Use workflow processes and dialog processes in Microsoft Dynamics CRM to give your customers a more consistent experience. Do this by automating well-defined processes and following standardized customer contact scripts. Make your processes as simple or as complex as you need them to be. You do not need to be a programmer. You only need to understand your organization's business processes to create a workflow process or dialog process in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

This diagram shows the steps for creating and using a workflow process or a dialog process.

There are two ways to add a process:

• Create a new workflow or dialog in the Processes area of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
  
  
• Import a process in the Solutions area of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Workflows and dialogs are available for purchase from third-party vendors.
  
  

When you create a process, follow these steps:

1. Create an empty process or use a template to create a new process.
   
   
2. Specify the process properties. These include its name, the type of records it acts upon, and whether the process is a workflow or dialog.
   
   
3. Add conditions that specify when to run the process.
   
   If the process is a workflow, specify the actions that implement the workflow.
   
   
4. Activate the process.
   
   
5. Test the process. If your organization has a test version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, test the process on your test version before using the process on production data. Otherwise, test the process on a small number of records first.
   
   

You apply a process to a record depending on whether the process is a workflow process or dialog process.

Start a workflow in one of these ways:

• A person using Microsoft Dynamics CRM selects an on-demand workflow to apply to a record or group of records.
  
  
• Specific conditions triggers an automatic workflow.
  
  
• A third-party application starts a workflow by using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK request ExecuteWorkflowRequest.
  
  

Start a dialog in one of these ways:

• A person using Microsoft Dynamics CRM starts an on-demand dialog for a single record.
  
  
• A child dialog starts as a link from a parent dialog.
  
  

You can monitor a workflow process because those typically run continuously until completion. A dialog process only proceeds at step at a time by user input, so it does not run continuously.

When you apply a workflow to records, or when a workflow starts automatically, the process creates an individual workflow job for each record. Each of these jobs performs the actions defined in the logic of your workflow process. Monitor the workflow jobs to make sure that the defined workflow process has no problems, and that each workflow job has no problems.

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