In today’s ever-changing technological world, companies need to stay abreast of the latest releases and improvements to their owned software. With that said, Microsoft recently released a preview of Mobile Express for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. What does this mean? Well, Mobile Express for Microsoft CRM 4.0 will allow end users to take CRM on the road with them. They will be able to review current CRM records, create new and modify existing records all on their internet capable handheld device. The best part about it is, unlike previous versions (CRM Mobile), there is no installation required on the device.
Thriving companies will need to embrace tools such as this not only to compete in today’s market, but to take advantage of today’s market. Microsoft CRM on the go will increase sales force productivity, improve CRM adoption and ultimately set a higher service expectation that your customer will undoubtedly recognize. You may ask, “What service expectations?” Well, there are several that come to mind, including scheduling of service technicians, quicker turnaround on incident (case) resolution and quote generation to name a few. Best of all, it’s free for Microsoft CRM 4.0 customers and can be downloaded today at:
https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=624
Features of Mobile Express for Microsoft Dynamics 4.0
As previously stated, this mobile version of Microsoft Dynamics 4.0 does not require an installation on the device. Better yet, you have the luxury of picking what types of data will be available to CRM users as well as how they are displayed via the use of the Administrative Interface. This interface is accessed directly from within CRM. The following table shows the list of entities that are available for Mobile Express:
• Custom Entities
• Account
• Annotation
• Address
• Appointment
• Case
• Campaign
• Contact
• Competitor
• E-mail
• Fax
• Invoice
• Invoice Product
• Lead
• Letter
• Marketing List
• Opportunity
• Order
• Order Product
• Phone Call
• Quote
• Quote Product
• Task
• User
In addition to selecting (or unselecting) entities to appear to Mobile Express users, you also have the ability to manage the fields that are available, field labels, and read/write privileges. With the exception of the following entities, all other entities are editable from the mobile interface:
• Annotation
• Campaign
• E-mail
• Invoice
• Order
• Order Product
• Quote
• Quote Product
• User
Similar CRM 4.0’s Web configuration process, modifications to the Mobile Express interface can be made and stored in a configuration file. When ready, simply publish the changes via the Publish button.
Mobile Express also allows for other functionality found in the Web application. For instance, while viewing an entity’s records, you may type in a record name in the lookup field for a faster search. Plus any system views that were deployed in the Web application will be available to the mobile user. Both features allow the application to work easier for you and render the information you need to get to faster.
Lastly, since many entities have sub-entities, such as Accounts and Contacts related to those Accounts, Mobile Express provides a “Related Entities” button on every record where a related entity can exist. Furthermore, if you are user that likes “Breadcrumb” technology, to get you back to a spot you previously visited, Mobile Express offers this as well.