CRM Offline New Activity Error – “Record Is Unavailable”

For Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 organizations (Online or On-Premise) that were upgraded from CRM 4.0 – if your CRM Users receive the following error message when creating/saving a new CRM activity (Appointment, Task, Phone Call, etc.) while using the Microsoft CRM for Outlook Client in Offline mode:

The requested record was not found or you do not have sufficient permissions to view it.  If you are offline, the record was not taken offline.  Update your local data groups to include this record and resynchronize.

The cause of this issue is that after the CRM upgrade – the new Queues option “Automatically move records to the owner’s default queue when a record is created or assigned” is checked for the CRM Activity Types.  However, the default CRM Outlook Offline Synchronization Filter data groups/rules don’t have the owner’s default queue defined for Offline usage.

My recommendation is to update each of the CRM Activity Types’ (Appointment, Email, Task, etc.) customization and UN-check the “Automatically move records to the owner’s default queue when a record is created or assigned” setting:

The alternative option is to add a new offline filter rule to include the owner’s default queue.

Note: A new baseline Microsoft CRM 2011 organization’s (Online or On-Premise) “Automatically move records to the owner’s default queue when a record is created or assigned” setting is UN-check.

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006

CRM Outlook Client Offline – “Sales Force Automation Error”

One of the more interesting observations I had this year was that even with all the immense popularity of CRM mobile applications on smart phones and tablets – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Office Outlook with Offline is still very popular with the field sales force! 

IF CRM Outlook Offline is implemented correctly – your existing outside field sales representatives and traveling executives can continue to leverage the familiar, tried and true laptop they’ve been trained to use since forever (for most of us anyway)!   And have full access to their CRM Outlook functionality while on the road visiting customers and prospects even when there is NO internet connection. 

Here is a link to an article on the “nuts and bolts” Offline and Online Synchronization in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

I’ve commonly come across this error when implementing the Microsoft CRM Outlook Offline:

• When trying to save any changes to an existing CRM record while Offline, received the  Sales Force Automation Error – The requested account does not exist.  Or any The requested “CRM Entity such as contact” does not exist

This is due to a [Record Unavailable] within the CRM record being edited while offline.  Since it is Offline, not all the CRM data is available.

The resolution to this is to update the CRM Outlook Offline Synchronization Filter data groups (rules) to include the [Record Unavailable] records when Offline.  For the above example where the Parent Account record is unavailable, here is the offline filter rule definition that will ensure the Parent Account is available:

 

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006

Date and Time Data Type Available in Dialog

One of the nice enhancements in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5 (UR5) is the Date and Time data type support in Dialog.

This allows for more practical Dialog solutions.  One common requested Microsoft CRM sales change is modifying the Close Opportunity window. 

However, there is NO supported way for modifying this Close Opportunity behavior or display (similar to Qualify/Convert Lead window).

One option is to use a Dialog to replace this Close Opportunity function.  I would hide the default “Close Opportunity” ribbon element and instruct the users to invoke the Close Opportunity dialog instead.

Link to more details on Microsoft CRM 2011 UR5 enhancements.

 

Contact me if you need help with your Microsoft CRM. Free Estimate.

FREE Microsoft CRM Online 30 Day Trial access with our Professional Assistance!

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006
Workopia

Update Rollup 4 for CRM 2011 – Improved Data Synchronization Performance

Update Rollup 4 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is available. 

One of the noticeable enhancement is that “Synchronize with CRM” is much faster now.  Prior to this Update Rollup, I’d observed that some synched CRM records like Contacts were included in the Synchronization process even if there are no apparent changes to them.

Another significant fix was the Actual End field in the CRM Email when it’s format is set to Date and Time, the time value is displayed in UTC format instead of your local time zone.   This affected Outlook emails tracked in CRM.

If your organization is using the Microsoft CRM Outlook Client – I would highly recommend applying this Update Rollup as soon as possible.

 

 

Contact me if you need help with your Microsoft CRM. Free Estimate.

FREE Microsoft CRM Online 30 Day Trial access with our Professional Assistance!

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006
Workopia

Hotfix – Outlook Reminders and Flags not working after installing Microsoft Office 2010 SP1 or Public Update 2583910 for Office 2007 with Dynamics CRM 2011

After installing Microsoft Office 2010 SP1 (released on 6/27/2011) to my Microsoft CRM 2011 Outlook Client, my Outlook Reminder popups no longer work:

“There was a problem reading one or more of your reminders.  Some reminders may not appear.  You cannot sort by this column.”

Even after checking and ensuring the Outlook Reminder option is enabled – issue still remains.

There is a Hotfix for it.  Download and install the proper platform version of the Hotfix.  If you are using Microsoft Office 2010 32 bit – select the “x86” or if using Microsoft Office 64 bit – “x64” version.

Or if you are using Microsoft Office 2007:

 

Note: Installing the latest Microsoft CRM 2011 Update Rollup (UR4) does NOT resolve this issue – need to apply this Hotfix separately.

I’d highly recommend applying this hotfix if you are encountering this issue.

 

 

Contact me if you need help with your Microsoft CRM. Free Estimate.

FREE Microsoft CRM Online 30 Day Trial access with our Professional Assistance!

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006
Workopia

Find Contacts that had a Campaign Response

I had an inquiry from a Local Bank customer needing to find all their CRM Contacts that are interested in attending an upcoming event – each Contact’s interest is tracked via a Microsoft CRM Campaign Response.  The Bank would like to send them a follow-up reminder.

Here is a sample of a Campaign Response in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011:

The most simple approach would be to use Microsoft CRM’s Advanced Find.  Here is the Advanced Find setup that will find all the CRM Contacts that had a certain Campaign Response:

Note: Campaign Response is a CRM Activity Type similar to Phone Call, Tasks, etc.

 

 

Contact me if you need help with your Microsoft CRM. Free Estimate.

FREE Microsoft CRM Online 30 Day Trial access with our Professional Assistance!

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006
Workopia

Initial CRM 2011 Outlook Client Settings

Here are some good initial Microsoft CRM 2011 Outlook Client settings that I’d suggest.  Note: Your organization’s initial Microsoft CRM settings may be different – always check with your CRM administrator for guidance:

• Check only “Outlook Synchronization” under the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Diagnostics.  You can access the Microsoft CRM Diagnostics via Start >> Programs >> Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 >> Diagnostics

 

• UN-check “Update Company fields with parent account names” under the CRM Outlook Client Synchronization setting tab:

 

• Check “Allow other Microsoft Dynamics CRM users to send e-mail on your behalf.” and UN-check “Create Contacts from the sender or organizer of tracked e-mail messages and meetings”

 

Here is a good link to Microsoft CRM 2011 Online Outlook Client Installation checklist

 

Contact me if you need help with your Microsoft CRM. Free Estimate.

FREE Microsoft CRM Online 30 Day Trial access with our Professional Assistance!

Frank Lee, Microsoft CRM MVP since 2006
Workopia