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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5 - Features Overview

Post Author: Joe D365 |

In late October, Q4 2011 Service Update (also known as CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5 or UR5) was published and is the first release of Microsoft's new program to rollout new Dynamics CRM 2011 features on a twice yearly basis. We are pumped about these additions! After a month of playing around and getting our hands dirty with the new additions, here's an overview of the new features now available.

CRM Outlook Client Enhancements

One of the biggest improvements with this service update involves email tracking. It's now an asynchronous process, so when you click on Track in CRM, the process of tracking that email occurs behind the scenes and does not slow down sending the email. AWESOME!

Dialogs & Workflows

With Q4 2011 Service Update, you now have the ability to add Dynamic record hyperlinks to Workflows and Dialogs. All entities now include a Dynamic URL field that can be added to any email notification by using the Insert Hyperlink feature. Check out our blog post about adding hyperlinks to email notifications: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5 – Adding a Hyperlink to Email Notifications via a Workflow

Dialogs were added to CRM 2011 and provide a simple user interface that walks users step-by-step through a business process. In this update, new field types are now supported in CRM 2011 dialogs, such as look ups and dates. Adding these data options really expands the flexibility of dialogs.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 5

Business Intelligence

A super-cool addition to CRM 2011 in this update is the capability to create multi-series charts! You can now join different sets of data on a single chart. This means you can compare different data sets right within a chart. How cool is that! A great example is comparing Actual Revenue and Estimated Revenue for an Account or Sales Person.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 UR5            MSDYNCRM UR5

More cool additions to charts are the options for stacked bar and stacked column charts and the ability to set Top/Bottom Rules.

Duplicate Detection Rules

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 allows you to create duplicate detection rules to increase data integrity and decrease duplicate record creation. This latest service update provides more flexibility when setting up these duplicate detection rules. You can now choose whether or not to ignore null values, giving you more control of the potential duplicates that are flagged for further clean-up.

Microsoft CRM Duplicate Detection

Activity Feeds

Another awesome feature to Q4 2011 Service Update is the addition of Activity Feeds. These are the Microsoft CRM 2011 version of your LinkedIn or Facebook home page where it displays recent 'activities' or updates related to those entities in which you choose to follow. This mini Social Networking tool within CRM, will increase communication and provide quick and easy access to information you need.

Check out our blogs about activity feeds:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Activity Feed, Part 1 – Getting Started

Microsoft Dynamic CRM 2011 Activity Feed Part 2 – Working with Activity Feeds

Dynamics CRM Activity Feeds

These are the coolest of the cool new updates to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 in the recent Q4 2011 Service Update. If you need any help with the new service updates or are looking for a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner with a ton of experience, don't hesitate to contact us.

What has been your favorite feature addition in UR5? And why?

Happy CRM'ing!

(If you want to check out the technical specs and download RU5, go to the Microsoft Download Center.)

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

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