Introduction to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM November 2011 service update

This release is being delivered to Microsoft Dynamics customers as the November 2011 service update for Online customers and as Update Rollup 5 for On premise customers.  These updates are complemented by additional Microsoft Dynamics and Windows Phone Marketplace downloads.  The November 2011 service update has been applied to all CRM Online Data Centers as of October 25, 2011.  On premises customer will be able to obtain Update Rollup 5 via:

This release marks the first time Microsoft will be releasing additional functionality through online Marketplaces.  The Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace has been populated with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Activity Feeds solution and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile, our first Windows Phone application is available in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

• Existing CRM Online Customers: As of October 25, 2011, Microsoft has deployed the November 2011 service update to all CRM Online datacenters.  This will immediately give you access to the new features (some highlighted below).  To utilize the new Activity Feeds, your System Administrator must download and install the solution into your CRM Online environment.  The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile application must be deployed by each user that wants to leverage this functionality on their Windows Phone 7.5 device.
• New CRM Online Customers: As of October 25, 2011, all new trials and purchases of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will be provisioned with all the latest functionality including the Activity Feeds solution – No additional downloads required.  The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile application must be deployed by each user that wants to leverage this functionality on their Windows Phone 7.5 device.
• New & Existing CRM On premise Customers:  Update Rollup 5 can be downloaded manually via the Microsoft Download Center as of October 25, 2011, or automatically via Microsoft Update on November 8, 2011.  This will immediately give you access to the new features (some highlighted below). To utilize the new Activity Feeds, your System Administrator must download and install the solution into your CRM Online environment. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile application must be deployed by each user that wants to leverage this functionality on their Windows Phone 7.5 device.

Additional Feature Enhancements

With the crux of this release being the great social innovation highlighted by Brad Wilson in his post, there are a number of feature enhancement that are highlighted below.

• Multi-series Chart Support – The chart wizard now supports the ability to specify multiple data series when designing
  charts.
  

• Outlook Client Enhancements – The Reading Pane has been enhanced to include: Sub grids & Notes, clickable links (email, telephone, lookups, party lists) in the form and sub grids,  clickable links in sub grids, Lync presence integration and several other miscellaneous enhancements.

• Dialog Enhancements – Dialogs have been significantly enhanced providing support for hyperlinks in dialogs and workflows, data retention when moving backward/forward, and support for additional CRM data types.

Enjoy the great new features in this exciting release!

Eric Boocock
Senior Technical Product Manager