What can you really do with your iPhone or iPad and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile? To answer this we installed and tested CWR Mobile CRM (which will soon be powering Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile) with online deployment. I was able to download the CWR Mobility app (ver. 4.2)* from the App store and install on my iPhone 4GS and iPad 2.0. It was easy to configure and connect to Dynamics CRM 2011 online. A wifi network is needed for the initial synchronization and download of data. Once connected I started testing the Mobility app using the default profile and here is the list of top ten things you can do based on level of difficulty.
1. After initial synchronization I was able to work on the offline mode (no internet / 3g / 4G / wifi connection) or switch to online mode by pressing a toggle button as needed.
a. Offline mode is faster and allows you to store data locally on the Mobile device
b. Online mode allows accessing and uploading or downloading CRM info.
I would recommend doing all the edits on the Mobile device in offline mode and once done you can synchronize to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
2. Access and edit my existing leads / accounts / contacts and opportunities. Always a good thing when you are not in the office.
3. Create a new lead on my phone. This was simple and you can record the vital notes about the lead or schedule a follow-up activity before you forget. You can even qualify the lead and convert lead to contact / account and opportunity.
4. Access existing or create a new Activity – Appointment / Phone call / Email or Task. This is really important for someone who is a Mobile warrior and wants all info on the go to do things like -
a. Create appointment and add other attendees to an appointment
b. Enter a phone call record and convert to opportunity
c. Write and send email through CRM. Convert email to lead / opportunity. *
d. Create a task with due date and review all open and closed tasks.
(Imagine doing all this activity on your iPhone while having coffee at Starbucks.)
5. Create a new product and enter pricing. Now this is where one needs a little bit of training. As creating a product involves adding unit groups, price list etc. I was able to create a product and after synchronization it does get created in the Microsoft CRM 2011. It may just be better to create products online in Microsoft CRM and restrict new product creation from a mobile device as it may result in errors and duplicates.
6. Ok. Now to the serious stuff like doing a quote on a mobile device. I was able to create a quote, enter existing item in the quote, add quantity or write-in a new product and enter $ amount. In addition I can also -
a. Link quote to an opportunity
b. Attach notes to quote.
(One thing I could not do was to convert quote to order) *
7. Order entry - As with the quote I was able to create a new order on my iPhone, enter existing item in the order, add qty or write-in a product and enter $ amount. And I can even link the order to an opportunity and a quote.
8. Synchronize – So all the info that I added above in my mobile device including leads, contact, opportunity, account, product, task, appointment etc, I could synchronize the data between iPhone and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. (except for quote and order for which I got an error)
The sync works well with a wifi connection (for those who prefer to avoid additional data plan cost). There is an automatic sync setting where you can have the Mobile device -
a. Sync every 5 mins to 360 mins (6 hours) in the background.
b. Also configure what data should be sync’d.
9. The sync and stored data in the mobile device is encrypted so it cannot get easily hacked. Also there is a function for remote wipe from the Microsoft CRM wherein:
a. The next time the Mobile device syncs all data is erased.
b. Also I can disable users from Microsoft CRM to prevent them from accessing any online CRM data.
10. Lastly you can set in Microsoft CRM 2001 Mobile Configurator - the mobile user profile and assign to individuals. Thus -
a. Control what area (sales, service) each user accesses on the mobile device.
b. Also create custom mobile forms and views and include custom entity and fields.
* Notes:
The current App version of but the above was tested with ver. 4.2. I had used my iPhone and iPad to do the above tests and I have also installed and run CWR Mobility on Windows Mobile phone - Nokia Lumia 900. (Refer to my earlier blog on ). There could be new enhancements on version 5.1 which I will update as soon as I can get my hands on it.
I hope the above post was useful for Mobility and Microsoft CRM consideration and if you have any question or comments do let us know. If you would like to include Mobility in your Microsoft CRM deployment please contact us. PDG Consultants, Inc is a certified partner of CWR Mobility and provides consulting services for Microsoft Dynamics CRM in New Jersey.
Mihir Shah
CWR Mobile CRM Configuration Specialist / MS CRM Consultant
. – Microsoft CRM Silver partner. Tel: 888-358-1325
Can you make a call from within crm online and have the call record automatically saved to the contact within CRM? Can calls be recorded while using the mobile device with call recordings attached to appropriate CRM contact?