Quick Tip: Set Personal Options in CRM Online 2011

Businesses are always looking to hire developers for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Customization and Configuration, but there are configurations that can be made on a more personal and cosmetic level that do not require assistance from a developer. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011 contains several personal options that are unique to every user and can be customized to match the preferences of a user. In this article we’ll walk you through some of the basic personal changes you can make to your CRM Online 2011 environment. Some of the options that we will be configuring are only available if you are using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Office Outlook client, so we will be guiding you from the perspective of a user with the client installed.

From Microsoft Office Outlook, open the File menu, click on CRM, and then click on Options (see below).

The Set Personal Options dialog opens (see below in all screen shots). We’ll step through some of the handier settings.

In the General tab, the Show Get Started panes on all lists option (see below) controls the appearance of the Get Started panes in the CRM Online interface, which will provide a helpful overview throughout your use of CRM Online 2011 by popping up over your lists and providing you with links and tips to common tasks. We recommend leaving this checked until you feel you are familiar with CRM Online 2011. (Note: Even if you turn on the Get Started panes in your personal options, you will not be able to see them if your system administrator has turned them off globally—for everyone. Ask to have the option to show these turned on again via Settings > System > Administration > System Settings > General > Set the display option for Get Started panes.)

If you scroll down in the General tab, you’ll notice some other options (see below). Under Set the number of records shown per page in any list of records, we recommend changing the Records Per page value to “100”. This will increase the number of items listed when browsing CRM Online 2011, and really saves time when trying to find specific items in a long list of data. If you need to use a different personal default currency than the default currency that your system administrator sets for the organization, choose it in the Currency field.

Click on the Synchronization tab (see below). The Schedule automatic synchronization with Outlook section allows you to configure how often the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Outlook client synchronizes with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 database. By default it is set to 15 minutes. We recommend increasing the period between synchronizations to either 30 minutes or 60 minutes to maintain available bandwidth and minimize the possibility of synchronization errors.

Click on the Workplace tab (see below). This tab allows you to configure the Select which groups are displayed in the Workplace pane option. Personally, we prefer to add the Sales and Service groups to the workplace area by checking their respective boxes.

Last but not least, let’s configure the e-mail tracking options. Click on the E-mail tab, and look in the Select the e-mail messages to track in Microsoft Dynamics CRM section (see below). Change the value of the Track option to “All e-mail messages” and click OK. By default, Outlook only tracks e-mails in Microsoft Dynamics CRM that you manually tell it too (or responses to e-mails that are already being tracked). Enabling automatic tracking saves you time by removing that manual step.

That’s it! Just like that we’ve tweaked your CRM Online 2011 settings to fit you a little better. We recommend that you continue to tweak these settings to see what is right for you. Check out more tips from xRM.com at our Microsoft Dynamics CRM Blog or learn more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM Hosting.