CRM Licensing

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Posted on by Community Member Microsoft Employee

Hi all,

Like many people I have found CRM licensing documentation to be quite ambiguous and confusing. I have received conflicting information from local contacts at Microsoft, so am hoping the community can assist with the following questions:

1. We have cubes and SSRS reports based on SQL queries to CRM data (not using CRM embedded or CRM generated reports). Do users viewing these reports require CRM licenses?

2. We have users using the CRM App for iPad to view/edit leads, cases, contacts and accounts. The documentation suggests a user can use CRM Mobile/For Outlook/For Ipad with any license. Does this mean a user with an Essential license can access any entity available CRM Mobile? Or does this grant them access to the basic application but access to entities is restricted according to the license. i.e. they need a Basic license to edit cases through CRM Mobile, but can use an Essential license if they are only accessing activities?

3. We have a custom application that queries the CRM database and allows technicians to view cases and record certain actions to a custom database (accept issue, arrive on site, resolve issue). A scheduled integration runs on the server and resolves cases that have been completed. Users of this application do not directly use any "CRM functionality" (e.g. no webservice/api or direct access). However, we are aware that they are indirectly updating CRM and therefore understand that a license is probably required to be compliant. Do the users of this custom application require an essential license or a basic license?

4. An essential license apparently has "full access" to activities but "no access" to contacts/accounts. What if they need to set a contact as a recipient, or set the regarding field to an account. Are they able to do this under Essential or do they need Basic to be able to append contact/account information?

5. Can anyone identify exactly what "custom application data" (Essential/Basic/Pro) and "CRM application data" (Basic/Pro) are?

6. "Access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM through Microsoft Dynamics CRM for iPad & Windows 8 is included with every CAL, with no additional license fees for mobile access." Does this mean that a device licensed user (e.g. linked to one PC) can use CRM mobile on their phone, or only if they use the same PC?

Many thanks in advance for anyone who can provide some clarity on this.

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Answers (1)

Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

Thanks Nadeeja and Ted for the answers and information provided. I think one of the hardest things is that licensing cannot easily be tested (e.g. a lot of unlicensed activities are not physically prevented by CRM).

Your answers definitely clarified things.

Many thanks,

Doug
Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

Thanks very much Nadeeja. I would mark your answer as verified but only Doug can do that (since he originally asked the question).
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Nadeeja Bomiriya 6,804 on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

Hi Ted,

Please see below for the CRM 2015 Licesing Guide.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=45904

I believe your screenshot is from a Guide released in December 2014. Microsoft must have extended the usage rights in later Guides. Therefore, based on above guide, yes, you have full access to Accounts and Contacts.

Regarding Device CALs, the purpose of Device CALs is to provide a more affordable pricing option for organisations with shift workers. One Device can be used by 3 people in a single day in 3 different shifts. This would be more affordable than 3 User CALs. Any device, regardless of if it's a Mobile, PC, or Mac, it's a device. Therefore, yes, you would need 100 Device CALs. It would be better to go for a User CAL, if a user will use multiple devices.

Dynamics 365 introduced a different licensing model and I am sure many more questions will come in the future :).

http://download.microsoft.com/documents/en-us/dynamics/pricing/Dynamics_365_Enterprise_edition_Licensing_Guide.pdf

Cheers,

Nadeeja

If the answer solves your problem, please mark as Verified. Thanks.

My Blog: http://dyn365apps.com/ - Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dyn365apps

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadeeja
Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

Hi Nadeeja,

Thank you for bringing some clarity to this. To follow up:

#4: I was a little (pleasantly) surprised that essential users have full access to accounts and contacts. According to licensing guide from Microsoft, only Basic Users and Professional users have access to Accounts and Contacts (see my screenshot). As I understand it you are saying that Essential Users can modify data in these records.

#6: To clarify, does a mobile phone count as one device for the Device CAL licensing? For example, a company that has fifty mobile phones and fifty laptops and wants to purchase only device licenses, in this case will they need to purchase 100 device CALs to be able to allow their users to login on every single device?

By the way, for those who are interested if you call 866-230-0560, they will transfer you to the phone number 877-276-2464 (877-CRM-CHOICE) which is the phone number for Microsoft Dynamics sales, customer service, and support. Their sales team hours are (8 am to 5:30 PM Central time although when I called just now nobody answered the phone and I was asked to leave voice mail).

Regards,

Ted
Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

its really confusing for me too
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Nadeeja Bomiriya 6,804 on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

Hi Doug,

Please see the answers for your licensing questions as per my experience.

1. No. Due to no automation.

2. Regardless of which client application you use to access CRM data, the licence restrictions still apply.

3. If the users of the custom application are employees of the organisation, they do need a license. Which one, depends on what level of access they require.

4. Essential license has full access to Accounts and Contacts and read access to Cases and Knowledge management.

5. Sorry. The question is not clear.

6. This simply means, if you have a license to access CRM via the normal web application, you don't need to pay extra to use the mobile app (Other CRM system do charge separately for their mobile apps)

Cheers,

Nadeeja

If the answer solves your problem, please mark as Verified. Thanks.

My Blog: http://dyn365apps.com/ - Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dyn365apps

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadeeja
Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

You are right. It is very ambiguous. If anybody has any knowledge regarding these questions (especially the question about mobile phone device CAL), it would be very helpful to the Dynamics Community.

I also am confused about the statement "Access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM through Microsoft Dynamics CRM for iPad & Windows 8 is included with every CAL, with no additional license fees for mobile access" in the licensing guide.

From a practical perspective it would seem like you would need a device CAL even for a tablet or mobile phone, but the licensing guide does not specifically address this issue.

Also, the complete contact information for the Volume Licensing Service Center is found on this page (with different contact numbers for different countries). https://www.microsoft.com/Licensing/servicecenter/Help/Contact.aspx
Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

Hello Doug,

if you are not clear with the licensing of CRM, please call

866-230-0560

Chetan
Community Member Microsoft Employee on at

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RE: CRM Licensing

UPDATE: This is CRM 2015 On Premise