Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and SharePoint: Easy File Management

Easily Manage Documents Between Microsoft CRM and SharePoint Online

By mapping a network drive to your SharePoint Online address, you are now able to easily use standard file management practices between Office 365, SharePoint and  Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. For example, you can use the Save As function directly from Word, (or Excel, Acrobat,...), and save a file to a SharePoint Online folder associated with a specific CRM Account. Once the file has been saved to the appropriate folder, you can open that Account record in CRM, select the Documents link in the left navigation pane, and view the file. What a great way to quickly and easily link quotes, contracts, proposals, company logos to CRM Accounts (or Contacts, Cases, Opportunities...). Here's a screenshot of a Save As function in Word, showing CRM Account document folders:

Once you've set up the drive mapping (and configured the Webclient service as described below), you can also:

• Drag and drop files into libraries
• Create new folders
• Move and copy files among folders
• Select and delete multiple files at one time.

Here’s How We Did It In Windows 7

First map a network drive to your SharePoint Online site, following these steps:

1. Sign in to your SharePoint Online site using Office 365 credentials. (Make sure to select the Keep me signed in check box.)
2. Right-click Computer, and select Map Network Drive.
3. Select Connect to a Web site that you can store your documents and pictures, and then click Next twice.
4. Type the SharePoint site URL, click Next, and then follow the instructions in the wizard. (Your site url could be something like; https://contoso.sharepoint.com.)

Potential Gotchas

When defining the SharePoint Online site URL, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:

• \\Path is not accessible
• Path is not valid.
• Access Denied.

You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of the server to find out if you have access permissions. Before opening files in this location, you must first add the web site to your Trusted sites list (as shown below):

A further note; the cookie will eventually time out and you may lose the map. To keep the connection after you restart the computer, make sure that the WebClient service is running. Follow these steps:

1. Click Start, Run, and type services.msc. Press Enter.
2. Locate the WebClient service, and then make sure that its Status is set to Started. (If not, double-click WebClient, then click Start, and OK.)
3. Make sure the Startup Type is set to Automatic.

Here's a screenshot of the WebClient settings in the Services window:

If you are signed in to Office 365 and are still having a problem with the mapping, make sure to add an entry for SharePoint to the Trusted sites zone in Internet Explorer. Here’s how:

1. On the Tools menu in Internet Explorer, click Internet options.
2. Select the Security tab and click the Trusted sites zone, and then click Sites.
3. Verify that the following entries are listed in the Websites list:
   • https://*.outlook.com
   • https://*.sharepoint.com
   • https://*.microsoftonline.com
   • https://*.lync.com
4. If not, add them to the Trusted sites list of Websites.
5. Click Local intranet zone, click Sites, and then click Advanced.
6. Verify that the following entries are listed in the Websites list:
   • *.microsoftonline.com
   • *.sharepoint.com
   • *.outlook.com
   • *.lync.com
7. If these entries are not present, add them to the Local intranet zone list of Websites.

If you’re still having issues (man, are you persistent!), make sure your system meets the requirements for Office 365, which can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/office365/system-requirements.aspx

Contact us at Core Solutions, if you’d like some help setting up your SharePoint Online drive mapping.

Submitted by Scott Weiss, President Core Solutions, Massachusetts Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner