Sonoma Partners Microsoft CRM Blog

What's new in Microsoft CRM 4.0 webinar reminder...tomorrow!

I wanted to post a quick reminder that we're hosting a one hour webinar tomorrow that will highlight some of the great new features in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 (specifically for users). Space is still available, so please register now!

What's New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - For Users
Event Date: January 31, 2008
Time: 10:00am Central
Register Now!

Partner license key received in the mail today

There's been a decent amount of chatter in the blog world about getting Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 license keys. Well, I'm pleased to report that we received our production license key (for being a Microsoft Gold Partner) in the mail today!

We added the new license via the Deployment Manager and it seemed to accept it, but when we looked at the license key in the Deployment Manager user interface it still showed the trial key. This was a little confusing, but when we browsed to the web interface it prompted us to register. In addition, the new key appears correct if we look in the SQL database. So...it looks like we're legit with our new key.

We're guessing that restarting the CRM web server will update the Deployment Manager to display the new/correct license key.

Outlook add-in problems after 3.0 upgrade

We upgraded our Microsoft Dynamics CRM system to 4.0 a while ago, but some users had problems loading the Outlook add-in. When we launched Outlook, we saw the following error:

You can see that in addition to not loading the Outlook client, the software duplicated the CRM and ExactTarget links in the menu bar. After some back and forth with Microsoft, we were able to fix this problem with the following steps:

1. Close Microsoft Outlook
2. Open Windows Explorer and browse to c:\documents and settings\user\application data\Microsoft\ (on Windows XP)
3. Rename the folder named "Outlook" to "Outlookold"
4. Restart your computer
5. Launch Outlook and voila! You should be working again!

We expect that only people who had Microsoft CRM 3.0 for Outlook installed and then upgraded to 4.0 might see this problem. When installing Microsoft CRM 4.0 for Outlook on a clean computer, the install and loading works fine.

Microsoft CRM 4.0 downloads and pricing posted to SonomaPartners.com

We updated our company website www.sonomapartners.com with the new downloads and documents for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. We also posted our Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 license pricing if you're interested in that. There are actually a LOT more SKU's but we just posted the main licenses people purchase to keep the site easier to read and understand. Microsoft licensing is complex enough without adding 20 or 30 extra SKU's on there to decipher!

Event registration open for What's New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 webinar series

We will conduct a series of three webinars over the coming months about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, and we just opened registration on our Sonoma Partners events page.

Upcoming Webinars
What's New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - For Users
Event Date: January 31, 2008
Register Now!

What's New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - For Administrators
Event Date: February 21, 2008
Register Now!

Improve Sales & Marketing Effectiveness with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Event Date: March 20, 2008
Register Now!

Space is limited at all of these webinars, so please make sure you sign up ASAP.

In Person Events
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Launch
In addition to the upcoming webinars, you can also register through our website for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Launch Event in Chicago (well, actually it is in Oak Brook but that's close enough). Anyone who registers for the event through us will receive a free copy of our new book Working With Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0*! I will be at the event in Oak Brook if you'd like a chance to get my $0.02 on the new release, and if it makes sense for your organization to deploy.
Register Now!

*quantities limited

4.0 book almost done

This weekend we're putting the finishing touches on the Working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 book, and I'm really pleased with the revisions we made to the content! I think (hope) that this version of the book will address even more of the common administrator questions that we hear from customers and prospects. The table below shows how we tweaked the table of contents between the 3.0 and 4.0 versions of the book:

Chapter #	4.0 Book Chapter Title	3.0 Book Chapter Title	4.0 Book Page Count	3.0 Book Page Count
1	Overview	Overview	27	22
2	Setup and Common Tasks	Setting Up Your System	47	39
3	Security and Information Access	Security and Information Access	36	27
4	Entity Customization: Concepts & Attributes	Entity Customization: Concepts & Attributes	51	44
5	Entity Customization: Forms & Views	Entity Customization: Forms & Views	63	56
6	Entity Customization: Relationships, Custom Entities and Site Map	Entity Customization: Relationships, Custom Entities and Site Map	54	56
7	Reporting and Analysis	Reporting and Analysis	72	63
8	Workflow	Workflow	52	48
9	Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK (plug-ins)	Server Side SDK	77	72
10	Client Scripting and Extensions	Client Side SDK	65	55
11	n/a	Integration with External Applications	n/a	45
		Total Pages	544	527

As we mentioned previously, the book has a strict page count limit so we needed to carefully consider which material we should include. As you can see, we eliminated Chapter 11 entirely and increased the length of almost all the other chapters. While Chapter 11 in the 3.0 book did provide a few coding examples, we felt that developers could access similar material in blogs or other materials (hint: stayed tuned at this website for details on one such source!) And even though you can't necessarily tell from the chapter title, we made significant revisions in Chapter 2 between the 3.0 to the 4.0 book. Here's how that the content in that chapter changed in the new book.

Chapter 2 in 4.0 Book: Setup and Common Tasks

Chapter 2 in 3.0 Book: Setting Up Your System

Outlook client integration Standard versus offline client Integration Points CRM versus Outlook forms Activity Reminders Address Book Outlook Web Access Data Synchronization Configuring Deleting records in Outlook Working with Email E-mail Tracking E-mail Templates Inserting Templates into E-mail Messages Creating or Modifying E-mail Templates Creating and Sharing Personal E-mail Templates Inserting Graphics and HTML into E-mail Templates Creating and Sending Mass E-mails Direct E-mail Quick Campaign Workflow rule Working with Documents Data Management Import Data Wizard Data Migration Manager Duplicate checking Queues Summary

Templates Contract Templates Article Templates E-mail Templates Sending Direct E-mail Inserting Templates into E-mail Messages Creating or Modifying E-mail Templates Creating and Sharing Personal E-mail Templates Inserting Graphics and HTML into E-mail Templates Subjects Announcements Relationship Roles Queues E-mail Tracking Tracking Overview Inbound Messages Outbound Messages E-mail Tracking Tokens Mail Merge and Mass Mailings Microsoft CRM Mail Merge Feature Word Mail Merge Using Filtered Views Word Mail Merge Using Microsoft CRM Exported Excel Data SQL Server Reporting Services Report Microsoft CRM Campaign and Quick Campaign Features Custom Mass Mailing Application Summary

I am personally excited about these Chapter 2 changes because I know that we tried to address some of the most common topics that I hear questions about. After re-reading it now, we felt that a lot of the Chapter 2 material in the 3.0 book was somewhat self-explanatory in the user interface so it wasn't critical to cover in the book.

We also want to thank Valerie Wooley from Microsoft Press because she's pulling all sorts of strings to make sure that the 4.0 book is in print and ready in time for the Convergence conference!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 pricing and part numbers

I checked with our wholesaler Ingram Micro, and it turns they posted the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 license prices and part numbers.

Dynamics CRM Servers	MSFT Part #	MSRP
Dynamics CRM Pro Svr Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL Qualified	QCA-00922	$ 2,113.00
Dynamics CRM WorkgroupSvr Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL Qualified	QAA-00238	$ 2,641.00
Dynamics CRM Ent Svr Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL Qualified	QJA-01032	$ 5,284.00
Dynamics CRM CALS	MSFT Part #	MSRP
Dynamics CRM CAL Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL Device CAL Qualified	ZFA-00116	$ 1,055.00
Dynamics CRM CAL Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL User CAL Qualified	ZFA-00109	$ 1,055.00
Dynamics CRM Limited CAL Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL Device CAL Qualified	QZA-00056	$ 317.00
Dynamics CRM Limited CAL Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL User CAL Qualified	QZA-00431	$ 317.00
Dynamcs CRM Full Use CAL Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL Device CAL Qualified	QYA-00335	$ 740.00
Dynamcs CRM Full Use CAL Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL User CAL Qualified	QYA-00340	$ 740.00
Dynamics CRM External Connectors	MSFT Part #	MSRP
Dynamics CRM Extrnl Cnctr Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL	ZGA-00056	$ 5,284.00
Dynmcs CRM Ltd Extrnl Con Sngl Lic/SA Pack OLP NL	Q5A-00177	$ 2,113.00

New cover artwork for Working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 book

We're getting down to crunch time finishing our Working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 book. Everyone (authors, copy editor, tech editor, editor, layout, printer, etc.) is working very hard to get this book done and in print for the Convergence conference in March! Don't worry though, it will be ready to go when you get to conference.

Today we received a copy of the updated cover artwork for the book and we're really excited about it! Microsoft Press even let us include our Sonoma Partners corporate branding on the book cover which is absolutely outstanding.

If you're interested, you can pre-order a copy of the book on Amazon.com now. It is scheduled for release on March 10th, 2008.

Enabling Mail Merge for upgraded custom entities

One of the great new features in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is the ability to create mail merge documents on custom entities. However, we just recently discovered that when you upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to 4.0, by default you will not be able to create mail merge templates for upgraded custom entities. However if you create a new custom entity in 4.0, you can create a mail merge template for that new custom entity.

Based on the suggestions of Michael and Phil, you can follow these steps to re-enable mail merge for your upgraded custom entities!

1. Export the custom entity that was upgraded from 3.0 to 4.0.
2. Open the exported customizations.xml file and add the element IsMailMergeEnabled with a value of "1" (as shown here in XML Notepad 2007).

    

3. Import the modified customization file and publish the entity.

Now when you go to create a mail merge template, you'll be able to select this custom entity as the target for your template. Happy mail merging!