Resco Mobile Apps Setting up mobile apps for external users
Overview Expand your business with Resco Mobile Apps Take advantage of Resco s 16-year experience with mobility and your Microsoft Dynamics CRM database. Resco Mobile Apps allow you to create applications integrated with your CRM that offer content tailored specifically for stakeholders involved with your business. Be it customers, partners, volunteers, suppliers, citizens or fans. Authentication options The standard authentication possibilities in Resco Mobile Apps consist of the so-called Registered external user and Anonymous external user option. For users who need to access a personalized set of data partners, agents, external distributors, vendors, suppliers or clients there is the Registered external user option. The users work with data specific only to them, such as their orders, quotes, reports. This scenario is designated for the occasions when you need to identify exactly the owner of the record. For example, who created a new order in the system. The Anonymous external user option enables you to provide a mobile app to generic public, fans, city residents, etc. in other words users who all access the same unified set of data. Therefore there is no need to set up advanced authentication mechanisms or sync filters. Goals & benefits In this guide, we will go through the process of setting up an app for both registered external users and anonymous external users. The registered external user will download the Resco Mobile CRM app from his app store (Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Store). In our scenario, the user needs to register at first launch (but you can also simply provide the user with login credentials if the person is already stored in your CRM). This will create a new contact in the CRM while allowing the user to make orders from the app. You will be able to see these orders immediately in your CRM system, and all the users that register via the app can be stored as records for any standard or custom entity in the CRM system. This particular scenario allows customers to make orders directly from a mobile application anywhere and anytime they need. At the same time, it makes the life of the company s salesforce easier, as they don t need to insert manually every order into the CRM system the customers can do it themselves. And since the order processing can start Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide2
immediately after a customer decides to make a purchase, it can also significantly reduce the order fulfillment cycle. For the anonymous external user scenario, we ve come up with an example, in which a gym wants to share their public training classes schedule with its clients via an app. So the gym members are always able to see when their favorite class takes place. They just download the app from an app store, open it and are instantly updated with the latest schedule. What do you need to start? All you need is to install the Woodford customizing tool for your Microsoft Dynamics CRM server. You can find out how to do so in a quick guide available at www.resco.net/mobilecrm/configure.aspx. Then simply download the Resco Mobile CRM app from your app store. Got it? Great, then let s dive into the Registered external user setup first. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide3
Registered external user setup CRM STEP 1 Since users will be making new orders via the app, start by creating a new field on Orders in CRM and call it External user ID. The Type has to be Lookup, and the Target record type needs to be set as Contact because, in this scenario, all external users will be stored as contacts in the CRM. STEP 2 Add the External user ID field (created in Step 1) to the Order form in the CRM, which will allow you to identify who has created the order. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide4
STEP 3 Then, on the Contact entity, create a field named Password. It is required because all new users will need to register during the first run of the application. And their password needs to be stored somewhere. And that s it! No other configuration is required on the CRM side. Next stop the Woodford customizing tool! Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide5
Woodford STEP 4 In Woodford, click on the New button to create a new mobile project and select the External (Portal) User option. On the new project form, set up the following: Server Alias: Put in your chosen name for the project. This alias will be used by the external users instead of a URL when logging in from the app. CRM External URL: Insert the external URL of your CRM (needs to be accessible from the outside). CRM User: Select one common, licensed CRM user for the data connection. Password: Type in the CRM password of the CRM user mentioned above. Authentication Entity: Here you can choose how the external users that register via the app will be stored in your CRM. In our scenario, we have decided to store them as Contacts. User Name Field: You need to specify which field from the authentication entity will be used to save the login name of the external user. We ve chosen the E-mail field. Password Field: Pick a field from the authentication entity, which will be used to store the external user s password. We will use the newly created Password field in our example. Password Format: This option defines if the CRM admin will be able to see the external user s password in the CRM. Select Plain if the password should be visible. If you don t wish the Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide6
CRM admin to see the external users passwords, choose Hash the admin will see only an encrypted hash sequence in the Password Field. Customer ID Field: This option says which field will be filled in on the CRM form of the new external user with the ID of his/her parent Account or Contact. Imagine a customer visiting a specific shop let s say Walmart, Washington D.C. The ID of the Walmart in Washington D.C. will be used on the external user s form to categorize that the person goes to this specific store. Contact Lookup Field: - Specifies, which field from the parent Account/Contact (Walmart, Washington D.C.) has to be taken as the identifier for the external user to determine under which Account/Contact he belongs to. Registration method: - Choose how the external users will register when first launching the app. In our case, we ve chosen the Direct method which means they will insert their data through a special registration form directly in-app. The other options available for Registration method are None, Web Service or Email. If you select None, you need to create the external user manually in your Dynamics CRM beforehand and provide him/her with the login credentials to sync the app. Web Service and E-mail options also let the user create an external user from the app. But the data from the registration will be sent either to the Web Service that is used to create the record or via e-mail. For more information on these options please contact us at mobilecrm@resco.net Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide7
STEP 5 To create the aforementioned registration form, click the Edit Registration Form button. In our example, we want the users to enter their first and last name, e-mail address and password when launching the app for the very first time Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide8
STEP 6 Since, in this case, external users will simply access orders, we leave only Orders, Setup and About on the Home form of the app. Setup and About are always recommended to keep. If you were to remove them, the users wouldn t be able to send logs or perform any additional settings of the app. STEP 7 To make sure only orders belonging to the particular external user will be downloaded to his/hers app, you need to set up sync filters on Orders. The Sync filter in our case will look like following: External User ID > Equals Customer User. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide9
STEP 8: Open the Order form in Woodford and define the OnLoad Rule. This rule will assign the current customer ID to the newly created order. Simply put it ensures that you will be able to say who has created the order in your CRM. The OnLoad Rule in our case will look like this: Add Condition > Entity.IsNew Equals True > Add Step > Entity.new_externaluserid Assign Configuration.Customeruserid And that completes the Woodford part of the setup. All that remains is to download the Resco Mobile CRM app and check how these changes are reflected after registering. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide10
Mobile app STEP 9: After downloading Resco Mobile CRM from your app store, tap on the Sync icon and select the External (Portal) User option. Then type in the chosen Alias into the URL field (in our example it s externalorders ) and hit Register user at the bottom of the window. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide11
STEP 10: As the Registration form opens, fill in the required credentials and click on the Save icon in the upper right corner. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide12
STEP 11: Returning to Sync form, the registration credentials have now automatically filled in the related fields in the Sync window. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide13
STEP 12: After syncing, the app will automatically reflect the customizations. STEP 13: The external user can instantly start creating new orders that will appear in the company s CRM system. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide14
Back to the CRM When a newly registered external user creates an order via the app, your team will see the following information in Dynamics CRM: New user stored as contact Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide15
New order has been created In the order, you will be able to identify who has created it. With the registered external user scenario completed, let s now take a closer look at the Anonymous external user option as well. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide16
Anonymous external user setup CRM In our gym scenario for anonymous external users, we will be using the standard Activity entity from Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Therefore, basically no setup is needed in CRM. All the magic will happen in the Woodford customizing tool. Woodford STEP 1: Start by creating a new project in Woodford. But this time, choose the Anonymous External User option from the available selection of mobile projects. On the Add Mobile Project form, you need to specify the same 4 parameters that are on the Registered external user form: Server Alias: Put in your chosen name for the project. This alias will be used by the external users instead of a URL when logging in from the app. We decided to name our project Gymschedule CRM External URL: Insert the external URL of your CRM (needs to be accessible from the outside). CRM User: Select one common, licensed CRM that will provide the data connection. Password: Type in the CRM password of the common CRM user you ve chosen for the field above. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide17
STEP 2: Go to Fields on the Appointment entity and turn on the Category field. Then create a new view named Trainings. STEP 3: In the designer choose Subject, Location and Start time as the fields that will be shown in the view. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide18
STEP 4: Then hit the Edit filter button and set the sync filter to synchronize only appointments from the trainings category. STEP 5: Create a new calendar and name it Training. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide19
STEP 6: On the Edit calendar form, uncheck all the items except for the Training view. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide20
STEP 7: At last, place only the Calendar Trainings on the Home form. Setup and About sections are always advised to be left on the Home form. And you re done in Woodford. Just publish, sync and enjoy. Mobile app STEP 8 In the Resco Mobile CRM application, select the Anonymous External User from the User mode options and type in Gymschedule as URL. Then tap the Sync button. Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide21
STEP 9 After synchronizing, the users will see the calendar with an upto-date schedule. So they can keep track of their favorite classes or find out about new additions effortlessly. Do you want the app to sport your company s looks even before the user launches it for the very first time? From the icon to the very last in-app button, you can fully customize the app, so it fits your organizations visual identity. We can even get it into the app stores for you or eliminate the need to enter sync credentials for you. Just give us a shout at mobilecrm@resco.net Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide22
Get in touch! Still looking for some information? Get all your questions answered at: mobilecrm@resco.net www.resco.net/mobilecrm/mobile-apps.aspx Resco Mobile Apps Setup Guide23