blog

Sales Fusion Scores Highest Marks!

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:22:00 +1000

SalesFUSION is a leading provider of enterprise class marketing automation solutions that directly integrate to Dynamics CRM. SalesFUSION was the first marketing automation software to offer an embedded marketing platform for CRM. This year, we will be presenting our new platform at Convergence and demonstrating how it integrates to Dynamics CRM 2011.

As an ISV provider for Dynamics CRM, SalesFUSION's focus has been on developing solutions that are easy to implement, maintain and learn. Our client services model and process has been created to ensure a great end-user experience. We established a reputation within the Dynamics community of providing the best client support, training and overall personalized service. More than revenue or number of clients, we believe that happy clients who are willing to talk about your product is extremely important.

Whether you are a Dynamics Partner looking to add a new solution to your product mix or a Dynamics CRM user looking to integrate your sales and marketing efforts, SalesFUSION Provides the highest level of hands-on service and training to ensure you are successful with our solution.

We strongly encourage you to review our profile on PinPoint and see what others have to say about this exciting solution.

Optimising CRM Performance

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:14:00 +1000

Optimizing the overall performance of CRM is an important factor in providing your users the best CRM experience. Many times CRM users will complain that "CRM is Slow" or attribute CRM or Outlook performance issues to the CRM Application, when in reality the CRM application is actually functioning just fine. Since Microsoft Dynamics CRM is basically a Web based application, there are other factors that must be taken into consideration when trying to determine the root cause of the CRM Slowness. Local workstation specifications, Installed Applications, Internet Security and Network Infrastructure can all play a part in the overall performance of the CRM application. Here are some items to check, that will assist in making sure that your users are achieving Maximum Performance from CRM.

RAM - Microsoft recommends a minimum of 1GB of RAM when utilizing the CRM for Outlook Client. However, most users are not JUST using Outlook and CRM, which means that 1GB is probably not going to be enough. Especially for someone who likes to multi-task. 2GB or more if possible, should show a notable improvement, not only in CRM performance but in overall PC performance. **NOTE: Using the "Offline" version of the CRM for Outlook client installs SQL Express to accommodate the Offline Database used to store CRM data when the local PC is not connected to the CRM network. If the Offline CRM client is installed, a PC with less than 2GB of RAM may suffer significant performance hits when going online or offline.
Outlook Inbox is to large - The CRM Add-in scans the users inbox and sent items to see if there are emails that need to be tracked in CRM. The larger the inbox, the more data that must be scanned and the slower the performance. CRM Update Rollup 7 offered some changes to this process, but he overall system performance may still be effected by the size of the users inbox. NOTE: Archiving email folders will allow users to still have access to emails, but the CRM Add-in will ignore the Archived folders, reducing the size of the scanned folders.
Keeping up with CRM Update Rollups - Microsoft has committed to rolling out CRM Update Rollups (Like small service packs) on an 8 week interval. These Update Rollups include all hotfixes that Microsoft has marked as Recommended. CRM Update Rollups are cumulative, meaning they include all previous Update Rollups (i.e. Update Rollup 10 includes 9, 8, 7...etc..) Check with your Microsoft Partner for the Latest Recommend Update Rollup.
- To find out which Update Rollup you have installed:
  - In Windows XP - - Click Add/Remove Programs, then check the box that says "Show Updates", scroll until you see Microsoft Dynamics CRM. All installed updates will be listed under the CRM Application.
  - In Windows Vista or Windows 7 - Click Programs and Features, in the left Navigation pane, click "View Installed Updates" All installed updates will be listed under the CRM Application.
Keep up to date with Windows Updates - (This one may be taken care of by your IT Department) To check for Updates click here: http://www.update.microsoft.com
Run the CRM Diagnostic Tool - Microsoft included a Tool with the CRM for Outlook Client to assist with troubleshooting and diagnostic evaluation of the CRM for Outlook Client. This tool can be run on the local machine and is found here: Start > All Programs > Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 > Diagnostics
- Click Run Diagnostics - This will begin the diagnostics process. This tool does provide experienced administrators some additional advanced troubleshooting capabilities, but the initial "Wizard" can also point out some common issues after a quick diagnostic.
Pop-Up Blockers and 3^rd Party Toolbars - Since CRM is Web-based, each new record in CRM is launched in a separate Internet Explorer (IE) window. Later versions of the Internet Explorer web browser include a pop-up blocker and most 3^rd Party Toolbars (Google, Yahoo..etc..) also include pop-up blockers. Adding the CRM website to the list of "Allowed" sites will insure that the popup blocker ignores the new windows launched from the CRM site.
- In Internet Explorer - Navigate to: Tools > Pop-up Blocker Settings - add the CRM URL to the list of allowed sites. If you are using a host header, include the computer name URL and the IP address of the server. (Check with your CRM Administrator for the Server information)
- For 3^rd Party Toolbars, you may need to access the help menu to get assistance with adding CRM to the trusted sites. (Toolbar versions vary in instructions) - For Google Toolbar, navigate to the CRM website in Internet Explorer and click the pop-up icon on the toolbar. This will automatically add the CRM Web address to the "Allowed" sites.
Add the CRM Website to the "Local Intranet"
sites: In Internet Explorer click - Tools > Internet Options > Security Tab, clicking on Local Intranet
> Sites and clicking Advanced. Enter the URLs and click Add.
Optimize the settings for the Local Intranet
Zone: In Internet Explorer click - Tools > Internet Options > Security Tab, clicking on Local Intranet > Custom Level
- Under "ActiveX controls and plug-ins"
  - Click "Enable" on "Download unsigned ActiveX controls"
  - Click "Enable" on "Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting"
  - Click "Enable" on "Run ActiveX controls and Plug-ins"
- Under "Miscellaneous"
  - Click "Enable" on Access data sources across domains
  - If using host header and drill-through capability in SQL Reporting Services, click Enable on Navigate sub-frames across different domains
- Under "User Authentication"
  - Click "Automatic Login only in Intranet Zone"
Increase Internet Explorer Browser Cache - Client-side browser settings can greatly affect user experience over slower connections. Increasing the disk space reserved for temporary Internet files can help to optimize performance by ensuring adequate room for the cache to take advantage of improved load times when making subsequent visits to the same page for the same files.
- Click - Tools > Internet Options > General Tab - Under Browser History, click "Settings". Increase the Disk Space to 200-300mb.
Configure Internet Explorer to download more than two files at one time - Click Here for more information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282402

Add the CRM Website to the white list or bypass script and URL scanning in your Anti-Virus applications - Instructions for this will vary based on the Anti-Virus software used. Check with your CRM Administrator for more information.

Microsoft CRM and MYOB Integration

Mon, 10 May 2010 15:06:00 +1000

You know it, the accounts team have just added a new client to the accounts system, it is one that you already have in the CRM system, and yes, they both have different addresses, which one is right? The same thing happens in reverse too! Wouldn’t it be so much simpler if you could input the details in one system and have them populate the other one!

How about doing the same for suppliers? How about pushing purchase orders from the CRM system in to the Accounts system so the accounts team can match invoices to purchase orders? Well, if you have the right MYOB link it is reasonably straight forward to create data in MYOB, but pushing it from MYOB to CRM involves a lot more effort, data has to be pushed in the CRM system via a web service or plug-in that you have to write.

Ok, so it’s not something many users of CRM and or MYOB are going to want to try and write for themselves, nor are there many CRM partners who have the time to write a full API, so we’ve come up with a workable solution. Mr CRM have created an automated 2 step bi-directional synchronisation between CRM and MYOB, its not a simple plug and play install as we still have to manually map the fields. We can map any available field in MYOB to its corresponding field in Microsoft CRM (v3 and v4) and back again. It is a true sychronisation and works really well, no more updating two seperate systems

Mr CRM is currently offering this application for a single once off fee with no ongoing licensing or renewal fees and is not limited by the number of CRM or MYOB licences.

Backing up your CRM Customisations!

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:36:00 +1000

Oh the irony of it. As IT professionals we always harp on about backing up, continuity planing and disaster recovery, but how many of us practice it and how many of our customers don’t!

A client called us and asked us to restore our backup of their site, as they had a major outage and had destroyed thier server (where all the backups were!). We only take copies of our clients CRM scheama when we need to test how our modifications will work with their systems, and only when we have their written agreement before hand (which on we did for this client).

We also, for this client, one that liked to fidle and modify on a very regular basis, created a little widget that automaticaly took a snapshot of the current CRM XML scheama before publishing any changes to it. Basically, it intercepts the publish call, does a full schema export and saves the zipped file as an attachemnet and stores it in the CRM database, before updating it with the changes and publishing.

Works very well, you build up a history of the changes you’ve made and you can go back to a point in time (if you need to) see screenshot below

By default these are saved as attachements in the CRM database, so we have a policy of exporting them each month and saving them to a external device. Our client had been a bit lax and hadn't exported any of these backups since we did. The result being we did not have all the addional changes that he had made on the system. We have now been engaged to recreate them.

The moral of this story:

Backup! Save your backup somewhere safe, not on the machine your backing up. If its important, take two backups, its still cheaper than paying to create them twice!

Following up with detail

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 09:16:00 +1000

CRM has this great feature that allows you to click on a button and create a follow up action. You can create a task, appointment, phone call just by clicking on this button.

However, wouldn't it be nice to be able to include some of the details of the activity you already have open in the new activity? Well you can, by using some simple workflow.

Lets say that you want to create a follow up phone call from a task and you want to include the notes from the task and store them in the notes for the phone call (so you don't have to refer back to the task while on the phone call).

Create a tick box attribute and add it to the task form. Name it something useful like, Create Phone Call?. Then create a simple workflow that is triggered each time you save a task. Have it check the tick box, if ticked get it to create a new phone call and have it copy the notes field from the task to the notes filed in the new phone call. and Voila, done.

You can expand this to copy any of the fields in common. You can even get clever, and do the same thing by writing a plug in that acts synchronously so the user doesn't have to wait for the workflow to kick in.

MR CRM launches new fixed price support packages

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:59:00 +1000

Mr CRM is pleased to annouce the launch of our new standardised support packages (see http://www.mrcrm.com.au/help.html). if you need just occational help to solve an issue, or if your company would Mr CRM to act as your dedicated CRM help and support department, our Help and Support packages are designed to help you and with our simple cost structure, you will never get an unexpected invoice.

CRM Build Numbers

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:58:00 +1000

This helpful little table gives you the CRM build numbers up to and including CRM v4.0 rollup #2. thanks to Arron Elder.

Build Number	Released	Details
4.0.7333.1316	2/8/2009	Rollup Update #2 (Re-Release)
4.0.7333.1312	1/15/2009	Rollup Update #2 (Original Release)
4.0.7333.1113	11/24/2008	Rollup Update #1
4.0.7333.3	12/19/2007	RTM
4.0.7333.2	December 2007	RC2 (Internal)
4.0.7309.0	November 2007	RC0 (Limited Release)
4.0.7219.10	August 2007	Beta - CTP3
4.0.7044.22	May 2007	Beta - CTP2
4.0.6319.16	October 2006 (?)	Beta - CTP1

CRM Rollup 3 for CRM v4.0

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:56:00 +1000

If you haven't already found it, here is the link to rollup 3 for MS CRM v4.0

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=05453fa4-9551-4a88-9852-634a9ad0e140&displaylang=en

There is no need to have the previouse rollups installed before installing this one.