When configuring the CRM 4.0 Outlook, there are a few considerations to keep in mind if the user plans to connect to CRM via IFD either some or all of the time. In the most typical scenario, the user will need to access CRM over the internet only part of the time, while in most other instances the user connects via the intranet to CRM either through a local connection to the network or via VPN. In this scenario, the user needs to be connected to the intranet prior to running the configuration wizard and specify both the intranet address and extranet web address accordingly. While this is very straight-forward, if users are planning to connect via IFD exclusively (for example, if the user works remotely and does not ever connect to the intranet via vpn), then this needs to be taken into consideration when providing instructions to users on how to configure the CRM 4.0 Outlook client as I've found this method of configuring the outlook client a bit confusing to end users and administrators alike when presented with the available options in the configuration wizard.
When the wizard is first launched, the user is presented with two options for connecting to Microsoft Dynamics CRM - "My company" or "An online service provider". While at first glance the option for "online service provider" might appear to be applicable only for users connecting to Microsoft Dyanmics CRM Online (The CRM online hosting service provided by Microsoft), this option is in fact applicable to any users planning to use IFD exclusively to connect to their companies on-premise CRM system. If a user in this scenario chooses the "My company" option, the intranet address field is required. If the user who does not have access to the intranet fills the internal URL into the intranet address field, the connection verification test will obviously fail, and if the user attempts to put in the IFD URL in both of these fields, the connection verification test will also fail due to the connection mechanism the wizard uses. The simple solution is to make sure that in this instance users are always choosing "An online service provider", which will only prompt for the external IFD URL.
Hi Rob -- I know this post is pretty old, but I'm hoping you can help me out. I use a VPN to connect to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 90% of the time, but occasionally want to access through IFD. Everything seems to be in order -- when connected to VPN, Outlook automatically chooses that method and when I only have an Internet connection, Outlook chooses IFD. BUT, before installing the IFD, I was able to work in "Offline" mode in Outlook if I didn't have any Internet connection at all. With the IFD, it doesn't seem to be working. Have you found this to be the case, as well? Thanks for any advice you might have.
Posted by: Sarah Compter | December 17, 2009 at 09:26 AM
Hey Robb, thanks for the Configuring the CRM 4.0 Outlook you have provided very useful tool.
Posted by: motoculteur | July 06, 2010 at 10:55 PM