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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Multiple Questions on ...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Multiple Questions on CRM - To Get Started!

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Posted on by Karthick S

Hi, I have a number of questions on Dynamics CRM. Listed them below. It will be great to get some answers!

  1. What are the different licensing and product options available with CRM
  2. The Vanilla CRM, I mean, out of the box – with just configuration – what type of industries it will fit to?
  3. Which types of industries would really want CRM and will have major problems addressed with a good CRM
  4. What are the different use cases?
  5. Do we have a place where we can see industry specific CRM Solutions?
  6. Is this available from Microsoft or only partners?
  7. Using Power BI integration with CRM Online, can we create our own custom dashboards? (I know, there is something available by default with a CRM Online Content Pack, but do we have an option to further create our own dashboards?)
  8. Does Power BI integration work with On-Premise CRM also?
  9. How do we compete with SalesForce, Siebel, Zoho or any other CRMs available in the market place?
  10. What are the known limitations that we need to be aware of?
  11. People ask for setting Revenue Goals per Sales Person, Per Sales Team – and measure the revenues achieved against this – is this possible?
  12. How can we integrate with the “Enquiry form” that is usually there on a website – I mean, when people type in an enquiry, it should automatically be captured as a lead into the CRM
  13. Do we have like a Website integrated LivePerson kind of chat? – I mean, when people are browsing our website, we need to have a livechat possible and the same should be captured as a lead into the CRM – is this possible?
  14. How good is the Marketing set of Features? Can I run mail campaigns to different target audiences? Are there any daily sending limits? In CRM Online world, the SMTP Server it choses is of the Exchange Online SMTP Server – that comes as part of O365?
  15. How do we create the mailing campaign itself? If we have an HTML campaign, can we plug it into CRM?
  16. If so, what are the limitations? What does the From ID go as to the recipient?
  17. How does Unsubscribe work – if the prospect wants to unsubscribe himself from the mailing list?
  18. If a customer does not have O365 and just buys CRM Online, which SMTP will it use to send out mails? – because we will not have Exchange Online at all?
  19. For the Service Feature – can it work with IVR Systems and also trigger calls automatically and play a wave file – for instance, if a particular customer’s maintenance is due or even the bill payment is due, can it call the customer, say that – it is due and then disconnect the call?
  20. With the Social Engagement Feature, is it so easy to just setup and start using?
  21. Does it work with Facebook, Twitter and major social platforms?
  22. Can we customize the Social Engagement feature to setup targets & goals – for instance, I want to target 1000 likes in one month and track my likes against it – is this possible?

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  • Suggested answer
    Neil Parkhurst Profile Picture
    Neil Parkhurst 10,727 User Group Leader on at

    Hi,

    Gosh that is a lot of questions. Can I suggest you try to split these down into separate posts? Maybe starting off with you most urgent questions.

    I will start by trying to answer your first question on license types.

    I am not sure if you are looking at on-premise or on-line. But I've given you a couple of links that might help below.

    technet.microsoft.com/.../hh699677.aspx

    www.preact.co.uk/.../new-microsoft-dynamics-crm-licensing-options-announced

    There are two types of "install" for CRM 2016. On-premise or on-line.

    On-premise comes in two additions Server and WorkGroup. The WorkGroup Edition limits the number of users and restricts you to one organisation.

    You then get different types of CAL. Including essential, basic, professional and enterprise. Each CAL will give greater and greater functionality. With essential being very cut down and enterprise being fully functional. You should find the exact details of differences in the links I gave you. So I won't repeat that information.

    I hope this helps.

  • Suggested answer
    Neil Parkhurst Profile Picture
    Neil Parkhurst 10,727 User Group Leader on at

    Second question .... The Vanilla CRM, I mean, out of the box – with just configuration – what type of industries it will fit to?

    In my experience almost every organisation has needed some configuration. Although I have found that with many small companies this can be minimal.

    I guess it will depend on what you are trying to achieve. If an organisation simply needs to record interactions with contacts and accounts. And maybe record details of potential sales the out of box functionality can often be workable. This basic logic could be applied to most companies who sell a product or service.

    I have found a good (close) match in haulage companies, software providers and even training companies.

    But most companies I have worked with have demanded at least some configuration.

    Especially with larger companies who tend to need CRM to be integrated with other line of business applications, telephony systems and such like.

  • Suggested answer
    Neil Parkhurst Profile Picture
    Neil Parkhurst 10,727 User Group Leader on at

    Question 3 - Which types of industries would really want CRM and will have major problems addressed with a good CRM.

    This question isn't specific to Dynamics CRM. I would suggest that almost any company can benefit from some kind of CRM.

    But in particular you could probably think of loads of industry types that really depend on networks of contacts. The legal professional, for example, seems to have very clear needs to understand how their customers / contacts relate to each other.

    Any organisation with a contact centre is going to want to log interactions with their customers and potentials. This could cover any large organisation. I have often seen CRM deployed in telecoms, utilities, banking and insurance. All of which may have high volume contact centres. (Unified Service Desk is one part of CRM that can help here.)

    With the addition of FieldOne into CRM 2016 we would also now think about any company that has mobile engineers installing or servicing equipment in the field.

    In built marketing capabilities, MDM and third party tools like ClickDimensions make CRM a great tool for any organisation that needs to canvas leads. I guess this covers a large amount of situations. I have personal experience of this in several industries include mobile phone sales, utilities and insurance.

    I guess the short answer could be ..... most industries can benefit from a CRM solution but for some it is an essential tool without which they couldn't operate.

  • Suggested answer
    Neil Parkhurst Profile Picture
    Neil Parkhurst 10,727 User Group Leader on at

    What are the different use cases?

    I have seem cases used in several organisations. In multiple ways.

    Cases are the key entity involved in the service management side of CRM. So they relate to various other entities, like entitlements, SLA, queues, contracts, work orders etc etc.

    Cases are typically used as "tickets" to record what "jobs" need to be done for a customer, who is doing them and how a company performed in the execution of the associated service. These jobs could be very varied. It might be installing a new piece of hardware, setting up a new bank account or simply answering a question.

    It is worth knowing that FieldOne builds on this concept further by having a work order(s). These are used when the case can't be resolved internally. As with a work order you dispatch a field engineer to complete the job.

    I have seen cases used in software support companies to log issues, track bug fixed and measure performance against agreed SLA. And with them always being related to a support contract.

    In financial companies I have seen the case used more as a internal "container" for tasks. Something that helped complex business processes be very simply controlled. As a way of grouping a number of activities together that need to be completed. Often this concept can be enhanced by parent and child cases.

    In telecoms companies I have seen requests to install new phone lines logged as cases. Then once all the associated activities are completed the case is resolved as the job had been completed.

    etc, etc etc. (Hopefully I have given you a flavour.)

  • Suggested answer
    Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member on at

    A couple of things that I think may answer at least a couple of your questions:

    Creation of leads from external source (e.g. website, e-mail, etc) is possible. There's a solid SDK for CRM using C#, so you can use it in dynamics websites using a C# backend (e.g. MVC .NET websites). Not just leads but also cases, accounts, contacts – anything, really.

    You can convert almost any external source of data into CRM posts with the proper know-how (contacts and marketing lists for campaigns, for instance).

    Integrations and solutions such as these seldom come OOB. You either require a third-party solution, or the assistance of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner.

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