Whats New in CRM 2015 Update 1
NAVIGATION
Easier and faster to find the information you need
With the new navigation bar, it's easier and faster to find the information you need When you choose the Main Menu from the nav bar, you can access your work areas, records, or other items with less scrolling and fewer clicks than before
The navigation bar allows users to scroll side to side to navigate between entities Comparison The navigation bar has been changed to minimize the amount of sideway scrolling when navigating between entities
Switch between records quickly with the Global MRU
Use the Recently Viewed Items icon on the new nav bar to get back to your most recently viewed and pinned items Using this global tool, you can access recently viewed records, views, and even dashboards. Pin the items you use all the time to move them to the top of the list
Most recently used records are available per entity basis Comparison In addition to the entity s most recently used records, a new Global MRU has been added that shows most recently opened records from all entities, and allows users to pin records they visit often for easy access
In-Form Navigation
If you re working in a complex form with lots of fields, the new form navigation drop-down makes it easy to get to just the data you need Choose the drop-down next to the form title, and then select the section of the form you want to go to.
Scroll to access sections further down on the form Comparison Jump directly to sections of the form using drop-down
THEMING
Theming - Custom look and feel
You can create a custom look and feel, a theme, for your application by making changes to the default colors and visual elements provided in the uncustomized CRM system The theme customization is supported in CRM for tablets, phones and Web forms in the Outlook client
Theming not available Comparison Themes can now be applied to CRM Online, allowing organizations to apply color schemes, change the logo, and apply other changes to match organization s branding
BUSINESS RULES
Clear Field Values with Business Rules
Enhancements to business rules let you clear field values, on the client and server Ensure correctness of your CRM records without writing a single line of code
Ability to set default values on fields, but not clear values Only possible to clear values from fields via Javascript Comparison Business rules let you clear field values, on the client and server side
BUSINESS PROCESS FLOWS
Business Process Flows Set Active Select Stage Set Active
Now it is possible to move back to the previous stage of the process flow regardless of entity type Available on phones and tablets as well
Could not move back to previous stages and activate Comparison Now it is possible to move back to the previous stage of the process flow regardless of entity type and activate
Business Process Flows - Honoring Required Steps at Platform Level
System automatically checks that all required steps in the business process have been completed before letting the user move to the next stage The QualifyLeadRequest and ConvertQuoteToSalesOrderRequest messages now validate whether the required steps are completed before a lead is qualified or a quote is converted to sales order respectively
Users can bypass requirements when they perform actions outside the record s form. For example, qualifying a Lead from the Open Leads view Comparison Requirements are enforced regardless of where the user is trying to advance the Business Process Stage
CUSTOM ACTIONS
Now you are able to consume custom actions without writing any code
Now workflows and dialogs can call common logic within a single custom action Including parameters of types: String, Numeric types, DateTime, Entity References
Previously you could only call basic SDK actions, such as create, update, and delete a record, from within a workflow or a dialog Comparison Now you can invoke a custom action directly from within a workflow or a dialog
EXPORT TO EXCEL REDESIGNED
Export to Excel completely redesigned
We ve redesigned exporting to Excel from the bottom up to provide for a much smoother experience 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 100k records at a time (previously 10k).
Some data fields do not export well to Excel. For example, numeric data is exported as text, leading zeros disappear from data, currency is exported as two columns, etc. Comparison Fields are now exported correctly, field types are maintained, decimal precision exports correctly, Currency is displayed in one column
IMMERSIVE EXCEL
Do quick analysis with Excel Online, right from within CRM Online
Now you can use Microsoft Excel Online to do quick analysis, without leaving CRM Online Open records, edit records, save records back
Previously data can (only) be exported to the Excel desktop client (in XML format), updated and the re-imported into CRM Comparison Immersive Excel allows users to open a System or Personal view in Excel Online within CRM, make changes to data, and upload changes with a single click
ONENOTE INTEGRATION
Take advantage of all that OneNote has to offer, directly from CRM Online
Capture photos, take voice notes, do free-form drawings and more All notes under the same notebook are associated with the CRM record Each section will point to an individual section in the notebook
OneNote notebooks can be uploaded to a SharePoint folder if SharePoint Integration is available Comparison A new OneNote tab will be added to the Activity Wall within the records form, to allow full OneNote integration
FOLDER BASED TRACKING
Track Exchange email activities automatically with folder tracking
A new and intuitive way to track incoming Exchange email activities Set up a tracking folder and then drag an incoming email to that folder to track it Exchange Rules can be used Any mail app or device that allow you to move an email to folder will allow you to track in Dynamics CRM
With SSS you can automatically track emails in response to another email, or based on CRM records that are mail enabled. Email tracking occurs automatically and you do not have the option to manually track an email from a CRM client outside of the Outlook client Comparison Folder Level Tracking allow users to manually move an email into a tracked folder and be tracked by SSS. Exchange rules can be created to automatically move emails into the tracking folder for automatic tracking.
OUTLOOK APP
Track incoming email wherever you are with the new CRM App for Outlook
Dynamics CRM App for Outlook is a light-weight app that includes full email tracking capabilities Track incoming email, set a regarding record and more
Not available in previous versions New light-weight app enabling you to track incoming mail and more Comparison Will be available soon after Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1 is released
SHAREPOINT INTEGRATION
Server-based SharePoint Integration Enhancements
Now SharePoint On-Prem customers can enjoy the Benefits of Server-Based SharePoint Integration with CRM Online No List Component, Sandbox Deprecated, OneNote Integration, Native UI, Single Sign-On
Support for CRM Online to SharePoint Online Comparison Support for CRM Online to SP On-Prem too
CALCULATED FIELDS
Get the Date Right in Calculated Fields
Calculated fields now have support for the NOW() and DateDIff functions. DateDiff will support differences in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years One important note, in Dynamics CRM Online, the NOW() function will always return the UTC datetime from SQL server and not a local time
Released Calculated Fields, rich in functions involving numeric values Comparison Adding Now() and six different variables for DateDiff, increasing the calculations available to be performed in Date fields
ROLLUP FIELDS
Enriching your experience with the rollup fields
Averaging calculations with the AVG operator Aggregating data over the base Activity entity across all related activity records, such phone calls, emails, or appointments
Released RollUp Fields, with ability to aggregate individual activities (phone calls, emails, appointments, etc.) Comparison Ability to add based on Activity Pointer, which allows organizations to see Number of Activities (of any type), instead of individual counts
CRM FOR PHONES
Enjoy the same great mobile experience, whether you re using a phone or tablet
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, use Cortana voice commands to access your CRM data hands-free.
Mobile Express was used to access CRM from non-tablet clients. A mobile form is used to present data to users accessing CRM via Mobile Express Comparison New Mobile App to access the same features available to users on the tablet app. Renders data based on main forms and supports Business Process Flows, Business Rules, Dashboard visualization, etc.
ENTITLEMENTS
Speed up customer service with default entitlements
Now service teams can set an entitlement as the default entitlement for a customer. When an agent creates a case, the default entitlement is automatically associated with the case, saving time for the agent.
Entitlement has to be manually selected after selecting the customer on the case Comparison Default entitlement for customer will be automatically selected
This one is on us
Option to not decrement an entitlement Set from the command bar within the case
Allotment would decrease for the customer upon creation or resolution of a case Comparison A new option has been added to allow users to mark cases that should not decrease allotment for customer this option can be granted as a Miscellaneous Privilege via Security Roles
NEW FORM RENDERING ENGINE
New Form Rendering Engine forms loading faster
Parallelized as many operations as possible to eliminate time wasted because the browser is idle Increased the content that s cached, moved rendering processes partially to server-side, and optimized the initialization of controls.
Form load used to be a very linear process Forms used to load in an iframe that s discarded each time. Comparison Since the new form renderer is more parallelized, the rendering engine now constructs the form and XRM model first and binds the data whenever the server responds Now we keep the iframe with necessary resources intact while loading custom and entity-specific scripts in a separate iframe*
MISC IMPROVEMENTS
New behavior of the Date and Time data type
CRM Online now allows the creation of Date Only fields, where there is no time zone conversion, and the time is always 12:00 AM Dates can now be stored as far back as 1/1/1753
Previously, the behavior of the Date and Time data type was limited to the user s local date and time With this time zone aware behavior, we couldn t properly address cases, where the date and time needed to be presented independently of the user s local time zone, such as birthdays or hotel check-in time Comparison In this release, we introduced two new time zone independent behaviors for the Date and Time data type to address such cases: Date Only, and Time Zone Independent
New older than operators allow for more exact querying
New older than operators added to allow for more exact querying These new operators are available for use in FetchXML as well as advanced find and view conditions
Older than X Months Date Operator Comparison Older than X Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, and Years have been added as new Date Operators
Dig in Whats new http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/what-s-new.aspx Release Preview Guide http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/4/f/d4f5a3c3-e3cb-48c9-85de-4ed0b7ffbd60/crmo365integration.pdf Whats new for administrators and customizers https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn531078.aspx
Whats New in CRM 2015 Update 1
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