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Top 10 New Features in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Update 1

Post Author: Joe D365 |

Organizations using Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will have the opportunity to implement Dynamics CRM 2015 Update 1 this spring! This update is also known as part of the Spring Wave or code name "Carina" from Microsoft. Although the release date hasn't been announced yet, the update contains more functionality that allows organizations to leverage out-of-the-box (OOB) features. Unlike typical Top 10 lists, the following is not in an order of preference because Microsoft Dynamics CRM is so flexible and has so much to offer it would be impossible for us to prioritize. Overall we are super excited about the changes to the User Interface in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1.

  1. Themes

    You can now brand your CRM! Themes offer the option of changing the default colors and adding your logo to the top navigation as pictured below. This is just one more way to customize CRM to match the uniqueness of your organization.

     

     

  2. Main Menu Navigation

    The Navigation in CRM will look familiar to any Microsoft Dynamics Marketing (MDM) users. The home icon has been replaced with a main menu option and less horizontal scrolling. Find what you need faster!

     

     

  3. Recently Viewed or Pinned items

    A recently viewed icon has also been added to the top navigation bar enabling you to quickly find your most recently viewed or pinned items throughout CRM.

     

  4. OneNote Integration

    Users can now easily capture meeting details using OneNote from within CRM Online. This functionality allows the information to be available to other CRM Online users in the Social Pane. (See: Enable OneNote integration)

     

     

  5. Advanced Find Adds Older Than option

    You have to see it to believe it! The use cases for this option are endless and empowers users to access the information they need more efficiently.

     

  6. Export to Excel Redesign

    In addition to replacing the wizard with a single click to download feature (as if that was not fabulous enough), the record limitation for both import and export has been increased to 100,000 records or 32MB! Yes you read that correctly, this increased from 10,000 to 100,000 records!

  7. Immersive Excel

    Users on the go will love this functionality. When starting from a view, selecting Export to Excel and then Open in Excel Online you can quickly analyze or edit data in Excel Online.

     

  8. Folder-level Email Tracking

    Exchange email users can establish a tracking folder so incoming emails can simply be dropped into the folder (manually or by leveraging Exchange Inbox rules) and automatically tracked in CRM. Note this requires server-side synchronization.

     

  9. Mobile on Smartphones

    Windows Phone users can now use Cortana voice commands (yes, this means hands-free) and access CRM data! Additionally, the phone app has been enhanced to provide the same mobile experience as CRM for tablets. (See: CRM for tables and phones).

     

  10. System Administrator and Customizer Platform Improvements
    1. New functions on calculated fields: Now() and DateDiff will be available
    2. Business rules: can now be set to null or removed
    3. A date only field is now available
    4. Create system rules that will automatically create or update a record based upon an incoming activity (such as an email)

Looking for a refresher on the new features that come with the original release of CRM 2015? Read the blog!

Top 10 Features of CRM 2015.

Wondering if you’re ready to upgrade to CRM 2015?

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Happy CRM'ing!

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.

12 comments on “Top 10 New Features in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Update 1”

  1. I noticed that when I upload a logo to my theme, the top nav button (logo) area is expanded to include a buffer either side of the logo. At first I thought my logo simply wasn't wide enough but I increased the width and the nav button area increased to accommodate a new buffer space. This is particularly noticeable if your nav bar color is different to your logo. Is there a way to prevent this from happening? I'd rather fill the whole top left hand nav button area with the logo and use the rest of the nav bar to the right for menu etc.

    1. Hi Emily - yeah - we noticed this too. we hope this will be fixed in a future update. In meantime we are always making background color match the logo background.

      1. Thanks Joe, nice to know it's not just me. Great article by the way. I'm having great fun playing with all the new features. Looking forward to the upcoming deep-dive webinars too.

  2. Do you know if we will need to have Office 365 Licenses to use the Excel online editing feature?

    1. HI Tim,

      Yes - to use this feature users will need o365. Here are the official requirements for this feature:

      •For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online organizations, this feature is available only if your organization has updated to Dynamics CRM Online 2015 Update 1. Interested in getting this feature? Find your CRM administrator or support person. This feature is not available for Dynamics CRM (on-premises).

      •You also need a Microsoft Office 365 account.

      •You also need export to Excel privileges in CRM.

  3. Great article and very informative as always. I have a quick question regarding applying themes and the 'What's New' icon under the 'My Work' section in particular. By default the 'What's New' icon is blue - applying a new theme doesn't change its colour and 'What's New' doesn't exist as an entity as such to be able to go into Customisations and edit the entity itself. Is there a way to change the colour for it? :-/

    1. Hi Areti - Yeah - we noticed this too. This has been logged as a bug in Microsoft's connect site. We hope that the Vnext of crm will handle themes like a normal customization and allow us to export/import in solution files and polish the little things like the what's new icon...

  4. Thanks Joe, great article! Do you happen to know if these changes apply to on-premises CRM 2015 as well? The reason I ask is that we are using both Online and on-premises for testing. And when we ran the update 0.1 for the server on-premises, we don't see any of these changes that we thought we would see.

    1. Hi - Unfortunately these changes/new features are currently only available for crm online. CRM online has update 1.0, while crm on premises got update 0.1. These changes ARE coming to crm on premises in the next major release which is due out this fall/winter 2015......

      1. For me Older than option in Advanced Find is not functioning for CRM Online. Currently am using online 30 days trial and I could notice this.
        Whatever I used to keep the criteria for everything am getting the list of all available records.

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