Locking System Down

When you want to update the system, add territories, create new entities or import data it is possible to lock the system which will stop users from logging into the system. To do this is very simple, go to -

Administration>System>Lock System.

This will display how many users you have in the system, and you can if need be contact them to tell them they can’t use the system. Once you are happy you can then press continue to lock the system. When you have the system in a restricted state you can then make the changes you need to before unlocking the database.

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MetaData

Metadata

The Metadata is data about the database itself. This will include User Configuration, and the definition of a screen. Normally the system will refresh itself, however you can do this manually when required by going to Administration>System>Metadata.

You have 6 options to pick from:

- Refresh All
- Refresh System Parameters
- Refresh Table Columns
- Refresh Custom Objects
- Refresh Translations
- Refresh Views

As you can see you can chose what you want to run, and when by ticking the check box against each option, or by selecting Refresh All which will update everything.

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Can’t open Excel when exporting to Excel

Have you ever exported a Group or a Report to Excel and not been able to open the document you have created? If so check the following settings –

Internet Explorer>Tools>Internet Options>Security>Custom Level, and scroll down to Downloads, and change the Automatic prompting for file downloads to Enable.

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Merging Duplicate People

If you have more than one contact record for the same person you may want to merge the data into one record. To merge duplicate person entries within CRM, you will need to do the following.
- Find the person who you want to keep and use as the Destination person. This could be the person with the most data stored against there record. When you have found them click on the Hyperlink of there name
- Click on the Change button followed by Merge Person. You will now see an additional panel “Merge Person”.
- You now want to search for and select the Source person, to do this click on the magnifying glass and search for the relevant person.
- Click the boxes for the information that you want to merge, you also have the opportunity to delete or keep the source person .
- Select the Save Button. The Destination Person Summary page is now displayed, and a review of the tabs shows the information associated with the source person has been copied across to the merged person.

If you checked the Delete Source Entity box, then the Source Person will have been deleted from the system as well.


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Wildcards

Just a quick one, did you know that you can use wildcards when searching for information on a find screen? For example, when searching for a Person called Jane, but you cannot remember if it is "Jane" or "Jayne", then you can search for "Ja%ne" and it will pick up all instances where there is a match. This can be very useful when used in multiple fields!





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CRM – Single or Multiple Currency?

Within a CRM System, you can choose weather you want to use a single currency or multiple currencies.

Why would you want to use multiple currencies?

To give you an example of where Multiple Currencies would be hopeful would be in the sales process in CRM. It might be the case that you deal with clients overseas, so by using the multi currency option you will be able to workout how much an opportunity is worth to your client in there local currency, while keeping a record of what it is worth to you, in the currency you deal in.

To set this up is very simple, go to Administration>Data Management>Currency Configuration. From here you will have 2 fields to configure, Base Currency and Is Single Currency. The Base Currency will be the currency you will use as your default option, e.g. £, and the Is Single Currency is where you would select Yes or No depending if you wanted to use a single currency within your CRM system. If it is set No, then this activate the multiple currency settings in Forecasts, Products, Quotations, Orders, Reporting and Data upload.

There will be some considerations if you want to use multi currencies, these include the following.
- Deciding when and by whom the currency rates will be maintained against the Base Currency
- The value of an Opportunity remains the same in the database record regardless of changes in the exchange rate. Changes in exchange rate will only be displayed in reports, if the exchange rate has changed.
- The default Currency for a user is held in there preference settings.
- Converted values of Currency fields are calculated using Triangulation.

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Relationships between Companies

I was recently asked how to create relationships between companies in CRM and by following the steps below, you can create a relationship tab that will link companies to each other
In the first instance, do a backup of your system – always better to be safe than sorry.
You will need administrator rights to go through the steps below:

Go to Administration / Customisation and select the Company entity
Select the Tab tab and click on the Company hyperlink
In the properties screen type Company Relationships (or chosen heading)
Select Action as Other
Select System Act as relatedcompanylist
Click on Add
Save
Return to the Main Menu and select a company, click on the Company Relationship tab click on New

If the relationship type field pick list is not showing the choices that you would like you can either change the existing or create new options. Be warned this is not like the usual picklists in CRM, this one is based on Translations.

Be prepared and have the picklist agreed and ready to hand.

Go to Customisation / Translations
In the Caption Family type Company_Reltype and click on find
7 translations will be displayed in the grid below, click on the hyperlink in the Caption Code column to go into them in turn.
Note the next screen the fields in the Caption Family Type and the Caption Family. Click on Change to change the Caption Code and translations to the required name. By placing a number other than 0 in the Caption Order field will set the picklist order.
If you wish to create new options rather than changing the old ones, click on the New icon in the Translations screen and when you have a new screen, make sure that the Caption Family type = Company_reltype and the Caption family = Choices .