Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 (Version 8.0) is an update for both CRM Online and On-Premise editions. The latter include improvements from the ‘cloud only‘ CRM Online 2015 Update 1 that was released earlier this year. CRM 2016 also gives on-premise customers access to the theme records, updated navigation menu, turbo forms and other ‘Carina’ features.
The following CRM Online 2015 Update 1 features are now included in CRM 2016 on-premises.
Get around and find the info you need, fast!
With the new navigation bar, it’s easier and faster to find the information you need. When you click the Main Menu from the nav bar, you can get to your work areas, records, or other items with less scrolling and fewer clicks than before.
Use the Recently Viewed Items button on the new navigation bar to get back to your most recently viewed and pinned items. With this global tool, you can access recently viewed records, views, and even dashboards. Pin the items you use all the time to move these to the top of the list.
If you’re working in a complex form with lots of fields, then the new form navigation drop-down list makes it easy to get to just the data you need. Click the drop-down list next to the form title, and then select the section of the form you want to go to.
Add a logo or change the color scheme using themes
Create a uniform look and feel across all your applications with themes. For example, add a company logo or change default colors for entities or links. Preview your custom theme, and then publish it for the whole team when you’re ready. No code required! You must be a CRM administrator to create a custom theme.
Track Exchange email activities automatically with folder tracking
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1 provides a new and intuitive way to track incoming Exchange email activities. You can set up a tracking folder—use any Exchange folder in your Inbox—and then drag an incoming email message to that folder to track it. You can associate a tracked folder with a specific record, such as an account or opportunity, so when you move a message to that folder, it’s automatically linked to that specific record.
Tracked folders work with Exchange Inbox rules, which makes it even easier to manage and track incoming email. For example, you could set up an Exchange Inbox rule that automatically routes email from a Contoso contact to a tracked Contoso folder, linked to a specific opportunity. Tracked folders work on any device that supports Exchange, so you can track email from virtually any device.
To use tracked folders, your organization must use server-side synchronization as your email synchronization method. Tracked folders must also be enabled by a system administrator.
Export to Excel completely redesigned
CRM has redesigned exporting to Excel from the bottom up to provide for a much smoother experience. With a single click in the web client or in Dynamics CRM for Outlook,export your data as an Excel document, which can be opened anywhere, including the desktop version of Excel (2007 and later), Excel Online, and other Excel clients. When you export, all formatting is preserved, so you can do your calculations in Excel, and then reimport the data to CRM. You can export up to 100,000 records at a time (previous limit was 10,000).
Enjoy the same great mobile experience, whether you’re using a phone or tablet
The CRM for phones app now provides the same process-driven experience as CRM for tablets. Nurture your leads and opportunities through the sales process with the new intuitive interface. If you have a Windows Phone, then use Cortana voice commands to get to your CRM data hands-free.
The previous version of the CRM for phones app is still available in app stores, but it’s now called CRM for phones – Express.
Secure your mobile data with Microsoft Dynamics CRM
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Good app works with the Good Technology mobile security platform to protect your CRM data even if you lose or leave your tablet somewhere. For example, if you leave your tablet in a taxi cab and can’t get it back right away, your CRM data is protected by Good encryption. If you lose your tablet, then your admin can remotely wipe your CRM data from your tablet.
Speed up customer service with default entitlements
Customer service representatives use entitlements to verify the type of support a customer is eligible for and to provide the correct level of support. Now service managers or admins can set an entitlement as the default entitlement for a customer. When a rep creates a case, the default entitlement is automatically associated with the case, saving time for the rep.
For cases where service organizations do not want entitlement terms to be deducted (a faulty part is installed, for example), service reps can also credit back entitlement terms so the customer isn’t charged.
Define rules for creating or updating CRM records from incoming activities
In previous versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Service Managers could set up rules to automatically create cases from incoming email or social channels. Now sales, marketing, and service teams can use these same rules to automatically create or update one or more records from any single incoming activity, such as an email, social, or custom activity.
Continuing the recent release trend of a ‘cloud first’ release cycle several of the latest improvements leverage Office 365 and are exclusively for CRM Online. This release underlines Microsoft’s investment in mobile CRM with a series of enhancements to its already impressive phone and tablet apps.
Use pre-formatted Excel templates to create Excel documents directly from CRM
If you find that you frequently create the same Microsoft Office Excel documents in CRM, then use Excel templates to speed up document creation. For example, use a pre-formatted template to forecast sales, or to monitor sales and project cash flow (pipeline analysis). After a template is uploaded by a system administrator, it can be shared with team members.
Use Word templates to quickly create the documents your organization depends on
Standardized documents are a cornerstone for business dealings—from quotes and contracts to work orders and invoices. Now you can automatically generate standardized documents from CRM data using Microsoft Office Word templates. Use Word templates to enhance productivity, reduce human error, and ensure consistent communication across the company.
One Click Document Generation
Create documents such as sales orders, contracts and agreements in a single click using pre-determined Word and Excel templates. Whereas earlier Dynamics releases required users to follow a wizard driven mail-merge process, or enlist developer expertise to design custom reports, CRM 2016 introduces a simplified editor to build templates which can be launched from individual records with 1 click. In some instances this will avoid the need to manually extract CRM data into account summary reports, order forms and other documents. For the initial CRM 2016 release Dynamics uses XML mapping for related entities that are 1 level deep but future releases are expected to expand this to multiple levels
Voice of the customer
Dynamics CRM 2016 recently released it’s Voice of the Customer Survey solution. Explore the basics of VOC, such setup and configuration, fundamental components, and Survey Creation.
Create a survey
Interactive Service hub
Reduce case call-handling time with rich knowledge management articles
With the new interactive service hub, you can also turn customer feedback and issues into rich knowledge articles that include embedded videos, images, and more. The rich text editor offers common word-processor features like advanced styling, linking, paste from Word, find and replace, and tables.
Make sure your articles are accurate by moving them through the review and approval process, and then use versions to track changes. You can work on multiple revisions while the currently-approved content stays published. When you’re ready, make the team-approved content available to all CRM users.
You can add the knowledge base search component to any entity to give salespeople, account managers, and customer service representatives access to a single source of product information, sales coaching documents, FAQs, troubleshooting steps, and solutions. When knowledge is shared with customers, it’s automatically recorded so you can see top content easily.
Enable service level agreements (SLAs) on demand
With new SLA enhancements, you can now apply SLAs to case records manually. You can also apply SLAs automatically to cases based on business logic by using workflows or plug-ins. For example, if your customers are spread across geographies, you may have multiple SLAs with different business hours and holiday schedules. Set up business logic to apply SLAs on case records based on customer region to make sure the SLA time calculation happens correctly for their region.
See your data in Outlook
A new app enables Dynamics CRM Online users to view information and track emails wherever Outlook is used. For the first time this includes Outlook for Mac and Outlook Web Access as well as Outlook 2016, Outlook Web Access on Edge, Firefox and IE 11 on PC. Included in the new Outlook connector interface is contextual CRM information about the associated individuals on each tracked email. For example, this may include upcoming activities, open opportunities or active cases. Another enhancement will enable CRM users to click to track Outlook emails before they are sent
Track email from anywhere with the , a lightweight email tracking app that surfaces contextual information from Microsoft Dynamics CRM right inside your Outlook Inbox.
