What’s New in Microsoft
Dynamics CRM Polaris Release
CRM Online December 2012 Service Update
overview for system customizers and
administrators
Jukka Niiranen (@jukkan)
CodeBakers Oy 1

About this presentation
The December 2012 Service Update for CRM
Online, also known as the Polaris release,
was made available to new and existing CRM
Online customers during January 2013
This presentation explores the new and
changed functionality from the perspective of
a person in charge of customizing and
administering a Microsoft Dynamics CRM
organization
For an general overview of the update,
please see crm.dynamics.com/polaris
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Grouped sitemap
Entities grouped into:
• Customers
• [Process]
• Collateral
Tools group only visible
if added through
Options - Workplace
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New social dashboards
Activity Feeds web
part now included in
3 new dashboards
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Activity Feed filters (1)
The user can set the default
filter from the pushpin icon
You can now view posts
regarding any record, not
just the ones you are
following, by using the The user can only show/hide
new Activity Feed filters filters, but he/she cannot
create new filters
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Activity Feed filters (2)
The sysadmin controls which filters
are available to users by modifying
the filter list on the Post Configuration
record of the entity
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New process forms for 5 entities
Form editor
New process experience is
forms added for similar regardless
Account, of form type
Contact, Lead,
Opportunity,
Case. Visible to
all users by
default. Existing Creating new
“Information” custom forms
forms content uses the new
and layout is not process forms as
automatically template by
copied to new default, including
forms the new
components
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New forms in Process Flow mode
Command
Bar
Editable form
header fields
Process
control
Collapsed
navigation
Tab control Simplified
(posts, activities, subgrids
Bing notes)
maps
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Switching to ”Classic” mode form
To access the traditional functionality
available in the ribbon, the form must
be changed to Classic mode through
the “Switch to Classic” menu
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Using multiple forms
No form selector exists on
the new forms, only the
option to view the current
form in the Classic mode
There is no method to switch back to the process form, it
will load automatically the next time the user opens a
record window. However, if a user switches to a non-
process form before closing the current window, the
Classic mode will be presented also next time, since CRM
remembers the last form accessed by the user.
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New forms in Classic mode
Header fields exist
twice on the form,
both in traditional
read-only fields and
as editable Header
section
Activity Feeds or
Bing Maps is
unavailable when
using the Classic
mode, other form
content is present
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Auto-save forms
Creating a new record requires confirmation,
subsequent changes are saved to CRM database
automatically every 30 seconds or on form close
Required field indicator appears on the During editing the save indicator notifies if
opposite corner from the Create button there are unsaved changes on the form
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Activity views on process form
You can only add
completed phone calls
or open/closed tasks
from the process form
Both completed
(gray) and open
(white) activities are
displayed in the
same view
Activities can be
expanded, including
email body text
View is sorted by modification date,
no sort options, open activities may
get buried underneath new emails
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Expanding the form navigation
As there is no ribbon available, you
You can access related can’t add new related records from
records by expanding the parent record form. Also you
the left side form can’t perform any actions on
navigation bar that’s existing records without opening
collapsed by default them to another window first
(can be set expanded
by default in form editor)
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No Closed Activities menus
Switching the view to Closed
Distinction between
Activities does not change date
Activities and Closed
filter, only future dates available.
Activities form
Non-configurable default filter
navigation menus has
“Next 30 days” is also applied
been removed, now
on the Closed Activities views
everything is under
where available
Activities only
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Bing Maps integration
Bing Maps control available on lead, account
and contact forms in Process Flow mode.
Cannot be customized nor added to other
forms. Always displays Address 1 location on
the map. No separate API license required.
Clicking on the
map pin opens
the full Bing
Maps website
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Adding records on subgrids
Access to traditional
lookup view
presented after
search results, not
Typing in on before starting to type
lookup field
brings real time
suggestions on
matching
records
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Editing connections in subgrid
Specific subgrids
present editable
fields, such as
Stakeholder role
Custom subgrid
data cannot be
edited inline
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Adding custom subgrids
The subgrids on the
process form contain a
“+” button for adding
new related records
Subgrid features like
view selector, charts or
index are not available in
the process forms mode
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New form controls
Customer Details
control pulls fields
from parent record
onto the child case
Controls cannot be edited nor removed, but
section visibility and location can be adjusted
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Process Control customization
Process control stages and
steps can be edited directly
from the lead, opportunity or
case record forms
By default Sales Manager and
several other end user roles
have the editing rights for
Process Configuration
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Process Control limitations
One process per entity, no conditional
business logic
Cannot be exported/imported with a
solution file, must be configured manually
in each organization
Stage content cannot be set as required,
user can manually switch stages
Maximum 9 stages, unlimited steps
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New default fields for processes
Lead, opportunity and case
entities have a set of new
fields to accommodate the
default sales and service
processes
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Phone support cases
Case form opens with
the phone call quick
New button create form expanded
“Phone support”
available on
CRM main
window case
view ribbon
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Contact inline quick create form
Adding a new
parent account
for the contact
is not supported
If no matching
contact is found,
a new record can
be added inline
on the case form
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Find existing case
When creating a
new case, the user
can see existing
cases from the
same customer
If the user selects
an existing case,
the case create
form switches to
the existing case
record without a
screen refresh
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Search similar cases
Posts, activities and
notes/attachments from the
New dialog screen opens from the Case selected case can be viewed
process control fields. Enables searching for inline
cases by subject and free text search
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Leads for existing customers
Built-in sales
process has
lookups for
existing contact &
account already in
lead stage
Default lead form doesn’t
contain the lookups, also
related leads are not
visible on parent account
or contact forms
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Match lead to existing contact &
account
Lead qualification
suggest existing contact
and account records
based on duplicate
detection rules
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Skype integration
Phone call quick
create form is
opened when a new
Skype call is initiated
from the link
Default telephone
fields become
clickable if Skype is
installed
Note: custom fields with the new
telephone data type cannot be created
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New forms in Outlook
No support for side-by-side sections
of the updated default forms,
reading pane layout works better
when set to right instead of bottom
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New system settings
Enable/Disable Bing Maps,
Enable/Disable support for CRM 4.0
country/region code prefixing for
scripts, IE Compatibility View
Skype/Lync
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh771584.aspx#BKMK_Write
JavaScriptForMutlipleBrowsers
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Updated instructions
Access the “What’s
New” section on the
updated Resource
Center for more
instructions on the
Resource Center Polaris update
has been
removed from
Wunderbar
navigation
http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/Default.aspx?ver=5.1
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Visit http://niiranen.eu/crm for the latest news, tips & thoughts on Dynamics CRM
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