In addition to the flexibility Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers in managing any information that is important to your organization as an xRM platform, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 offers a ton of new features that allow users to personalize CRM for themselves. Here are 5 new 2011 personalization features that we believe everyone can appreciate and how these features can be used.
Feature 1: Filters and Custom Filters
If you’ve ever used filters in Excel then you’ll love the new Filter options in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Click on the Filter button in the menu bar at the top and you get the ability to filter on all columns in the view you are on. Click on the arrows in each column and you have the ability to sort, filter, and custom filter. Columns whose values are picklists give you the ability to check one or multiple values to filter on.
Feature 2: Views – Personal Views and Default Views
Personalization in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 means that no longer are you stuck with the same view of accounts that everyone else sees (and the crowd roars!). Not only can you change your default view (the view that you see when you initially click on a section), but you can also create your own views from existing views!
Say for instance, you’d like to add a column for the Follow-up Date on cases. In the Cases View menu, choose Create Personal View at the bottom of the list. From there, you can use the advanced find tool to add columns and even change the filter if you like.
Feature 3: Views – Lookup Fields
Look-up fields on forms can be cumbersome when the lookup is on an entity with a large number of records. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 gives you the flexibility to filter lookups, create and choose look-up views and default views and allow search capabilities. From the form, you can click on the Customize Tab and then click on Form to edit the lookups on the form.
Double click on the field to edit the default filter, available views and search options.
Feature 4: Recently Viewed
A new navigation tool in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is the Recently Visited folder. Click on it, and you get a list of links to the most recent records that you’ve opened in the left column and links to your most recent views in the right column. Click on the push pin next to the record or view and the item will stay in your Recently Visited list forever (or at least until you unclick the push pin).
Feature 5:
Converting Emails to Leads and Opportunities If you’ve been using Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook for even a short amount of time, you probably know and use the “Track in CRM” and “Set Regarding” buttons. But did you know that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 can take it one step further? You can now convert emails to Leads, Opportunities and Cases as well as Tasks and Calendar Appointments to Opportunities and Cases? Once an Email, Calendar Appointment or a Task is tracked in the CRM, you have enabled the option to “Convert To.”
Lead: Converting an Email to Lead automatically fills in (with the ability to edit manually) the First Name, Last name, Company name and Email Address for the lead.
Opportunity: When you convert an Email, Calendar Appointment or Task to an Opportunity, the CRM tries to identify and auto-fill the Company, the Contact and the Source Campaign (in cases where the email is a Campaign Response).
Case: Emails, Calendar Appointments and Tasks converted to Cases automatically pull in the Customer and allow you to choose the Subject.
In all 3 instances, you have the ability to open the created record and work with it immediately!
Find out more about the personalization of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, or Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 in general by.
By OTT, Inc., a
