Symptoms

You can’t log in to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. When you try logging in to CRM Online with your Windows Live ID (WLID) the screen goes blank, or partially loads, and then appears to be stuck in a loop of refreshing, reloading, or resetting. After about 5-10 seconds of reloading it shows the error message:

Windows Live ID is unavailable from this site for one of the following reasons:
• This site may be experiencing a problem
• The site may not be a member of Windows Live ID

This appears to be an issue with Internet Explorer. Here’s what fixed the problem for me for both times I’ve run into it.

In Internet Explorer ( I’m using version 8 )

• In the top menu click “Tools”
• Select “Internet Options” from the dropdown menu
• In the window that opens select the “Security” tab
• Select the “Trusted Sites” checkmark
• Click the “Sites” button
• In the window that opens in the area that says “Add this website to the zone”
  • Enter https://*.crm.dynamics.com and click “Add”
  • Then enter https://login.live.com and click “Add”
• Close all open windows
• Close and then open Internet Explorer

 The Online version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes a pretty nifty tool called Internet Lead Capture. This feature is really handy for companies who get lead emails from their website contact page. Below is a typical email from a website submission form:

From: administrator
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 5:49 PM
To: website_leads@yourcompany.com
Subject: New website lead

First Name:             Paul
Last Name:             Velgos
Company:               Hitachi
Business Phone:     (219) 561-7180
Email:                    pvelgos @ hitachiconsulting.com
Description:           Hi, I love Microsoft CRM

Whoever handles these frequently uses a manual process to manage them. Maybe they forward the email leads to other employees and hope the person does something with them. Or if they do track the leads they might copy and paste each line into a spreadsheet. For companies getting more than a handful of emails a day this gets to be a time consuming process and leads can fall through the cracks.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a method of automatically capturing the lead data from your website and also be able to easily track communication history and progress?  This is exactly what Internet Lead Capture does. No more copy and paste!

Internet Lead Capture is a wizard-based tool that enables you to create a website contact form, called a Landing Page, and add fields from CRM Online such as Name, Email, and Phone. When someone fills out and submits the form the information they enter gets converted into a Lead record within CRM Online and the data is automatically copied to the appropriate fields. Pretty slick.  Here’s how it works.

Selecting the Internet Lead Capture option loads the Get Started screen. In this area you can create new landing pages and view your leads. To create a new form click Create a new landing page.

This opens the Landing Pages window where you can create a lead capture page or a lead capture form. What’s the difference?

The lead capture page is hosted by Microsoft, offers a handful of color options and themes, and can be created by someone with zero technical knowledge.

The lead capture form gives you HTML code you can use to add the form to your existing website. This allows you to keep your website layout and appearance so the form looks totally seamless. 

In this example I’ll create a lead capture page by clicking the Create Page icon.

This opens the Create New Landing Page window. Here you can pick a name for your website address, page layout, and theme.

Clicking Next opens the Edit Lead Capture Page window. Here you can enter details about your company and also choose the fields you want to appear on the form. You can select from most fields that exist in the Leads entity. The default is Company Name and Last Name. I added First Name, Email, Business Phone, and Description. You can also choose which fields to make mandatory.  I chopped off some of the form because it’s a bit long but there are more options to add your company logo and privacy statement.

Then comes the Review and Confirm page that lets you see the final result and also go back to make any changes if needed. Clicking Finish brings up a page (not shown) that provides a summary and also the website address of your contact page.

When you enter the website address in your browser it displays your submission form. I filled out the form and submitted it.

When you go back to the Internet Lead Capture Get Started page there’s a link to View all leads. Here you can review the Leads and decide who to assign them to.

Once assigned they show up in the main Leads area of CRM Online. Here’s the Lead I submitted. Notice that the form data is copied to the correct fields. From here you can manage this Lead, store communication history, and determine if they’re a fit to do business with.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes a lot of tools to automate processes. This is just another small feature that can add up to some serious productivity gains.

Microsoft just released updated versions of the E-mail Router and CRM for Outlook software.

These are for the Online version of Dynamics CRM only. Not On-Premise.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Email Router

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook