Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Document Assembly (just one flavor)

Posted by Ryan Toenies on August 18, 2010  |  Comments (1)

Let me first start by saying – I am extremely fortunate to be working with such a talented set of consultants!  I am always amazed by how they take an idea, make it a reality and execute with such precision.  The latest innovation, coming from Team Sonoma, is our Document Assembly Add-In for Microsoft Word.  This is a great productivity tool integrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Word!  Once again, this demonstrates the XRM strengths of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Background: We all have lots of corporate templates we use to build out documents that are either internal or external facing.  Often times, we are pulling data from other sources and then copying and pasting that data into our document template.  In addition, we update content in our document but then we manually update the applicable data into that other application.  Redundant data entry can cause errors not to mention always looking for where the data resides.  In the consulting world we are concerned with consistency, documentation and efficiency.  These same concerns are applied across industries – it’s really an Information Worker need.

Solution: Microsoft Dynamics CRM (#MSDYNCRM for you Twitter geeks like me) and Microsoft Word.

Here’s a quick glimpse of what we built:

We have created a Project Entity in CRM that holds a lot of relevant project information (like feature requests).  We also need to build out functional specifications for all the projects we execute.  When we open the Functional Specifications template we are prompted to choose the relevant project within CRM.

Once I choose my project and click “Load Project Data” my document template is now connected to CRM and the Project/Feature entities.  The document is populated with the data from CRM and I can now make edits within Microsoft Word.

If I make changes to the document in Word I can publish my changes back to CRM.  This is the big time saver!  I don’t have to go back to CRM, make my changes, go back to Word and pull those changes back in.  We created a 2-way integration between CRM and Word so the data flows in both directions!  This is what the feature data looks like in CRM:

These customizations are specific to our Functional Specifications document and how we manage projects within CRM.  However, the framework for integration between Word and CRM is very extensible.  We just hooked up Status Reports, Project Charter and Functional Specifications.  We are going to launch SOW’s and Master Services Agreements next.  Don’t worry - you can perform this same integration with CRM Online so if the Cloud is your preference we’ve got you covered!

Remember – this is NOT a product – we don’t sell this.  If you are interested, we can help you implement something similar.  Otherwise, use this as innovative thinking to extend CRM for your own deployment.

Cheers!