Tricks and tips from people who use Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Published: August 5, 2008
This place is for the community to share best practices and tips about using Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The information on this page is provided from users to users. If you are looking for help and don’t find what you need here, see Related Links for links to other helpful resources, such as the Community and Team Blog.
The solutions suggested here have not been tested or verified by Microsoft, and may be unsupported. For more information, see Terms of Use.
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Use Read-Only Fields on Workflows
From: Gibran in DR
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Customize
Sometimes you may want to automatically update a field through a workflow, but don't want this field to be modified by the user. If a field is read-only you will find it is not possible to assign values to it on a workflow. To work around it, follow these steps: 1-Uncheck the "field is read only" option on Settings>Customization>(Entity)>Attributes 2-Access the workflow and add the properties you need on the field. 3- Go back and set the field to read-only once again.
Debugging Plug-ins
From: Anonymous in Vadodara
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Developer Documentation
If you want to debug a plug-in (callout untill Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4), or a custom workflow designed in Workflow Foundation of .NET 3, on the Visual Studio Debug menu, click Attach to Process, and then IExplore Process. After you have done this, you can debug the assemblies you have written for plug-ins or custom workflows.
Set an Alarm for a Scheduled Activity
From: Crystal in Redmond
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Marketing
If you use Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook and synchronize with tasks, phone calls, letters, and faxes you can get pop-up reminders from Outlook for “free!” When these activities are synced with CRM, you get 15 minute reminders. The reminder can’t be changed, but you get them. There’s an article in the Resource Center that explains in more detail. Manage your time and activities with help from reminders
Store your Scripts in Visual Studio
From: Paul McQ in London
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Customize
Make sure you have a copy of all your onLoad or onChange scripts in Microsoft Visual Studio in a 'Form Scripting' project. This allows you to have all your scripts in a single place for Backup, Version Control and Future Reference.
Use a Dashboard
From: Paul McQuillan in London
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Customize
Often users will want to avoid screen-clicking through multiple screens to reach the data they require. A one-stop-shop dashboard that lists all the crucial day to day data in a 'home' page format can be incredibly useful in boasting User Adoption, which is crucial to the success of a CRM project. Make sure your dashboard can be built quickly and simply without code, and you can keep this flexible enough to respond to your users' needs - consider using SharePoint 2007 and Dundas Visualization Web Parts.
OnLoad Script DueDate_DurationNull
From: CRM Neal & Associates Business Consultants, Inc. in Phoenix
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Configure, Customize, Other
Use the following script shell when wanting to have the due date be set for current date. Found this helpful for logging phone calls, and tasks that were completed right away. When you open activity is populates today's date/time and then you can just fill in notes and select save and complete. info@nealabc.com var
CRM_FORM_TYPE_CREATE = 1; var CRM_FORM_TYPE_UPDATE = 2; switch (crmForm.FormType) { case CRM_FORM_TYPE_CREATE:
crmForm.all.actualdurationminutes.DataValue = null;
crmForm.all.scheduledend.DataValue = new Date(); break; case
CRM_FORM_TYPE_UPDATE: // do nothing break; }
Activate Language Pack
From: Erik in Best, Netherlands
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Configure, Deploy
After installing the language pack, you need to activate the language for the environment you want to use them in. This can be done via Settings -> Languages.
Using Outlook Favorites for Fast Access to CRM (video demo)
From: Doctor Noe, Raleigh
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook
Category: Sales
In my top 10 blog for CRM improvements, one of the tips is to use the Outlook shortcuts to get to all of your CRM folders quickly. Here's a quick video demo that shows you how to do it. View article...http://www.bizitpro.com/Samples/MSCRM-Outlook-Shortcuts/MSCRM-Outlook-Shortcuts.html
Improve Outlook Experience with CRM
From: Tom Frankenfield in National
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook
Categories: Self-Help and Troubleshooting
Change the Synchronization Settings on the Client in Outlook http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2007/08/08/improve-outlook-experience-with-crm.aspx
Error occurred during Microsoft Dynamics CRM functionality
From: Michael in Stuttgart, Germany
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook
Categories: Self-Help and Troubleshooting
Outlook add-in problems after 3.0 upgrade to CRM 4.0: After wasting a lot of time i have tried the solution from SonomaPartners. http://blog.sonomapartners.com/2008/01/outlook-add-in.html It was very simple, only renaming the file "outcmd.dat" to "outcmd.datold" eliminated the problem.
Keyboard shortcut to Form Assistant
From: Byron and Warren in Johannesburg, South Africa
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Categories: Self-Help and Troubleshooting
When you've opened up an Activity/Opportunity, for example, and you need to quickly open up the Form Assistant pane on the right-hand side of the window pane, press the following keys to activate it: Ctrl + Shift + F. That's sure to save you a split second or two.
Count your leads and other records
From: Irene in Redmond
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Sales
Need an easy way to count your leads or other type of records?
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In any view, click Export Data to Excel, select Static worksheet with records from all pages in the current view, and then click Export.
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In the File Download dialog box, click Open.
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Look at the line number of the last line that contains data in the Excel file.
Change the Regarding on a history e-mail
From: Adrian in Sydney, Australia
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Categories: Self-Help and Troubleshooting
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Go into the Opportunity (case, whatever) and delete the email from the history within CRM.
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Go back to Outlook, highlight the email (do not open) and then press Track in CRM. CRM will say that the email is already being tracked in CRM and would you like to make another copy. Select Yes.
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When you double-click the email you will notice that the regarding field is cleared and you can now re-associate it to the correct Opportunity etc.
Save as Completed – quicker than closing activities categories
From: MSCRM User in Bristol, UK
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Categories: Self-Help and Troubleshooting
Especially useful for creating an activity that you've already completed - like a phone call you didn't plan for: There is no need to create, save, close, and then save an activity again. Just start a new one, and then go to the file menu and select Save as Completed.
Multiple windows
From: The CRM Lady in Norwich, UK
Version: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Category: Sales
Did you know you can open multiple windows running different parts of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, all at the same time? This multi-tasking feature is not often found in other CRM systems.
