CRM for tablets: Set up and use

Minimum hardware requirements
Processor	ARM
Memory	1 GB
Resolution	1366x768 (720p) 1920x1080 (1080p) Other resolutions will be supported through operating system scaling.

The following table lists the browsers and apps that CRM for tablets works with.

Tablet	Version	CRM for tablets app	Browser support
Windows	Windows 8.1	No	No
	Windows 8 RT	Yes	Yes
	Windows 8	Yes	Yes
iPad	iOS 7	Yes	No
	iOS 6	Yes	Yes
	iOS 5	No	No
Google Nexus 10	4.2	No	Yes

Hardware device	Supported
Windows 8
Surface RT	Yes
Surface Pro	Yes
Windows 8 RT (other manufacturers)	See Hardware Requirements
Windows 8 (other manufacturers)	See Hardware Requirements
iOS
iPad (4th Gen)	Yes
iPad (3rd Gen)	Yes
iPad 2 (2nd Gen)	No
iPad (1st Gen)	No
iPad Mini	No
iPhone (any version)	No
iPod (any version)	No
MacBook (any version)	No

CRM for tablets can connect to both Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online organizations and Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premises deployments. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online organizations using CRM for tablets require the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall ‘13 release.

A new security privilege was introduced to provide access to use CRM for tablets. The privilege is called Use CRM for tablets.

Prior releases of Microsoft Dynamics CRM have included a privilege called Go Mobile, which grants a user access to use Microsoft Dynamics CRM from a mobile phone. To avoid confusion between the existing privilege (for phones) and the new CRM for tablets privilege, the Go Mobile privilege has been renamed to CRM for phones.

By default, this privilege is included for the following default security roles:

• CEO-Business Manager

• Salesperson

• Sales Manager

• Vice President of Sales

• System Administrator

• System Customizer

This applies to new installations of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online or Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 (on-premises), as well as customers that upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. You can add or remove this privilege from custom or default security roles to meet your business needs.

CRM for tablets supports the following languages:

• Chinese (Simplified) - 2052

• Chinese (Traditional) - 1028

• English - 1033

• French - 1036

• German - 1031

• Italian - 1040

• Japanese - 1041

• Portuguese (Portugal) - 2070

• Spanish - 3082

When the application first loads after installation, it will determine the device language and load the user interface in that language. If the device language is not one of the supported languages, the application will load in English. Once the application has been configured in a Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization, the application will load the application pages in the language specified in the user's personal options. If the user language is not one of the supported languages, the application will fall back to the base language of the CRM organization, if it is in the supported language list. If the organization's base language is not supported, then English will be the final fallback if it is enabled on the server.

The home page that appears in CRM for tablets displays a combination of views and charts. The views, charts, and order they are displayed on the home page are based on the Sales Dashboard. This is a new system dashboard created specifically for CRM for tablets.

The default dashboard experience is tailored for salespeople, but your admin can customize this dashboard through the web application the same way they would customize any other system dashboard.

The Sales Dashboard contains the following content by default:

• Pinned Tiles section

• My Activities (List)

• My Open Opportunities (List)

• My Open Leads (List)

• My Active Accounts (List)

• My Open Opportunities – Sales Pipeline (Chart)

• My Closed Opportunities in Current Fiscal Year – Top Customers (Chart)

The Pinned Tiles section doesn't appear in the web application and appears only in CRM for tablets if you have pinned records or views to the dashboard.

By default, some of the commands that appear in the web application don't appear in the CRM for tablets app. Similar to the web application, the command bar is context-sensitive and, depending on what is currently viewed or selected, the available commands will change. To access the command bar on a Windows 8 device, swipe up from the bottom of the screen. For some screen elements, a tap and hold will open the command bar.

To create a new record, while you are on the Sales Dashboard, swipe up from the bottom to access the command bar and then tap the New Record button. This displays a list of all record types that are enabled for CRM for tablets that also have Quick Create forms.

On any page, access the command bar and tap the Refresh button to get the latest data for the page.

To manually synchronize CRM for tablets with your Microsoft Dynamics CRM data, close the CRM for tablets app, reopen it, and then choose to download the latest customizations, if there are any. Recently viewed data while you were connected is cached and available when you're disconnected. Data from records like accounts or contacts aren't synched. You can't choose which data to sync with the device like you can with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook.

The Open in browser command opens the current view or record in the CRM web application. You must sign in to the web application.

Video: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 for Tablets – Simple Lists

The lists of records that appear on the Sales Dashboard and within a form appear as simple lists. These lists have a different appearance than the typical view of records. There are a few frequently used actions you can perform on a simple list:

• Tap the header of a list to access the full list for the current view.

• Tap a list item to open the form for that item.

• Tap and hold an item to display the command bar.

• Tap the new item button (+) to the right of the view name to create a new record of that type.

Note the following.

• The new item button (+) appears to the right of the view name for any record type that is Read/Write enabled for CRM for tablets.

• Simple lists retrieve ten records at a time regardless of the Records Per Page setting in your Personal Options area of the web application. As you scroll to the bottom of the list, CRM for tablets displays additional records.

Fields Displayed

A typical view of records displays all columns in the view definition. A simple list displays the first few columns from the selected view. Simple lists are also capable of displaying images for each record if the record type is enabled to display images.

There are a few special list types. The Activity, Stakeholders, and Sales Team lists are discussed in the next sections.

Activity Lists

The simple list for activities includes some special functionality that isn't available on other lists. Each standard activity type (such as Phone call and Task) includes an icon to differentiate it from the other activity types. Next to the icon, the primary field for the activity is displayed and will wrap up to 3 lines. The next field to display is the first field from the view excluding the primary field, Due Date, and Activity Type. Activities that can be marked as complete will include a check box next to them. Simply tap the check box to mark the activity as complete.

The activities list displays activities that are due today and past due activities in a darker color. Activities that are not due today or past due appear in a lighter color. Activities with a due date will display the date and time when they are due.

Note the following:

• The Description field for emails won't appear in lists because it may contain HTML.

• For Activities, the new item button (+) opens a flyout so you can select the type of activity to create. This flyout contains a list of all the read/write enabled activities.

Stakeholders and Sales Team Lists

The Stakeholders and Sales Team lists that appear in an opportunity display the primary field and role. These two lists have inline create and editing. When you tap the plus sign (+) on these lists, the existing list items move down and a lookup and a drop-down list appear. Now you can select (or create) a record type to add to the list through the lookup, and to assign a role through the drop-down list.

Editing is an inline experience as well. If you tap the down arrow next to the role name, the drop-down list appears in edit mode and you can change roles.

Select View

To change the view used to display a list of records, tap and hold the name of the list. The command bar appears, which includes the Select View button. To select a different view, tap Select View.

Personal views are listed before system views. You can't create new views within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Lists display columns similar to what you see in the web application and can be configured by editing the view for the record type. More information: Create or edit views

If a list is too wide to display on your screen, you can swipe to scroll to the right, and then back to the left. If more rows are available than what fits on the screen, a scrollbar appears. Up to 25 records are displayed by default. As you scroll down, CRM for tablets displays additional records. A status indicator may appear to indicate that more data is being retrieved.

Resize Columns

You can resize the width of columns in a view. To resize the columns, select the Resize Columns button from the command bar, and then drag the column handles to the desired width. The resizing of view columns is sticky per device.

Sort

When you tap a column header, the view will be sorted in ascending order by that column. When you tap the column again, it will reverse the sort to be descending. The sorting of view columns is sticky per device.

In CRM for tablets, forms have the same fields as configured in the web application.

Sales Lead form in web application

Sales Lead form in CRM for tablets

Because the same form definition is used, you do not have to manage forms separately. For example: If you add a new field to the form, you do not need to remember to modify a different form for it to appear in CRM for tablets.

Fields

Item	Description
Lookups	Lookup fields have a slightly different user experience than you may be used to with the web application. Lookup fields in the CRM for tablets app require that you type a few characters to search for the record you want. There is not an option to select a record from a view. When you type characters into the lookup field, CRM for tablets shows matching results in the bottom left corner of your screen. To select a record, simply tap it in the list of results.
Security Fields	Field-level security is applied in CRM for tablets.
Phone Number and Email Address Fields	You can start a Skype call or new email message with your default email provider because phone number and e-mail fields are clickable in forms and lists.

Communication Card

A special tile exists to represent User or Contact records. This type of tile is referred to as a communication card. As shown in the following screenshot, the communication card appears at the top of the list of tiles in the Relationships section of the form.

On the right side of the communication card is an email button and a phone call button. If you tap the email button, it will open your default email application on your tablet. If you tap the phone call button, it will initiate a Skype call. If you click or tap the phone icon to make a Skype call, the CRM for tablets app will open the phone call form when you return. On a Windows 8 device, you are automatically directed to the app store if Skype isn't installed. Tapping the main section of the contact card will open the corresponding record.

CRM for tablets displays a communication card on any form that contains a Quick View form for the Contact record type. The user and contact forms always have a self-referential communication card. For example: The form for a contact record includes a communication card for the currently viewed contact record. The form for a user record always displays a communication card for the currently viewed user record.

Contacts that you pin to the dashboard appear with the communication card experience if you enlarge the tile.

Next and Previous Records

When you open a record from a list, the left side of the form includes a slider bar to navigate to other records from the originating list. Simply tap and hold the slider bar and move it up or down to access the next or previous records.

As you move the slider bar up or down, you will see the names of the records from the list that you can choose. When you release your finger from the slider bar, the selected record will open.

Notes and Attachments

You can create, view, and edit notes within CRM for tablets. You can also add attachments from your device.

Form Features not available

There are some features available in the web application that are not available in CRM for tablets. This includes the following:

• Yammer and Activity Feeds

• Bing Maps integration

• SharePoint Document Libraries

• iFrames - typically used for including web pages in a form.

• Web Resources

• The ability to switch to another form when there are multiple record types per form. The CRM for tablets app always uses the first form in the form order that you have privileges to use.

Business process flows are available in CRM for tablets similar to what is available in the web application.

There are a couple of navigation differences. A flag labeled Next Stage appears that you can tap to move to the next stage.

To display additional commands related to the process, tap and hold the header of the stage section to select it.

The command bar appears with an option to move back a stage and another option to switch processes.

Records are saved in CRM for tablets based on how your admin configured Auto Save in your organization settings.

Note the following:

• If Auto Save is enabled for your organization (the default), changes you made will be saved when you leave the form.

• If Auto Save is disabled for your organization, you must use the command bar in CRM for tablets (swipe from the bottom of the screen) and tap Save to save your form changes.

Similar to the web application, you can tap a section of a chart to drill through and see the records that represent that part of the chart.

Simply tap a section of the chart and you'll see the chart alongside the corresponding records. Tap another section to view the records that represent that section or click the area surrounding the chart to view all records for the current view.

Tap any of the records in the view to open the form for the record.

While you're viewing a chart, you can change the current view. If you change the current view, the chart will be refreshed with the data that matches the filters defined in the selected view. To select a different view, click or tap Select View on the command bar and then choose another view.

All available System Charts and Personal Charts will appear.

To select a different chart to display the data, tap Select Chart on the command bar.

The dashboard only displays charts created through the Chart Designer in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM web application. If you modified the XML for a chart definition and imported it back into Microsoft Dynamics CRM, that chart may not display in CRM for tablets.

One of the great features available in CRM for tablets is the ability to perform a Quick Find query across multiple record types (max of 10) at once. In the web application and CRM for Outlook, you're currently able to search against one record type at a time. The ability to search across multiple record types at once is new with this release and is currently available only in CRM for tablets. When you perform a multi-entity Quick Find, results are grouped by record type and sorted by the order specified in the Quick Find View for the record type.

As with any Quick Find query, the generated query uses a “starts with” condition. For example: If you search for “Alpine”, it would return any results where the searchable columns were found to match records that started with those characters. If the Account record type is enabled and the Name field is one of the enabled Find Columns in the Active Accounts Quick Find view, accounts that start with the word “Alpine” would be returned. Alpine Ski House might be one of the results returned. However, if you used the word “Ski”, this record wouldn't be returned.

Note the following:

• The multi-entity Quick Find feature is available only in CRM for tablets.

• You need to type at least three characters before you can perform a multi-entity Quick Find search.

Filter to a specific record type

If you start a search from the dashboard, the search will default to search across all record types enabled for multi-entity Quick Find. If you're viewing a form or list for a certain record type (such as Account) and then you start a search, the search will default to filter based on that record type. The upper-right corner of the application provides a drop-down field to change the current record type filter. You can choose to search against a specific record type or choose None to search against all record types enabled for multi-entity Quick Find.

Choose None to search against all record types enabled for multi-entity Quick Find

Choose a specific record type to search against

The following record types are enabled by default for multi-entity Quick Find:

• Account

• Contact

• Lead

• Opportunity

• User

• Competitor

• Activities