New CRM Web Resource

Management Technology Consulting have setup a new resource for prospects and customers of Microsoft CRM mtccrm.com.
The site is a collection point of partner developed tools for the application. This makes it a powerful resourse for the small to medium business who have taken on an implementation of Microsoft CRM.

Goldmine and Windows NT

This is a bit of a hairy situation. The current versions of Goldmine (ie. 6.0, 6.6 and 6.7) are not supported under the Windows NT operating system. This holds for both Client and Server Installations. The latest version that will still install under the NT OS is 5.7. The latest release version for this is 5.70.30503, which was release in May 2003. However this appears to have some bugs under NT.

• Selecting a value from a Lookup dropdown in any activity screen will not fill the value into the corresponding field. You can work around this problem by selecting the Lookup Window... from the bottom of the menu and selecting the value. Typing in the field is also a work around.
• The Right click menu (on the history tab etc.) is limited only options of Zoom, Options and 1011011. The normal menu is not accessible or displayed. This is an issue if you want to edit the entry in the tab.

A previous version 5.70.20222 (or Goldmine Sales and Marketing 2002 MR2) does not have these Issues under NT4.0 but you do miss out on the following fixes and ehancements.

• Changed: Security access for GoldMine e-mail and scheduled activities now matches behavior in 5.50.10424 release.
• Fixed: Word97 problem where the Link (add-in) would stop responding when merging GoldMine data.
• Fixed: History tab sort order issue where the entries were displayed in reverse order when a filter was applied. (Applies to Microsoft SQL Server based systems only.)
• Fixed: Issue where applying the Optimize Org Chart Access option would cause queries on Detail records to no longer utilize shadow fields. (Applies to Microsoft SQL Server based systems only.)

However at this stage 5.70.20222 is the only version which will allow users to normally function under Windows NT4.0

Goldmine 6.7 Decimal Issues

There is an issue with the latest version of Goldmine when displaying decimals. Any Decimal Fields that contain zeros are truncated, i.e. 1000 would be viewed as 1. At this stage is mainly with Versions that are on DBase but any system that has been upgraded from a DBase version to SQL will also experience the problem. There is soon to be a patch released but at this stage it looks like it's best to stick with Goldmine 6.6.

Forcing an SFO Client Online

This is actually easier than it looks... It's simply done by changing a registry value on the client. The key RCOffline controls the client’s state. Changing this value to 0 will cause the system to change to online.

I've had quite a few requests for this over the last week so I thought I should put it up.

Microsoft CRM SFO updated patch released

There has been a new patch released for the Sales for Outlook client which addresses about 55 of the previous issues with the Outlook client (which I’ve listed below). The patch is available here. Considering all the issues that can occur with the outlook client it would be worth applying this patch before going through any troubleshooting.

The following key updates and hotfixes are included in the update rollup:
833621 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Enhancements
834640 Attachments to e-mail may not be sent in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook
835582 Certain sales orders and quotes fail to open and an error message occurs in Microsoft CRM 1.0
837059 Update to Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2: Add Coordinated Universal Time +12:00 to the list of selectable time zones
840058 An Internet Explorer message appears when you promote an e-mail to a Microsoft CRM activity in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
870635 An update is available to correct problems of Microsoft Business Solutions CRM working on Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
873261 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Performance Enhancement Update
888006 Microsoft CRM toolbar occasionally cannot be loaded in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
892352 When you are offline in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook, you cannot open records that you own or you cannot see records that you own
830360 Default picklist value in an Opportunity, Contact, or Account is not set if the record is created from Lead conversion in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM
832869 After daylight-saving time starts, Advanced Find may not return records that were created before that date in Microsoft CRM and in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook
833621 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Enhancements
834640 Attachments to e-mail may not be sent in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook
835296 E-mail templates are not sorted in alphabetical order in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
835306 When the last stage in the Workflow sales process rule is "Change the State to Won," the Actual Close Date field is not populated in Microsoft CRM 1.2
835307 The Created On Last 7 Days column in the Advanced Find dialog box returns all records instead of the records that were created during the last seven days in Microsoft CRM
835314 Column headings disappear when you scroll right and then click the Preview icon to view a record in a custom view in Microsoft CRM 1.2
835316 The URL field is no longer an active Web link on the product, unless you are logged on as the Integration user in Microsoft CRM 1.0 and 1.2
835582 Certain sales orders and quotes fail to open and an error message occurs in Microsoft CRM 1.0
837059 Update to Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2: Add Coordinated Universal Time +12:00 to the list of selectable time zones
839156 Unable to close an opportunity if "User Provided" is selected for the estimated revenue and no revenue amount is specified in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM version 1.2
839160 You can select deactivated entities in the Regarding field of an Appointment activity in Microsoft CRM
839163 Microsoft CRM 1.2 Post URL action fails when calling a Web service or Web application that performs a long running operation
840058 An Internet Explorer message appears when you promote an e-mail to a Microsoft CRM activity in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
840306 Using the Find field to search for text does not display the results unless you are on the first page of the results list in Microsoft CRM version 1.2
841411 Unhandled exception occurs when working with existing E-mail Activities in Microsoft CRM 1.2
841648 A message appears in the Check Names dialog box when an Appointment record is updated in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
842539 Modified On and Est. Revenue values on the opportunity form are not updated in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
842540 An Internet Explorer script error occurs when you try to refresh the Filter Criteria page in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
843172 The custom picklist field is set to NULL by default on Quote records created from the Opportunity form in Microsoft CRM 1.2
870575 Carriage returns in the quote's description are removed on mail merge from Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
870578 Microsoft CRM 1.2 hotfix rollup for the problems that are documented in Knowledge Base articles 832869 and 835307
870635 An update is available to correct problems of Microsoft Business Solutions CRM working on Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
873261 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2 Performance Enhancement Update
885368 You cannot create a contact in Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2
885754 The Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook client or Web client may become unresponsive during Advanced Find searches
886283 An error occurs after you configure Microsoft CRM 1.2 to use a non-U.S. currency number grouping format
886355 Microsoft CRM 1.2 Hotfix Rollup for 840058, 841648, 843172, 870575, 888004, 888005, and 888006
887842 You receive an “Error: This is an unexpected token. The expected token is 'SEMICOLON'. Line 1 position 1780” message when you click the Sales Process tab in Microsoft CRM 1.2
888004 Cannot create orders that have 0.00 price per unit for the order product in Microsoft CRM 1.2
888005 Closing a Microsoft CRM task through Microsoft Outlook does not set the Actual End field on the task in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
888006 Microsoft CRM toolbar occasionally cannot be loaded in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook 1.2
889705 You receive an error message when you go offline in the Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook-based client
890081 The same date appears two times in the Microsoft CRM 1.2 calendar
890485 You receive an error message when you try to accept an activity from a Microsoft CRM queue
890594 When you create mail merge activities in the Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook client, the actual end date for these activities is not set
890596 You cannot read e-mail messages in Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook when the messages are encoded in the KOI8-R, KOI8-U, or ISO 8859-5 character sets
890597 A Microsoft CRM workflow that is based on an Opportunity Change Status event does not work correctly after you install Hotfix KB833621
890598 After you install hotfix 870578 in Microsoft CRM 1.2, Advanced Find searches that use the On operator return records for the day before the date that you specify
891715 After you apply hotfix 870578 to Microsoft Business Solutions CRM 1.2 Server, the picklist fields in all the list views do not display their selected values
870578 Microsoft CRM 1.2 hotfix rollup for the problems that are documented in Knowledge Base articles 832869 and 835307
891963 When you open an opportunity that contains associated products, Microsoft CRM times out
891966 A corresponding activity is not created when you reply to an e-mail message in Microsoft CRM
892305 Microsoft Business Solutions CRM version 1.2 may stop responding when you create several Notes
892352 When you are offline in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook, you cannot open records that you own or you cannot see records that you own

Error Number:0x80040216 when Sending Emails (in CRM)

This is the error that some people have been receiving after upgrading their Exchange 2003 Server to SP1 and using CRM 1.2

Microsoft CRM Platform Error Report:
Error Description:
An unexpected error occurred.

Error Details:
An error occurred attempting to dispatch the email : HTTP
status: 404 Not Found. URL may be invalid

Error Number:
0x80040216

Source File:
D:\mscrm\Build\3017\src\platform\include\proxy\proxyutil.h

Line Number:
47

To rectify the issue go into the properties of the "MSCRMCONNECTOR" virtual directory in IIS6 and manually create a mapping for .srf files to the CRM ISAPI extension. The CRM ISAPI extension is by default located at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft CRM\MSCRMConnector\CrmExIsapi.dll”

Something else you may want to check is to make sure the MSCRMCONNECTOR directory is not set to require SSL. There should be an event log error being written in the CRM server when e-mail submissions fail. This may also provide clues to the problem.

Finally ensure that the website is started.

Microsoft to combine MBS applications in one code base

This article was posted on Computer World. It outlines plans for "Project Green" where it is to combine its major business applications -- Axapta, Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Microsoft CRM. The plan is to ship the applications in two waves with the first wave shipping this year.

The task of aligning Microsoft's collection of business applications around a common technology stack will happen in two distinct stages, Microsoft Senior Vice President Doug Burgum said Monday in a keynote address opening the company's Convergence conference, in San Diego.

A "first wave" of applications will begin shipping this year, while a "second wave" is scheduled to commence in 2008, leading to a converged code base, Burgum said.

Burgum heads Microsoft Business Solutions, the unit Microsoft created several years ago by combining its own back-office application development projects with two acquired companies, Great Plains and Navision. The move gave Microsoft a substantial portfolio of midmarket ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) products, but also left it with overlapping software suites built around different architectures.

Microsoft announced plans to combine its major business applications -- Axapta, Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Microsoft CRM -- on one code base, dubbed "Project Green." The company initially put Project Green on an ambitious development path and forecast deliverables as early as 2004, but in the past year Microsoft has extended its development window and scaled back expectations.

The full article is available here.

Report Manager Left navigation pane starts then errors (in Microsoft CRM)

After installing Report Manager for CRM 1.2 the Report Manager opens and asks you to login to the Crystal APS. Once this is sucessful the system redirects you to the Report Manager Page but once the page has finished loading the Left navigation bar (almost immediately) changes to "Page can't be Displayed".

This is often caused by the Report Manager virtual directory being created under the default website not the CRM website.

Details on Microsoft CRM 2005

JonWhite has posted some details on the upcoming release of Microsoft CRM. JonWhite is a "CRM ISV Evangelist" with Microsoft. He's included some details on the reasons for the delay with the new version.

Why are we pushing back the release date of Microsoft CRM?
With the release of the v1 and v1.2 solution we have learned and confirmed several things about the CRM market and our customers and partners: a high global market demand requires that releases of Microsoft CRM be available in all languages within a quarter of US availability. Microsoft CRM serves a broader market than originally targeted, meaning that we are expanding our performance capabilities to ensure that customers with the simplest needs have a solution that can be installed with few clicks AND that our most sophisticated customers can have the extensibility, performance, and multiple client capabilities they require. Finally, our customers are demanding that Microsoft sets a new bar for what a CRM solution needs to be across the market.

The full details can be found here. He also has a post on the Next Version Focus Areas which gives some insight into the new direction.

Removing a License from a user no longer in AD (in Microsoft CRM)

This issue comes up quite often in implementations where the Administration of Users and the CRM system is segregated. The associated AD user account was deleted prior to the CRM administrator removing the license, leaving the License still associated to a non-existent AD Account.

First of all you will need your CRM license key. Also it is recommended that you do not delete CRM Users out of Active Directory before reassigning their records and taking their CRM License away. Adding the User back into AD creates a new Security ID (SID) for the user, which does not match the SID associated with the existing CRM User (even though they might have the same login information). The system is looking for the old SID in AD when attempting to remove the license.

To re-assign the license

You will need to be able to log into the domain and into Microsoft CRM as a user with System Administrator privileges.

1. Exit all users from Microsoft CRM - probably best doing this after hours.

2. Remove the license from your deployment. This is done on the CRM Server.
a. In Deployment Manager (Start, Programs, Microsoft CRM, Deployment Manager), expand the License Manager node on the left side of the window.
b. Highlight the organization name. The right side of the window should display your License Type, the number of users and your License Key. Print this e-mail so you can type the License Key in a later step.
c. Right-click the entry that has this information and choose Delete License from the context menu.

3. Add the license back in the same window.
a. Right-click the blank area in the window and choose New, License.
b. Type your license key in the License Key field, then finish the wizard by clicking Next and Finish.

4. In Microsoft CRM, add the license back to the existng users.
a. Launch Microsoft CRM as a user with System Administrator privileges.
b. Click the Settings side tab on the Home Page, then click Business Unit Settings, then click Users.
c. For every user (one at a time), open the User record, click the Licenses side tab, then click Manage Licenses, and add the Sales Standard license to each user.

Unable to send an email as another user (in Microsoft CRM)

I had this problem a while ago which I'd posted on a couple of CRM Newsgroups, I never got a response and I'd all but forgotten about i. However I had another user post on the question today which prompted me to submit it to Microsoft to see if I could get it sorted out.

Here's the Issue :-

I am trying to send a direct email template as another user and I am having issues. There issue is to do with assigning as another user. Here is the process that I am following.

1. I select the records (contacts or accounts) that I wish to send the email to.
2. I select Actions -> Send Direct E-Mail
3. I select the appropriate template that I wish to send
4. I select the Option to Send Direct e-mail to: Selected Items on this page
5. I select the magnifing glass at the right of User/Queue: to select the Send direct e-mail from: field
6. In the Look Up Records Window I select the Go button and I see only my own Username.

No matter of searching (ie entering correct user names or wild characters) will result in another User Name being displayed.I have tried adding Users to Teams/Territories they are all in the same Business Unit. I have tried from a System Administrator account however none of these have resulted in another user being displayed.

This is the response on the problem :-

This functionality is actually by design the way it is working. As a logged-in user, you can only make the “From” field be populated by the user himself or any queue that the user has access to. Therefore, the lookup button is for the user to choose whether he wants to send the email using his own account or if he wants to use a queue that he has access to. The most logical explanation that I can think of is because of security reasons (e.g. you do not want other people to use your name to send their emails). Currently, there is no way to change the user from which the email is sent. Only the user which you are logged into CRM can be the sending user.

Unfortunately the option is to use a Queue as an alternative.

SQL 2000 SP4 Beta

About Databases recently posted.

SQL Server 2000 SP4 Beta Test
Microsoft is seeking users willing to beta-test SQL Server 2000 SP4, SQL Server 2005 Express and Reporting Services SP2. If you're interested in participating, visit the Microsoft Beta Test site.

However, I've recently started on the Microsoft CRM v2.0 TAP(Technology Adoption Program) and a requirement of the new product is a SQL Server on SP4 so it looks like MS will be getting quite a few more testers for SQL Server 2000 SP4 by default.

More Hotfixes and Workarounds for CRM

893391 Frequently asked questions about the Cassini Web server in Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook

What is the Cassini Web server?
The Cassini Web server is a simple, fully managed Web server that hosts ASP.NET. The Cassini Web server is a combination of the following:

• A simple HTTP listener that was built by using System.Net.Sockets.
• A hosting sample of ASP.NET that was built by using System.Web.Hosting APIs.

This lets you host ASP.NET from any managed application.

What are some known functionality limitations of the Cassini Web server?
• It can host only one ASP.NET application per port.
• It does not support HTTPS.
• It does not support authentication.
• It responds only to localhost requests.

Does the Outlook client use Internet Information Server (IIS)?
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) is a Web server that includes configuration, logging, authentication, authorization, HTTPS support, multiple-site support, and performance and reliability tuning. It would require significantly more resources and would put an additional burden on the client computer if the Outlook client used IIS. Additionally, IIS requires local administrator privileges to be configured and adequately maintained. The Cassini Web server does not depend on IIS. However, it can run side-by-side with IIS depending on the configuration settings.

How does the Outlook client use the Cassini Web server?
The Cassini Web server is installed during the installation of the Outlook client and is preconfigured to listen to port 2525. The CassiniPort registry setting must be set to 2525 so that the Outlook client can communicate with the Cassini Web server.

The Cassini Web server starts only when the Microsoft CRM Outlook toolbar is loaded in Microsoft Outlook. Therefore, the Cassini Web server runs within the Outlook process on the client computer. After Outlook closes, or after the CRMAddin.dll file is unloaded, the Cassini Web server unloads from the Outlook process.

The Outlook client uses the Cassini Web server to render the Microsoft CRM pages in Outlook. The .aspx pages are stored in the \Microsoft CRM\Client\res\web folder. Additionally, the .aspx pages are similar to the pages that are used by the Microsoft CRM Web site, except for certain code that is specific to the Outlook client.
The Outlook client pages are rendered by the Cassini Web server when the Outlook
client is online or offline. The location of the data that is retrieved by the .aspx pages depends on the state of the Outlook client. If the Outlook client is online, TCP/IP is used to retrieve the data through SOAP calls to the Microsoft CRM server. If the Outlook client is offline, the data is retrieved through named pipes from the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) database.

Can you replace the Cassini Web server with another Web server?
You cannot currently replace the Cassini Web server with another Web server, such as IIS.

Can you bypass the Cassini Web server while you are online and then request pages directly from the Microsoft CRM server?
All components of the Outlook client are dependant on one another. The CRMAddin.dll file calls the Cassini Web server and loads it into the Outlook process. The ability to replace or bypass this Cassini component is currently not supported.

Is the Cassini Web server open-source software?
Although the source code for the public version of the Cassini Web server is available for download, the instance of the Cassini Web server that is installed with the Outlook client is not an open-source product.

Does Microsoft Business Solutions support the Cassini Web server?
The instance of the Cassini Web server that is installed with the Outlook client is part of of Microsoft CRM. Therefore, it is supported by our support team like any other Microsoft CRM component.

Is the Cassini Web server subject to Trustworthy Computing?
We are dedicated to Trustworthy Computing. Therefore, we monitor security threats to the components of Microsoft CRM. This includes the instance of the Cassini Web server that is installed with the Outlook client. For additional information about the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing initiative, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/default.mspx

890594 When you use mail merge to create a new activity on a Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook client, the Actual End date for the activity is not set

You use mail merge to create a new activity on a Microsoft Business Solutions CRM Sales for Outlook client. The Actual End date for this activity is not set and shows the default value of NULL.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to
correct the problem that is described in this article.
Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This
hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely
affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next version of
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services
to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services
phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following
Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[LN];CNTACTMS

Microsoft CRM Delay Irks Users

This article from eWEEK tends to indicate that not all is happy in the user camp with the Microsoft Delay.

Customer dissatisfaction is growing with Microsoft Corp.'s delayed CRM release
cycle, even as the Redmond, Wash., company has hired a veteran CRM executive to
help get the product out the door.

Brad Wilson, a former marketing
executive with PeopleSoft Inc. and Epiphany Inc., joined Microsoft in early
February, at the same time the company announced another delay for its
long-awaited Microsoft CRM 2.0, originally due to ship early last year.

Read the full article here.

Host of Hotfixes for Microsoft CRM are released

I know I'm a little behind the eight ball on these hotfixes but I was away last week and didn't get around to much updating. It is good to see that Microsoft have continued to update and support the current version of MSCRM prior to the release of CRM 2005.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

835294 A hotfix is available for Microsoft CRM Integration for Great Plains that corrects the problems that are described in articles 834386 and 835468

892550 You receive an error message when you try to remove a Microsoft CRM license from a user

870576 You receive a "Page cannot be displayed" or an "Unexpected error has occurred" error message when you try to send an e-mail by using Microsoft CRM 1.2 Sales for Outlook

887842 You receive an "Error: This is an unexpected token. The expected token is; Line 1 position 1780" message when you click the Sales Process tab in Microsoft CRM 1.2

886283 An error occurs after you configure Microsoft CRM 1.2 to use a non-U.S. currency number grouping format

890598 After you install hotfix 870578 in Microsoft CRM 1.2, Advanced Find searches that use the On operator return records for the day before the date that you specify.

Frontrange Foundation Dashboard

I had the chance to play around with the new IT Service Management offering which is built on the new Foundation Technology.

Part of the new foundation is the Dashboard. The biggest thing that caught my eye was the flexible ad hoc reporting functionality it provided.

Basically you can design a "Search" (a nice user friendly window around building a query) and then attach a graph/chart to it and place it in the dashboard.

Clicking on the graph allows you to drill down into a grid format of the current data for that search.

The really cool thing is you can then drag one (or more) of the colomn headings into the title bar and the grid will now be grouped (not sorted, but yes grouped) by that field. If you want more grouping just drag more coloumns up. It's a really simple but extremely powerful concept.

You can check out an IT Service Management Flash demo of the software.

Heat Self Service and the Global.asa

This is an issue that I used to get a lot with the implementation of Heat Self Service but I haven't seen it for a while.

Error '8002802b' Element not found. /HEATSelfService/global.asa, line 16
This is basically due to the system having difficulty accessing the catalog (HFW) file for the Heat System
1. Stop the WWW Service
2. Delete the .HFW file from the C:\Program Files\HEAT
3. Delete LD, SC, WD from HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Frontrange Solutions\HEAT Self Service
4. Start WWW Service