October 2007 - Posts
Here is a an article I just added to my CRM Knowledge Base. It can come in handy if you need to send large files as attachments to CRM e-mails.
KBA-01015
Purpose & Scope
CRM and IIS limit the size of attachments. This procedure describes how to set the max file size to a different value. It requires modifying the CRM web.config and the registry.
Procedure
In the CRM Web.config, modify the following to provide appropriate values:
<configuration>
<system.web>
<httpRuntime executionTimeout=”999” maxRequestLength=' 999999'/> <- try setting these 2 value to something higher as shown here (don’t change or remove other existing parameters)
</system.web>
</configuration>
In the Registry (care should be taken when modifying the registry as mistakes can render your system inoperable) navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSCRM and find maxuploadfilesize and change the value appropriately. The default is approximately 5 MB.
The lowest value of these two settings will rule.
Additional Comments
Procedure originally provided by Manisha Powar of the CRM Team at Microsoft.
Care should be taken when modifying the registry.
Today I had the opportunity to install CRM on Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1, as opposed to SBS 2003 R2. The last installs I'd done had been on new installs of SBS which were R2. It had been awhile since I'd done it on SP1. Today's was an old client who finally decided to move from GoldMine to CRM. This gave me the opportunity to try Handy Andy's great step by step on how to install on SBS SP1 found on SBS-Rocks.com. It was great because it reminded me to take care of a few 'fixes' and registry hacks before proceeding, and other little gotchas. The install went flawlessly. However, instead of doing a Default install as Andy suggested, I did a Customized one. I therefore had a few detours I thought I'd bring up.
First I like to create a special Organizational Unit (OU) in Active Directory just for CRM stuff. I assume the default install either just creates this or most likely just puts the CRM stuff in the root domain. I like to keep it all together in its own OU. So, I created a Microsoft CRM 3.0 OU. The install wizard asks for this along the way.
Also along the way, the wizard will ask for a CRM mail box for the E-mail Router to use. I create this user, in the CRM OU, and e-mail enable it before the wizard asks.
Otherwise, Andy's article was 'spot on'! Thanks, Andy. Your article was Handy!
Today, Wednesday Oct 24th, I am attending the CRM 4.0 Readiness Tour at the Microsoft office in Houston. (Well actually that was yesterday but I wrote most of this on my Mogul while in attendance.) Unfortunately none of the CRM team is here but I did get a chance to meet Tony Stein, Microsoft MBS Partner Development Manager for the Central Region. Anne Stanton, CRMLady.com, is also here. She has moved to Houston from Vermont and is now a Director with The Rand Group. Watch out Houston!
The event started with a session by Bobby Doss, MS Strategic Engagement Manager. He generally focuses on selling Office and desktop upgrade bundles to larger accounts of 250 or more desktops. Selling CRM is better for his personal bottom line.
The rest of the event is presented by Daniel Hunter, Microsoft Partner Technology Specialist. The morning session has been and overview of the top 20 (new) features in CRM 4.0 with a bit on how to compete against other products like Salesforce.com and Seibel.
The top 20 features are:
1. User Productivity - improved desktop capabilities
2. End User Report Creation
3. Empowering Business Process - users can control/create workflow
4. Real-time Visibility & Collaboration - on-line presence info, like IM
5. Community Info Access and Sharing - resource center
6. Enhanced Customer Interaction - tracking token no longer required to track e-mail
7. Intelligent Data Import and Migration - this could be a biggie
8. Data Integrety - duplicates checking
9. Multinational Useage - multiple languages and currencies
10. Business Process Management - uses Windows Workflow Foundation
11. Expanded Relationships Between Entities - includes the much wanted Many to Many
12. Create Rich Offline Applications - Offline SDK
13. Leverage Technology Platforms - supports POP3 and Exchange 2007
14. Expanded Deployment Choices
15. Multi-tenant Deployments - can host multiple organizations/departments
16. Internet Connection without VPN - can sync Outlook over the Internet.
17. (oops - I missed this one)
18. Improved Admin Visibility
19. Performance, Scalability, & Availability - no longer supports W26
20. Clean Update from CRM 3.0
During lunch we had presentations by Scribe & experlogic.
The afternoon was dedicated to the technical track. This was a very quick overview of some of the technologies included in CRM 4.0.
All in all, a good introduction to CRM 4.0. I'm a little curious about the licensing and pricing, but it looks like it's gonna be a great release! Look for it around the end of the year.
One of the shortcomings of my new Mogul is that Sprint did not see fit to include a Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client on it. I had found that a handy feature of my previous Pocket PCs. It enabled me to connect to my and my clients' servers and take care of problems from my PPC. Granted, on the small screen, I didn't get too aggressive, but I was disappointed when I couldn't find a Terminal Services client on my new Mogul.
Chris Rue (MVP) came to the rescue! He blogged about this on The Fun Cave. His blog actually links to another where the link to a download is available. Chris gives a good description of why the client is not always included. Well, maybe not 'why' but he discusses it.
The RDP client referenced is pretty cool. It is a little different than the one I had used with my old Dells. I think it's better. I'm sure I'll know after I've used it a few times. Thanks, Chris!
The wraps are coming off the long awaited Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, code named Titan. In October Microsoft is running numerous partner readiness events around the country. I hope to be able to attend either the Houston or Dallas events on the 24th or 25th. You can find an event near your here and register.
Some of the features in the new CRM 4.0 that will delight are doing away with the pesky e-mail tracking tags in the subject line, being able to manage workflow without having to log on to the server itself, and duplicate checking. There is much, much more. Check Philip Richardson's blog here for more details. Phil is the Microsoft CRM Lead Program Manager.
There will be lots of new stuff in CRM 4.0 so stay tuned.
One of the features that attracted me to the Mogul was the ability to use it as a way to connect my notebook to the Internet. Say I'm in a hotel that charges through the nose for Internet access, like in Redmond. Rather than having to pay for hotel WiFi or wired access, I can simply use the Mogul.
I can connect my phone and notebook either via the USB cable that came with the phone of with Bluetooth. I used Bluetooth in my brief test. Using the USB cable allows the Mogul to be powered from the notebook but does restrict movement. The Bluetooth allows you to roam around a bit. Put the phone in a good location, like a windows sill, and use the notebook on the desk, easy chair, or bed. It could also be handy in a car, especially if you are a passenger and not driving.
The first step is to make your connection between the devices. Then, on the Mogul go to Start, Programs, Internet Sharing. You will be asked to pick your PC connection, either Bluetooth PAN (which I eventually learned was 'Personal Area Network') or USB, and your Network Connection, in my case Sprint PCS. Then hit Connect. On the notebook right-click on the Bluetooth icon in the system tray and select Join a 'Personal Area Network'. That's pretty much it.
At our SBS SIG this past week, one of the members was asking about this. He is currently paying $60/month for an air card for his notebook so he can connect to the Internet. Plus he pays for his cell phone. Internet access for the Mogul will be a big savings for him.
To every cloud there is a silver lining. The recent theft of my notebook and PDA did have a side benefit, if you call it that. It enabled me to purchase my new Mogul PDA phone. It would have been hard to justify it when I still had a perfectly good PDA. It would have been worth it to me to have it's features and access, but convincing my wife would have been another thing.
The Mogul is the update of the popular PPC 6700 and AT&T 8525. The Mogul is the PPC 6800. It is a bit smaller and lighter, I believe, and has the same slide out keyboard. As I get more used to the keyboard, the more I like it. I'm using it now to write this.
What I particularly like about this phone/PDA is the Internet access. As long as I have cell phone access, I have Internet access. This is HUGE! With my Dell PDA I had to find a hot spot, get connected, which often took a bit of effort, and then go about my business. With the Mogul, I'm pretty much always connected. If i want to send an e-mail, I write it and it's sent. Want to receive e-mail, just sync up. More on that in a bit. If I want to get on the web, I just press the web button on the top of the phone and I'm there.
Of course I'm not always in cell phone range. Like this past week in Canada. There the built in WiFi was a life saver. And I also use it here at home. It's nice to have that option since my cell access is spotty here because of the stucco construction of our house.
I've been fairly impressed with the phone sound quality, though I've had only a few opportunities to use it, being up in Canada and out of my home Sprint coverage for a major portion of the short time I've had my Mogul. My hearing isn't the best and my previous phone took a few 'whadidusays' to get through a conversation. So far this one seems nice and clear as long as I have it properly positioned over my ear (a bit of a challenge actually) and with sufficient volume. The speaker phone could be louder though.
Dialing numbers is a bit awkward with the on screen number pad. It doesn't give any tactile feedback. But it seems to work OK and I'm sure I'll get used to it. Dialing from the contacts list, which is the Outlook contacts, is great. No more having to enter names and numbers separately into the phone's memory. And all i have to do to dial a number in a message is click on it and select call.
The Mogul also has a built in 2 mega pixel camera which can take movies as well as still photos. And they appear to be pretty decent. I used it to take pictures at SMB Nation and a bit on our trip. What I especially liked about it was being able to quickly and easily e-mail pictures to the kids. It made our daughter so jealous to see our pictures of snow while she was in 90 degree Dallas, Texas. It also has a feature for taking photos to like to Outlook contacts. I was able to add photos to several of the SBS MVPs contact records. Blackmail demands to follow ;-)
Battery life is was an issue at first. ActiveSync with Exchange 2003 SP2 and the Mogul (Windows Mobile 6) has the ability to keep your device constantly sync'd. As messages come into Exchange they are delivered to the phone. I quickly found this ate the battery in no time. I see little use for this while I'm 'out and about'. If I want to check my e-mail, I can simply sync it manually. When I'm connected to power, that's another story. With e-mail sync set to manual, battery life, so far, has been pretty good. But then again I haven't really been in cell phone range much since I've had this phone. I did buy a car charger though the second day I had it. That way I don't have to worry about it while I'm going about my daily rounds.
There is much more to this phone but those are the highlights. It was my only technology on our trip and it was (almost) all I needed. I love my Mogul.
After the SMB Nation conference, my wife and I rented a car to take a few days excursion into Canada. Many, many thanks to Scott Colson, CRM MVP 2004 - 2007, for going way out of his way to give us a ride to pick up our rent car in Bellevue.
Our first destination was Vancouver, BC. As we crossed the border into Canada, I suddenly found that our cell phones didn't work here! Since the only Internet access I was able to bring was my new PDA cell phone, I've been pretty much off the air ever since. Our hotel in Vancouver only had wired Internet access and I left my traveling wireless router at home since I don't have a notebook anymore. Luckily our hotel in Kamloops, BC had WiFi so I was able to catch up a little last night.
From Vancouver we headed up to Whistler, a ski resort area north of Vancouver. Even though it was rainy and there was a lot of construction, it was gorgeous. From there we continued north to Pemberton (not much there) and west to Kamloops. We were struck by the differences between the west and east sides of the mountain. The west is covered with a dense forest of beautiful, tall evergreens and wonderous fall colors. The east side reminded me of West Texas with brown grass and sage brush. What a contrast!
Today (Wednesday) we headed back to the States. Went through a number of climate and terrain changes, from air conditioner weather to sloshy snow. Just north of the border we found The Wine Route. The area almost reminded me of Tuscany.
Today we are heading south from Kamloops back toward Washington. Just ran through our first snow! What a surprise. Kamloops had been nice and sunny. Being from South Texas, seeing snow was exciting.
Now we're back in Washington State but our cell phones are still out of service. Soon. Soon. Well, maybe not. We've learned since we arrived in Omak, WA, that we won't be getting good cell coverage until we near Seattle. Oh well. Being out of touch does have some advantages ;-)
Fortunately our room in Omak,WA did have WiFi so we were once again able to catch up that night. Unfortunately Thursday morning found my server at home down so we will be without e-mail until we return home Friday night. We did find cell phone access in Chelan, WA (gorgeous lake resort area) and south so we were able to catch up on voice mail and call the kids.
One of the things we really missed by not having a notebook was GPS. It would have been. Real helpful in Vancouver and in finding some wineries in Wenatchee, WA. Luckily with cell phone access we were able to get on MapQuest to at least get our bearings in Wenatchee.
On the plane now heading home. First order of business will be to get the server back on the air. Then back to more technical bloggins.
I went to the 5th Annual SMB Nation Conference this past weekend put on by Harry Brelsford. It was once again held at the Microsoft Conference Center on their campus in Redmond. It was good to see many old friends from all over the world.
Friday night was the SBS User Group Leaders meeting led by Scott Cayouette of Florida. Rick from Exclaimer hosted the food and drink. The only official business was the reaffirmation of Scott and David Houston of Ireland as co-chairs for the coming year. David couldn't join us in person so Anne Stanton kept him informed of what was happening via Instant Messenger. The rest of the meeting was a round table discussion about how to grow your group, etc. Scott made sure that everyone was able to participate.
After a nice breakfast in the mess tent, the conference kicked off with a great keynote by Eric Ligman of Microsoft and Arnie Mondloch of the US Partner Group. Eric told of of several new resources and campaigns aimed at the Microsoft Small Business Specialist. One customer facing campaign is 'We've Gotta Guy'. Check it out at www.wevegottaguy.com. Somehow I've let myself fall out of the loop. Eric's talk has inspired me to start making better use of the resources Microsoft is providing to SBSCs.
One of the 'features' of this year's conference was complimentary Microsoft certification testing. I hadn't realized that until Sunday morning. When I did, I went to register to take the CRM Customization exam, MB2-442. Unfortunately, as hard as they tried, the staff could not find any of the Dynamics exams. Too bad Microsoft makes the Dynamics stuff so hard to get at.
Of course the conference was full of many great presentations. I mainly attended the business development sessions (Pocket MBA). Managed services was another biggie with numerous managed services vendors in attendance.
There were a bunch of vendors this year. The exhibits filled the large room used in the past for meals, thus the mess tent. I was pleased to meet Steve Lawton from Acronis in person. Steve had been so helpful on a client issue I'd had a while back. And it was also great to see Kristen Wild of StorageCraft who had been gracious to come to San Antonio to present to the Alamo PC SBS SIG earlier in September.
And of course there were evening events. Saturday night there was a great magic show held in the ballroom of our hotel. We had front row seats so it was great. At intermission, Harry Brelsford presented the SBSCer of the year award to Karl Palachuk. A much deserved honor.
Sunday night Jeff Middleton of SBSMigration.com fame and long time SBS MVP hosted a get together at Waldo's, a local pool hall and jazz joint. Jeff had a bus shuttleting between the hotel and Waldo's all night. Thanks' Jeff!
All in all, another great conference.
A couple of weeks ago my locked car was broken into! They stole my new Vista 64 laptop and my Dell Axim x51 PDA. This was just before I was to go to SMB Nation and a short trip into Canada for a few days vacation. I am currently in Vancouver as I write this but won't be able to upload it to the blog until we get back home.
My insurance company, USAA, was great and settled up that afternoon, a Friday. I spent most (all) of Saturday and some of Sunday ordering a new laptop and mostly ordering a new PDA phone to replace my stolen pocket PC. My new phone, a Mogul, arrived Tuesday, in time for me to kind of figure it out before leaving for SMB Nation this past Friday. The laptop, not unexpectedly, did not arrive before we left. So, the Mogul is the only technology I've got on this trip. Although it does have Internet access, my blog site doesn't seem to allow it to post new blogs with the Mogul. Thus the need to wait until I get back home, and hopefully have my new notebook before I can start posting my blog again. There is a lot to blog about at the moment; SMB Nation, my Mogul, CRM Mobile Express just to name a few. Bear with me as it will come as a bit of a flood as I upload these I'll write on my Mogul while I travel.