available with typical software. Let me explain. It is a business platform because it is:
1.) Easy to customize – With the customization tools built-in to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 you don’t need an application developer or software engineer to help create additional windows or additional fields to store the information that is important to your organization.
2.) Easy to report from – In CRM 4 the best way to generate report from your custom developments is easier than ever. Sometimes business applications are great, but they lack the reporting needs of most organizations. This usually results in costly custom report development and which requires maintenance between editions of the business software. Microsoft CRM 4 helps solve this gap with a report wizard built right into it and it is easy enough for anyone to use. Also, getting data out of any entity of CRM 4 is as easy as clicking the export to excel button.
3.) Easy to import data into – So after you create the additional pieces for information storage how do you get bulk information into the software? This is a huge issue with most platforms and if you have alot of information that is required to be entered it normally requires data integration software or a developer. Every entity in Microsoft CRM 4 is available to import to, and you can easily map new fields of data into CRM 4.
4.) Easy to create workflow that automates business processes – Business process automation also? Most business software leaves out this step entirely! Not only do you normally want to define business processess, but you want to remove headache of tedious tasks for your users. With workflow in CRM 4 it is easy to not only drive processes, but complete orchestrations that make your daily life at work for your users more productive.
5.) Has a great interface that has complete security built into it – Security an issue? Not in CRM 4. basically if your users don’t have access to it they cannot even see it. Microsoft CRM 4’s interface is completely based around access and provides an easy way to control how your users access the system. If your users can use outlook they will quickly become familiar with Dynamics CRM 4.
So taking that into consideration compare that with your average business platform and see how it stacks up. In my opinion as more and more companies use CRM complete processes will evolve for vertical business uses. It is an exciting time to be onboard with Microsoft CRM with this latest edition.
For those of you who are interested in the upgrade process from Nolan’s IBridge integration from CRM 3 to CRM 4 there is some free training that is going to be available on June 6th, 2008 that will discuss upgrade options as well. This will be a live session provided free of charge from Nolan Computers.
MEETING DETAILS: June 9th at 10am MDT:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/498056548
Conference Call: US:1-800-377-8846
Canada: 1-888-276-7715
International: 302-709-8424
Passcode: 97220303
We have all been waiting for this and just this week Microsoft has released the VPC for CRM 4.0! Here are the links:
Virtual Machine
Demonstration Tools
Sample Data
Enjoy!
On wednesday the CRM 4 SDK was released from Microsoft for download. The SDK includes:
- workflow configuration and plugin registration tools
- wsdl for the crmdiscoveryservice
- reference code kits (vb and cs) for both server and client applications
- visual studio project templates
- UI Style Guide
- SDK Guide
Happy developing!!!! – The download is below:
