April 24 Blog Review

Good afternoon everyone! Let’s take a quick look at the CRM information that was posted this week.

First of all, there was a new Rollup released for CRM 2013. This is update Rollup 3 for CRM 2013 Service pack 1 (6.01.0003 for those keeping track). Check out the Blog, Knowledgebase and download page for more information.

Another interesting announcement is the new MVP Virtual Conference (read Julie Yack’s blog on it here). This is a free session that has MVPs from all Microsoft Products talking about different topics. You can review the agenda and determine if there is anything that interests you. On May 14^th at 5pm (PT) there is a CRM MVP Asks the Experts session that I’m sure will be very beneficial.

PowerObjects posted a tutorial on how to Calculate the Number of Days between Two Dates with a Workflow. This uses a Custom Activity type so you can enter your dates as the start and end dates and then use the Scheduled Duration field.

Adam Vero blogged on Where to Learn about Data Visualisation and Building Better Charts (Visualization for the American readers). This talks about several places to look as you are learning how to do your reporting in CRM and otherwise.

That’s all I have for you guys today. Have a great weekend!

April 17 Blog Review

Welcome everyone! It is a lovely spring day here and I hope all of you are enjoying the same luxury. Just take a few quick minutes to catch up on your CRM news and then you can go outside and frolic. That’s probably what I will be doing.

So we have 3 very important things to cover and then some other blogs and tips.

First of all, Microsoft has updated their naming policy see New Naming Conventions for CRM Updates on the CRM Team blog. The goal of this is to help the update numbers and the version numbers line up better and be easier to understand.

Second CRM 2015 Update 0.1 has been released see the Knowledgebase, Download Page and Blog. Note this is not the 2015 spring release, this is just the on-premise rollup. The spring online release is update 1. It looks like there are a lot of small fixes in here so make sure you review the list and determine if you want to look at doing the update.

Lastly, the 2013 CRM Field Guide is now available! This is a book written by a group of MVPs to provide you with everything you need to know to ensure your CRM system is set up in the best way possible.

The last few weeks we have been talking about the CRM Online Spring Release (CRM 2015 Update 1) and there were a few more blogs published about that this week.

PowerObjects discusses the CRM Spring Wave Update 1: Folder Level Tracking. This allows users to set up a new folder in their Outlook where the emails will always track to a specific Household. The user does not even need to have CRM for Outlook installed! It utilizes Server Side Sync and personal options within CRM.

Sonoma Partners talked about the CRM Online Spring 2015 – OneNote Integration. We have seen a few other blogs on this topic but this lists all the features as well as best practices to keep in mind.

A big topic of conversation in my CRMUG Chapter meetings is always certifications. This week Leon Tribe talked about Passing MB5-705: Managing Microsoft Dynamics Implementations. This goes over things to keep in mind for that exam but also some general tips for preparing for any of the Microsoft certifications.

Last but not least, CRM Tip of the Day posed Date Field Options in CRM Online 2015 Update 1. Now there will be new options for date and Time fields – User Local (takes into account time zone), Date Only (always the same), and Time-zone independent (includes time but always shows the same time).

That’s all I have to share today. Have a lovely weekend!

April 10 Blog Review

Welcome everyone! Let’s jump right in with the CRM News from this week.

There is still lots of news coming out about the CRM 2015 Spring Release.

Mitch Milam had an interesting tidbit in Delete Plug-in Trace Log Records. As we learned last week, you can now view plugin trace data from within CRM. Interestingly enough, there is an automatic delete job set up to remove these trace records. So make sure you review that and make sure it fits your needs.

PowerObjects talked about the Seamless OneNote Integration. This allows users to quickly record notes on the record through the use of OneNote. This provides additional features like pictures which may make this easier for some users as opposed to the traditional Notes area.

Sonoma Partners posted on the CRM Online Spring Release ’15 Theming. This talks about how easy it is to change the color and logo for your CRM system. These changes can be exported/imported but not through a solution. This is a great way to brand your system or distinguish between your different environments.

PowerObjects shared a good tip on How to Fix the Omnipresent “CRM Auto Reloading” Issue. I’m sure many of you have struggled with this issue as I have and you will be happy to know that it can be resolved by changing a registry setting.

PowerObjects also discussed how Hiding a Field Does not Hide the Data in CRM. This is talking about how hiding a field via JavaScript or Business Rules only hides it on the form and the data is still accessible. Instead consider using Field level security. I also have an older post on the subject of Field Level Security vs. Not Searchable which may help you out.

Finally, we will top it all off with the top tips from the CRM Tip of the Day:

• Use an Exchange Distribution List for CRM Email Notifications – avoid having workflows that send emails to defined individuals, use a distribution list when you can.
• Why don’t I see any records in CRM Online – If you have signed up for a CRM Online trial recently, you may log into CRM and only see Service and Settings. If this is the case, double check that your user has a CRM License assigned to it in Office 365.
• Workflows on Change of Process Flow Stage – Be careful when making workflows based on the process flow stage advancing as users tend to click multiple times and then may need to go back.

That’s all for today. Have a great weekend!

April 2 Blog Review

This week’s blog recap is a bit early with the long weekend. Still lots of news coming in from Convergence and the Spring 2015 release. Let’s take a quick look.

Most importantly (of course) it was April Fool’s this week. To celebrate, Leon Tribe created CRM: Corpse Relationship Management. If you ever need to customize CRM during the zombie apocalypse then this is the information you will need to know! (Or if your Pets use CRM there was Pet CRM last year.)

Ledgeview Partners gave a quick overview of future features in CRM 2015 Spring Release Details from Convergence. This lists the features we can expect to see soon.

For more information check out PowerObject’s Top 10 New Features in CRM 2015 – Update 1. This includes the ability to change the color and add a logo as well as the Export to Excel change to a flyout menu instead of a wizard.

One of the changes is improvements to the navigation you can get a taste of this in Sonoma Partner’s CRM Online Spring Release ’15 – Navigation Enhancements.

Another interesting enhancement is the ability to include plugin tracing information in a new entity in CRM so it can be easily reviewed. Read about this in:

• CRM in the Field – Monitoring and Statistics for Sandboxed Plugins
• PowerObjects – CRM 2015 Spring Update 1: Plug-In Trace Log
• Hitachi Solutions – Plug-in Tracing Enhancements in the Spring Release of CRM 2015

PowerObjects also posted about some existing CRM 2015 functionality. Check out: Branching and Programmatically Branching Process Flows as well as CRM 2015 Custom Hierarchies.

That’s all for today. Enjoy the long weekend!