PowerObjects

Sporadically we keep receiving reports of folks with the outlook crm client where they cannot open any new windows such as accounts, contacts,etc. They receive an error “there was an error while executing action for this menu item button”.

This seems to only happen with windows vista + Internet Explorer 8 + some hot fix or specific installation order + a bit of bad luck.

The work around we have found is to disable the ‘user account protection’. Some people may say that disabling this may make your system a bit less secure as many annoying and irrelevant warnings will be suppressed. My take is that the sheer number of warnings in an out of the box vista system desensitizes most users where clicking ok and continue is an automatic reaction to those pop-ups.

Anyway….here’s the work around.

1. From the run menu, enter: MSCONFIG
   
2. Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find “Disable UAC” . Click on that line.
   
   
3. Press the Launch button.
   
4. A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
   
5. Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.
   

The above will disable the ‘user account protection’.

Let us know if the above works for you.

Alex F.

We often get asked if the Outlook CRM 4 client works OK with Terminal services. The official answer is yes. Our answer is yes, but there can be minor issues. Below are some of the tips and trips we have learned in running the Outlook CRM Client in a Terminal Services Environment.

1. Install the Outlook CRM client and latest update rollup in terminal services.
   
2. Don’t enable auto patch for the end users as the terminal services administrator should be rolling out updates.
   
3. Some potential issues are described here in KB950100
   
4. To remove the ‘configure’ option from certain users (in case where not outlook users will be crm users) use these registry keys:
   HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\crmaddin.Addin\LoadBehavior DWORD 2
   HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\crmexceladdin.Addin\LoadBehavior DWORD 2
   
5. What memory consumption on the terminal services closely. If memory usage is very high, add this registry key stated in KB956527
   
6. If terminal services is setup in a farm with multiple boxes, don’t round-robbin the users logging in. Setting up affinity so users login to the same box.
   
7. If the outlook crm client becomes slow or glitches happen, recreate the user’s profile. This is the fastest way of getting a user back on.

Good luck with Terminal Services. Lets us know if you have any questions.

Alex F

Whether you’re planning to implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM or bring new users up to speed, you’re looking for the best place to get trained and get started. Here is a list of recommended training resources and other sources to bring your organization up to speed as quickly as possible.

Partner Training

Especially for those who are on a short timeline, the fastest way to learn is to get training targeted to your needs. A certified Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner like PowerObjects is a must-have resource for you at this time.

Partners can deliver training with a specific emphasis, such as the Sales area or Service area. However, the most beneficial partner training incorporates your specific processes into the training. It turns out the hardest things to learn when using Microsoft Dynamics CRM are not the clicks. It’s really more about teaching users how their clicks fit into the overall processes in your organization including when and why your company needs the data.

Partner training also allows you to train “outside of the box. ” For example, the Marketing area of CRM is difficult to learn in a classroom. It is often is better to begin with introduction to the functionality in a class and follow-up with one or two coaching sessions to guide users through what they are hoping to accomplish.

Click here for some sample training agendas for partner training you might find useful.

Classroom Training

The benefit of learning in a class environment is that you typically go through the material very thoroughly, uncovering features you had perhaps overlooked. In addition, interacting with people at other companies during training can help spark ideas for how you can use Microsoft Dynamics CRM to improve your business. Not to mention, getting out of the office is always an inspiring change of pace!

Most major cities have classroom training available for users of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. New Horizons Computer Learning Centers for example, offers classes in the basic Sales, Marketing, and Service areas, as well as classes on Administering CRM. Contact your local office

Online Training (a.k.a E-Learning)

E-learning allows users to study up on Microsoft Dynamics CRM without the time commitment or expense of classroom training. Users can work at their own pace as they have time, and they may find that doing hands-on exercises slowly gives them more insight into how the program works than getting an overview in a class.

The best source for online learning is to start with CustomerSource on Microsoft’s website. In order to access CustomerSource, you will need your Microsoft Dynamics ID and your legal company name. You will to use an existing Windows Live ID or create a new one to use CustomerSource.

Once logged in, visit the E-Learning area where you can select from many choices. You can even create a list of courses called “My Learning” and work through them at your own pace. This is a great way to set a new employee on a track to learn Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Training Yourself

There are a ton of great books out there on Microsoft Dynamics CRM for users who prefer to train themselves. The best part is that these books are written by experts who have been working with Microsoft CRM in hundreds of difference company environments since the early days of 1.2. You can’t go wrong having one or two books on hand as reference for you and each office using CRM.

Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 in 24 Hours by Anne Stanton
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) by Joel Scott, David Lee, and Scott Weiss
Microsoft® Dynamics(TM) CRM 4.0 Step by Step by Mike Snyder, Jim Steger, Kara O’Brien, and Brendan Landers
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Unleashed by Marc J. Wolenik and Damian Sinay
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Unleashed by Marc J. Wolenik and Damian Sinay
Working with Microsoft Dynamics(TM) CRM 4.0 by Jim Steger and Mike Snyder

In this blog I’ll be talking about synchronizing contacts with the outlook crm client. We all know that one of the biggest selling points of Dynamics CRM 4 is its robust integration with Outlook. However, an often underutilized set of features is the ability to highly tune the contact synchronization on a per user basis. What do I mean by this? Lets jump right into 3 examples of commonly used scenarios by many of our clients.

Synchronize contacts I’m the owner. This is the default rule.

Synchronize contacts based on a marketing list. Yep – very simple to then say synchronize all contacts from accounts a, b, and c by simply adding to a marketing list.

Synchronize contacts based on a complex rule. In my case I synchronize all contacts for any accounts that have an active project and I’m the project owner.

A. Synchronize contacts I’m the owner. This is the default rule.

Out of the box the outlook crm client will synchronize contacts ‘that I am the owner’ and that ‘are active’.

Verify this by going to CRM Menu, Modify Local data groups, then double click on the ‘my contact rule’. If you have the offline enabled outlook crm client you will see many more rules.

List of rules – the non-offline enabled client only has a single rule:

The out of the box contact synchronization rule:

B. Synchronize contacts based on a marketing list.

We often see clients that like the default rule, but there are key accounts whose contact they also want synchronized. We can do this on an ad hock basis by utilizing a marketing list. For this example, I created a new marketing list called ‘Alex Synchronized Contacts’ of type account and added a couple key accounts.

Then we create a new synchronization rule. Yes we can more than 1 contact synchronization rule.
The new rule simply selects contacts, that have a parent customer (account) and this account belongs to a marketing list ‘Alex Synchronized Contacts’.

We now have two rules and both are active. Contacts matching either rule will be synchronized to crm.

C. Synchronize contacts based on a complex rule.

This is where the ability to have individual rules really helps out. Think of your job role and which contacts you want to be made readily available in your outlook and more importantly in your mobile device. In my case, I want all the contacts for any account that has an active project and I’m the project manager. Projects are a custom entity that is related to accounts which we use to keep track of projects and projects tasks.

So what would this rule look like?

And once again we can have this new rule along with other rules active.

Questions/Comments???

Alex F