With AutoMerge for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 On-Premise/Online, you are able to print the dynamically generated document automatically to a specific printer. Sometimes, the printer settings regarding trays, duplex, size, etc. are not applied if you define them using a specific user account, because the service runs under different user accounts. In order to avoid this, AutoMerge offers you the possibility to define specific printing options in the workflow itself.

The below table lists all special settings which you can define for the printer in the workflow. To make use of them, you just have to add the options you need when entering the printer name in the workflow-configuration. Of course you can also combine settings, like in the following example:

HP2025|copycount=2|tray=3

Please note: The settings listed below are valid for plug-in based printing processes only.

Settings for service-based printing processes when using AutoMerge will follow soon. (Please click here to get details about service-based printing when using AutoMerge.)

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

If you want to use TelephoneIntegration without a browser, but with Outlook only, you have to install TelephoneIntegration Client v.5.54 or higher (click here to download the latest version) and to create a new settingskey. Please follow the below steps to do so.

1. Open your CRM in the Internet Explorer

2. Navigate to the CRM Settings

3. Select MSCRM-ADDONS.com Products from the Extensions in the menu on the left.

4. Click on the checkbox (1) in front of TelephoneIntegration and then click on the [Edit]-button (2).

5. A new CRM window will open. Within this window, click on MSCRM-ADDONS.com Settingskeys (1) and then, click on Add New MSCRM-ADDONS.com Settingskeys (2).

6. Again, a new window will open. Within this window, insert the name UseOutlookOnly and as KeyValue, insert true. Furthermore, set IsCached to yes. 

After that, you have to restart the TelephoneIntegration Client. From now on, TelephoneIntegration will open all windows in Outlook without using a browser.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

In general, TelephoneIntegration allows users to dial from related CRM-records. This means, that they have the possibility to select from a list of records related to the initially opened one when dialing out from CRM (e.g. from related leads, contacts, etc.).

You have the possibility to set restrictions for the related records to be displayed in the TelephoneIntegration balloon (e.g. In case of dialling out from an opportunity, you want accounts to be displayed, but not the related contacts and leads). In order to do so, you have to create a new settingskey and follow the below steps. 

1. Open your CRM in the Internet Explorer

2. Navigate to the CRM Settings

3. Select MSCRM-ADDONS.com Products from the Extensions in the menu on the left.

4. Check the checkbox in front of TelephoneIntegration (1). Then click on the [Edit]-button (2).

5. A new CRM window will open. Within this window, click on MSCRM-ADDONS.com Settingskeys (1) in the command bar. Then, click on Add New MSCRM-ADDONS.com Settingskeys (2).

6. A new window opens. Within this window, insert a name and a KeyValue. Make sure that they are structured like this:

name: DFR_Disable_{entity name}
cached value: entity name1;entity name2; entity name3

Furthermore, set IsCached on Yes.

As for our example (dialing out starting from an opportunity, accounts should be displayed, but not the related contacts and leads), are filled like shown below. 
This varys depending on how you would like to configure TelephoneIntegration: 

If you want to disable all subrelated data records, you must insert "*" into the KeyValue-field and DFR_Disable_opportunity’ into the Name-field.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

Thank you for joining us at the Convergence2013 in New Orleans! It was great meeting you there!

The Convergence was an awesome experience for us. After our arrival in New Orleans and before throwing ourselves into the Cornvergence-fray, we did not hesitate to explore the beautiful city during our sightseeing tour. We enjoyed New Orleans by having a walk through the famous French quarter and by a boat tour through the swampland including impressive and very close meetings with alligators.

After getting to know the city, we were excited about joining and enjoying the Convergence. We started to set up our booth and to prepare for presenting our powerful addons to the audience.

Forming part of the event was a great experience for us. We had the chance to meet and to get to know a lot of interesting people and enjoyed the valueable conversations. Thank you for coming by and for your interest in our products and business!

Furthermore, we were pleased by the great supporting programme, including very interesting keynotes and sessions providing us with essential and highly valuable information regarding Dynamics CRM and other topics.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

TelephoneIntegration allows users to dial from related CRM-records. This means that they have the possibility to select from a list of records related to the initially opened one when dialing out from CRM (e.g. from related leads, contacts, etc.). The example in the screenshot below shows that the user has the possibility to dial from all records which are related to the account ‘MSCRM-ADDONS.com’. Users have a good overview of the related records, as they are structured in main phone, connections, relations and others. 

This functionality can be very helpful in several situations, e.g. if you would like to call a specific contact who is related to an opened sales opportunity or to an opened case. The big advantage of this new functionality is, that users can avoid time consuming clicking-scenarios as they can directly dial all records related from the currently opened one. Furthermore, the Regarding-field of the CRM-call-activity is automatically pre-filled with the name of the originally opened CRM-record.

To benefit from this functionality, you need at least the following versions:

TelephoneIntegration Server version v5.34

TelephoneIntegration Client version v5.54

How to configure this functionality

To make use of this functionality, you have to define from which entities you would like to dial related records in the TelephoneIntegration server configuration. In our example, we will explain how to activate the functionality for opportunities.

After having opened the configuration, select the entity from which you would like to dial related records and click on the [OK]-button. In our example, we have selected Opportunity.

Then you have to define the settings for the previously selected entity more specifically. Within the below shown window, you can determine if the selected entity should be searched for incoming calls and if it should be activated for outgoing calls.

Furthermore, you can define the search fields (fields to be searched by TelephoneIntegration), the result fields (all fields to be displayed within the TelephoneIntegration balloon) and the main fields (main fields to be displayed within the ballon).

Depending on the selected entity, you also have to define from which types of the chosen entity you would like to call related records.

In our example, we define that we want to dial related records from open opportunities only, that we would like to display the name of the opportunity as main field in the balloon and to activate opportunities for incoming and outgoing calls.

As soon as you have finished determining these settings, click on the [OK]-button.

After you have adapted the TelephoneIntegration configuration, you will find that a [Click-to-Dial]-button has been placed in the menu of the selected entitiy. (in our example, in the opportunities menu)

After clicking on this button, the TelephoneIntegration balloon pops up and displays all records related with the originally opened record that

1. are part of TelephoneIntegration configuration
2. that have phone numbers AND
3. that are configured for dialling out from CRM.

As the opportunity in our example does not have any connections or relations to other records (like in our first example), the balloon only displays the related account.

You have the possibility to view all related records and to call each of them by just double-clicking on their phone number. During the call (1), all details of the called record are displayed (call duration, date, name, etc.) including name of the originally opened record from which you started your call (2).

Furthermore, a CRM-call-activity and the CRM-window of the called record pop up.

Besides, the big advantage of this functionality to avoid time consuming clicking-scenarios, there is another big benefit:
The Reagarding-field of the CRM-call-activity is automatically prefilled with the name of the originally opened CRM-record (in our example, it is prefilled with the name of the opportunity, in other cases it may be prefilled with the originally opened account or else) )

If you would like to set restrictions regarding the related records to be displayed, please click here for further details.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

Please note: GroupCalendar v5.58 or higher is required. The feature is available for all activity types. 

GroupCalendar for MS Dynamics CRM 2011 provides the possibility to define a specific color for each scheduled service activity and appointment (click here to download the latest GroupCalendar version).

After activating this functionality in the CRM settings, GroupCalendar offers you the possibility to choose a color when scheduling a service activity or an appointment from a drop-down-menu within the service activity-/appointment-entity.

After you have selected the color, saved the service activity/appointment and refreshed GroupCalendar, the scheduled service activity/appointment is displayed in the previously picked color in all GroupCalendar views. 

How to activate the color-coding-functionality for appointments and service-activities?

 
To activate color-coding-functionality, you have to add an attribute to the main form of the service activity-/appointment-entity. The attribute is called ptm_colorcode2011 with the display name Color. It is predefined with 12 colors, but you have the possibility to add additional colors.

Please follow the simple steps below to activate the functionality.

Please note: The example below describes how to activate the color-coding-functionality for the appointment-entity.

In order to add this functionality to the service activity entity, follow the same procedure (steps 1-7) with the exception that you have to select Service Activity instead of Appointment within the customize the system-area in the CRM settings.

1. Open your CRM and go to Settings (1). Then click on Customization (2) and click on Customize the System (3)

2. Thereafter, a new CRM window opens. Within this window, click on Entities and you will get a list of all entities in your CRM system.

3. Now select the entity Appointment and double-click on it. Please note: If you would like to activate the color-coding-functionality for service activities, you have to select Service Activity instead of Appointment.

4. The settings of the appointment-entity opens. Click on Forms within the treeview on the left. 

5. Afterwards, you get a list of the forms of the appointment-entity. Double-click on the main-form of the entity. 

6. Here, you can customize the main form of this entity. To add the color-coding-functionality, click on the color-field within the menu on the right (1) and drag and drop it into a free space. (2)

7. Now save and close the window and the color-drop-down-menu will appear from now on within the appointment entity when scheduling an appointment. 

Please note: As already mentioned - in order to add this functionality to the service activity entity, follow the same procedure as above described in steps 1 to 7 with one exception. Instead of selecting Appointment, please select Service Activity within the Customize the System-area.

How to add additional colors? 

You always have the possibility to add further colors. Before you start the color adding process, it is important that you know the hex code of the color you would like to add.

There are several free online color picker tools which help you to find out about the hex code of a specific color (e.g. http://www.colorpicker.com/).

In the following example, we would like to add a light grey color with the hex code #E0E0E0. In the steps below, we describe how to add this color to the color drop-down-menu within the appointment-entity.

Please note: The procedure is the same for every color you want to add. Also, it is the same procedure for adding a new color to the color drop-down-menu within the service activity entity instead of the appointment entity (simply select Service Activity in step 2 and ServiceAppointmentColorCode in step 8).

1. Start in the Settings-area of your CRM system, click on Customizations within the menu on the left and then select Customize the System. 

2. Afterwards, click on Entities within the menu on the left and double-click on the Appointment-entity.

Please note: If you would like to add a color to the color drop-down-menu within the service activity entitiy, you have to select Service Activity within this step.

3. Now click on Fields in the treeview on the left (1) and double-click on the field ptm_colorcode2011. (2)

4a. A new window opens. Within this window, click on the [Add]-button (green plus) in the Options-area (1) and type in the label of the color. In our example, we type in light grey (2). It is important that you remember the value of the color which is defined by your CRM system. In our example, the value is 100.000.000 (3).

4b. After you have saved and closed the window, you have to publish the customization. To do so, please click on the [Publish all Customizations]-button. 

5. Now go back to the settings of your CRM system (1) and click on MSCRM-ADDONS.com Products. (2)

6. Afterwards, double-click on GroupCalendar within the product list. 

7. A new window will open. Within this window, click on MSCRM-ADDONS.com Settingskeys within the menu on the left.

8. Then, double-click on AppointmentColorCode.

Please note: If you would like to add the color to the color drop-down-menu within the service activity entity, you have to select ServiceAppointmentColorCode instead within this step.

9. A new window opens. Within this window, add your color within the KeyValue-area (1). To do so, you have to type in ‘;’ followed by the value of the color defined by CRM (In our example the value is 100.000.000. Please make sure that you tye in the vaule without '.': we, e.g., type in 100000000). Followed by ‘|’ and by the hex color code (In our example the hex code (2) is #E0E0E0). 

10. Click on the [Save and Close]-button. Now, you have to close and open the browser again or to perform an IISRESET to refresh all new settings. Afterwards, you can select the added color (in our case light grey) when scheduling a new appointment from the color drop-down-menu in the appointment-entity. The appointment will be displayed in that color.

Figure 20: Scheduled appointment with newly added color

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This article outlines the revised user interface of the GroupCalendar within version 5.45 and higher (click here to download the latest GroupCalendar version).

The user interface was renewed in the course of working on the GroupCalendar’s compatibility with RU12 and cross-browser. There are two slight changes in the user interface which are listed and described below:

• menu of GroupCalendar-views with new design
• renewed GroupCalendar view settings-menu 
  
  

Menu of GroupCalendar views with new design
The menu of the GroupCalendar-views appears since version 5.45 with a new design and a shlightly changed structure. The main views (List-, Overview-, Gantt- and TopDown-view) now appear one below another in the drop-down boxes from the month-, week- and day-view. The drop down boxes can be easily opened by clicking on the month-, week- or day-view-button. As known from previous versions, the single views within the drop down boxes can be selected by clicking on them.

Renewed GroupCalendar view settings-menu
Furthermore, there have been some slight changes in the GroupCalendar view settings-menu on the right. First of all, it is important to know that per default, the menu is not visible. To display the menu you have the following options:

• Option 1: Click somewhere on the grey bar on the right (1). After that, the menu will open. It will disappear again in case you leave the menu with your cursor. If you would like to fix the menu, you have to click on the small [Pin/Un-Pin]-button at the top of the menu. If you fixed the menu and would like to hide it again, click on the [Pin/Un-Pin]-button once again.
• Option 2: Click on the small arrow in the grey bar on the right (2). After that, the menu will appear and stay. If you would like to hide it, click on the [Pin/Un-Pin]-button.

Additionally, the option to create a new activity from within the GroupCalendar is placed directly within this view settings menu-pane up from this version. Until now, the [New Activity]-button was placed on the top of the GroupCalendar next to the GroupCalendar views. Now, as already mentioned, it can be found within the menu on the right side.

When you click on this button, a drop down menu will open. From this menu, you can select the activity to be created. After that, a standard CRM activity-form will open and you will be able to schedule your activity.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

The article explains the following two features which are available in the GroupCalendar’s GANTT views only:

• set date range
• zoom functionality 

Please note: Version 5.46 or higher is required. (Click here to download the latest GC version). 

Set date range 
This functionality enables users to adapt the date range to be shown in the GANTT views to their individual needs. This is very helpful if a user wants to display scheduled activities/resources within a specific date range only (e.g. activities/resources scheduled between March 6 2013 and April 16 2013).

To define a specific date range as in the above figures, you just have to click on the [Date Range]-button below the small calendar in the menu on the right (1). After that, two small calendars will open which allow you to set the date range to be displayed. Now select the start-date to be shown from the small calendar on the left side (arrow A) and the end-date from the small calendar on the right side (arrow B). In our example, we have selected March 6 to April 16. Click on the [OK]-button in order to proceed (2).

Activities/resources are now solely displayed between March 6 and April 16. 

Zoom functionality
This functionality enables users to zoom in and out the GroupCalendar's GANTT views. This is very helpful, if a user would like to display activities/resources more detailed/more specific (1) or in a broader overview/less specific (2).

If you would like to zoom in or out a GANTT view, you just have to click on the [Minus]-button (for zooming out, 1) or on the [Plus]-button (for zooming in, 2), which can be found below the small calendar in the menu on the right.

BEST PRACTICE

Within the following example, we schedule the planning phase of a construction project with the duration of March 6 2013 to Mai 5 2013. To do so, we click on the [New Activity]-button in the menu on the right (1) and select Appointment from the drop down menu (2).

After that, a standard CRM activity-form will open. Within this form, we specify the subject, the people and resources which are required for this appointment and the duration (March 6 2013 to Mai 5 2013). If you like, you can add further information, such as the location, the color in which the appointment should be displayed etc.

After clicking on the [Save and Close]-button, the activity-form will close and you will be navigated back to GroupCalendar. Refresh GroupCalendar (1) to see the scheduled appointment (2).

As you can see in figure 9, the overview of this newly scheduled appointment in the per default GANTT month view is not ideal. At this point, the two new features can add a huge value to our GroupCalendar, as they enable a better overview (especially for long-duration-appointments). If you would like to adapt the view to get a better overview, you have the possibility to set a specific date range to be displayed and afterwards to zoom in or out the view. In the screenshot below for example, we set a date range from March 6 to April 10, 2013. By zooming out, the overview gets even better as all appointments/resources scheduled within this span of time can be seen at a glance.

Please note: In case you have defined a zoom level and/or a date range, this level/date range will not be maintained when changing the users/resources/date/time range/activities to be shown, changing the view-options (show only attendees, show only open activities, etc.) or when switching between several GANTT views (e.g. between the GANTT week-view and the GANTT month-view). Additionally, the zoom level will not be maintained when refreshing views via the [Refresh]-button.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

This article outlines how to merge and process a document using the DocumentsCorePack addon. In general, you have two possibilities for merging a document:

• trigger the mailmerge process from within MS Word
• trigger the mailmerge process from within CRM

A list of document-processing steps offered by DocumentsCorePack and feasible with one single click can be found at the end of this article.

Please note: Before you can start a mailmerge process and generate a document, you must have a template.
To do so, you may either create and save a template on your own or you may use one of our default templates as well. Now you are able to start a mailmerge process either from within MS Word or from within CRM.

For information on how to create templates please have a look at our user guide and at our general DocumentsCorePack 2011.

Option 1: start a mailmerge process from within MS Word

To start a mailmerge process from within MS Word, open a template by clicking on the [Open Template]-button (1) in the ribbon on top. After the template has opened, click on the [Choose CRM Data]-button in the ribbon (2). 

A lookup-window will open. Within this window, search for/select the account/data to be added (1 and 2). 

Look for the needed CRM record from the search result (1) and click on the [Select]-button to trigger the mailmerge process (2). After the mailmerge process, the merged and completed document will open in MS Word.

Option 2: start a mailmerge process from within CRM

To start a mailmerge process from within CRM, open the CRM record of which you need the data to be inserted into the document.
Within the opened record click on the [Generate Document]-button in the ribbon on the top (1) 
Please note: This button was previously known as [Print in Word]-button or may be known under another name as this is configurable by the administrator in the server-settings of DocumentsCorePack.

Anyway, a drop-down-menu will open. Select the appropriate template from this menu (2). After that, the mailmerge process is triggered and the merged document including the data of the CRM record will open in MS Word in the background. To view and process the document, click on the [Word]-button in the taskbar.

After the mailmerge process, the document including the data from the CRM record is available for further processing. 

Document-processing steps:
The following document-processing steps are feasible by just one single click:

• Create CRM Activity: creates a letter-, fax- or email-activity with the generated document as attachment
• Send as PDF, XPS, DOC, DOCX, ODT: creates an email-activity and attaches the generated document as PDF, XPS, DOC, DOCX or ODT
• Save as DOCX: saves the generated document as PDF, XPS, DOC, DOCX, ODT, etc. to the appropriate location in CRM, fileshare or SharePoint (depending on how the save-location is configured server-sided)

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.

INTRODUCTION

 This feature enables you to easily insert contents (pictures, texts, etc.) into documents which have been added to a CRM record via HTML editor. The functionality interprets HTML codes stored in CRM and to display the contents appropriately in merged documents. Furthermore, the last version of DocumentsCorePack enables users to insert pictures into documents (for more details about this functionality, please click here).

Addon: DocumentsCorePack 

Example: 

Click here to read more about the functionalities of the [Insert]-button.

Please note: Before you can use this functionality, you must install a HTML editor into your CRM system.

There are various free, but also some charged HTML editors which you can use.

In our example, we work with the tinyMCE HTML editor. Please follow the link to get detailed information on how to implement this free HTML editor into MS Dynamics CRM 2011.

How to insert content origined from HTML editor from CRM into your document. Step-by-step description:  

1. Open e.g an account in CRM and click on HTML_Description. After that, a HTML editor will open.

2. By using this HTML editor (1), you can add (3) and format (2) the information you need. Click on the [Save]-button in the CRM ribbon (4) after you have finished adding and formating your content.

3. Afterwards, open MS Word and navigate to the www.mscrm-addons.com-tab (1) in the menu. Here you can start to create your template. To do so, click on the [Insert MailMerge Fields]-button and insert some mailmerge fields. 

4. If you would like to insert the content which you have added to the account before using the HTML editor, set the cursor to the position in the document where you want the information to be inserted. Then navigate to the Normal-tab in the DocumentsCorePack TaskPane on the right and select the field HTML_description (1) from the tree menu. Select the Insert as HTML-option from the [Insert]-button options at the bottom to add the field correctly (2).

5. After that, the mergefield new_html_description is added to the template (1). Continue to create your template by inserting the mailmerge fields and the text you need. When you have finished to create your template, save it with a click on the [Save Template]-button (2) in the menu.

6. After saving the template, you can mailmerge the document with data from CRM. To do so, you have the following two options:

6.a. Start from within MS Word

6.b. Start from within CRM

Option 6a: start a mailmerge process from within MS Word

To start a mailmerge process from within MS Word, open a template with a click on the [Open Template]-button (1) in the menu. After the template has opened, click on the [Choose CRM Data]-button in the menu (2). 

A lookup-window will open. Within this window, search for/select (1 and 2) the account which data you want to add.

Select a CRM record from the search result (1) and click on the [Select]-button (2) to trigger the mailmerge process. After the mailmerge process, the merged and completed document will open in MS Word. 

Option 6b: start a mailmerge process from within CRM

To start a mailmerge process from within CRM, open the CRM record which data you would like to insert. In our example, we open the account Test Store.

Click on the [Generate Document]-button (1). Please note: this button was previously known as [Print in Word]-button or may be known under another name as it is configurable by the administrator in the server-settings of DocumentsCorePack.
Now select the appropriate template from the drop-down-menu (2). For our example we use the template we have created previously. After that, the merged document will open in MS Word in the background. To view and process the document, click on the [Word]-button in the taskbar.

 
7. After the mailmerge process, the document including the data from the CRM record and also the content added to the account via the HTML editor is available for further processing. As outlined in Figure 10, the style of the text parts corresponds with the style sheets of MS Word. In our example, we select the style Heading 2 for the text Test Store and the style Paragraph for the text Test Street 123 / 1234 Test City / … using the HTML editor. In the merged document, the text parts are displayed corresponding to the settings of the style sheets of MS Word.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.